Movies, Mom & Me

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  *1*
3. Commentary:  I don't care why critics think it's a great movie...I just love it. Every single moment of it; especially the dancing and singing in the rain and the dance sequences with Reynolds, Kelly and O'Connor. LOVE watching O'Connor and Kelly together. They both looked like they just "[Had]'ta Dance"! Mom loved this movie, too. The only reason we didn't own it before last year is that it showed on TCM so much that it seemed as though we didn't need to own it...until I ran across a copy of it on the cheap and decided it was time. Also, I consider this movie film art because of the way dance was translated to the screen.

Labels: comedy, dance, film-art, musical, romance, shared-favorite

# posted by gail @ 16:08    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  none
3. Commentary:  I resisted placing this movie in our collection for some years, even though Mom insisted on watching it every time it came on TV and, I have to admit, I love the dancing, especially the "athletic" (as one critic called it) sequence involving the testosterone soaked brothers against suitors of the town vying for the affections of seven sprightly town maidens. Finally, winter before this last, I found it at Costco and brought it home for a weekend surprise. We watched the movie twice in a row, at Mom's request (and have watched it several times since). I was fascinated to discover that my mother's favorite dance sequence was the one done in the dead of winter while the seven brothers are chopping wood and bemoaning their singular (pun intended) fate. As she would watch that sequence, every time, she'd mention how much she liked it, her body would weave to the adagio accompaniment of the silken cowboy ballad and she'd swing her arm in an arc from her elbow each time an axe swung to a down beat. She loved the rest of the movie, as well, the Sabine Women sequence, in particular, and I loved watching her watch it. I will continue to love watching it and remembering the her high pleasure in the production.

Labels: action, dance, dramedy, musical, period, romance, shared-favorite, spectacle

# posted by gail @ 15:25    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  none
3. Commentary:  This was one of the last Christmas movies we purchased before Mom's death. I'd often wanted a copy of it because Mom had fond, though vague, memories of it. The version we purchased included the black-and-white and color editions. Although there are several b&w movies I'd refuse to watch in color, It's a Wonderful Life, for instance, or High Noon (yee gads, what a horrible idea, High Noon in color), the usual Tracy/Hepburn movies, Miracle on 34th Street (the original one), I have to say, I like this one in color better than the b&w version, although, in it's favor, that's the version we watched first. I gave Mom a choice and she chose color first. This edition contains a special feature which documents the colorization process. Once I understood how it's done, the idea didn't seem quite so disgusting. But, I still want my Now, Voyager in black & white.

Labels: Christmas, comedy, dance, musical, romance

# posted by gail @ 15:15    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  I'm not sure it's even necessary to talk about why my mother loves this movie. It has been easy for me to forget to purchase because there is something about Topol's performance that irritates me, but, I like everyone else's performances, love the dances, love the fiddler, love most of the songs, usually sing along to them when the movie plays...so, when it showed up on cable one day a month or so ago and Mom was so sure we owned it that she asked me to replay the dancing at the wedding party, I realized, oops, it's time to purchase it!

Labels: dance, drama, musical, period, romance

# posted by gail @ 19:18    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  Mom like this one better than Funny Girl. I'm not sure which I like more. From my point of view, these two movies are completely different and this one almost doesn't, in my mind, qualify as a sequel to the first. Everything seems different about the Fanny Brice character Barbra Streisand plays in this one; so much so that her continued infatuation for Nicky Arnstein seems unbelievable. There are some splendid production numbers in this movie, Ben Vereen is incredible and James Caan is a huge surprise. We watched this on TCM during their "31 Days of Oscar" this year and Mom's eyes popped when she watched it. They're still popping...we've watched this movie a couple of times since I purchased it.

Labels: biography, dance, dramedy, musical, romance

# posted by gail @ 19:08    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  *1*
3. Commentary:  Again, I'm not a fan of animation, but this pulled me in when the shot of the zebras on the plain, at the beginning of the movie, dissolved into the shot of ants carrying leaves along a tree branch; or vice versa, I'm not sure which way the shot dissolved. At any rate, I find it very entertaining. So does my Mom. It has, though, been awhile since we've seen this one.

Labels: adventure, animated, kids, musical, royals, shared-favorite

# posted by gail @ 12:43    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  I actually asked Mom, when I noticed the 40th anniversary edition of this movie at Costco, if she wanted me to purchase a copy. Silly question. Although most of the songs are too catchy to be believed and I have good-but-not-quite-reverent memories of this movie, if she'd said "No" I would have heeded her request. Some years ago, when one of my nieces was much younger, this movie was her absolute favorite, always playing at her family's house to the point where I entered "The Sound of Music" overload and have yet to exit that state. I have to say, though, "watching" the movie while doing chores and tending to my mother is pleasant and my mother is thoroughly entertained, singing along, rocker-dancing, etc. As well, this edition includes the Biography channel program about the real Von Trapp family, which is enormously interesting, so much so that we found ourselves searching through movie scenes afterwards to compare fact with fiction.

Labels: biography, musical, period, romance, spectacle

# posted by gail @ 22:40    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  Pure delight for both Mom and me. This is a keeper and one we'll watch frequently.

Labels: biography, historical, musical, shared-favorite

# posted by gail @ 17:11    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  I have, for a long time, been shy about mentioning my adoration for this movie. Something about the way it's put together from the beginning. Something about its nonmusical musical quality. Something about its datedness, which was dated when it was made and thus makes it a period piece. Something about the coarse vulnerability of the characters. Something about the title song. Mom likes watching it because it's a dance movie. That's good enough for me.

Labels: drama, me-favorite, musical, period

# posted by gail @ 17:05    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  Mom has never cared for Barbra Streisand, neither her voice nor her presence. I have always adored Barbra Streisand without question. Having said this, we both enjoyed this movie and Mom has a few other Barbra Streisand favorites, like Nuts and Yentl, neither of which we've yet collected. She also has a problem with Omar Shariff. She considers him overwhelming. I think he's great in this movie.

Labels: biography, dramedy, musical, period, romance

# posted by gail @ 02:20    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  *1*
3. Commentary:  I bought this sight unseen based on television previews. Although I don't have a fascination with Bobby Darin, I do have a fascination with the song of the movie title and I love watching Kevin Spacey do a tour de force. Mom enjoyed the fairy tale quality of the story, was pleasantly surprised at the constant introduction of the kid, but thought that the nasty marriage backstory could have been dumped. I thought Kate Bosworth was amazing as Sandra Dee.

Labels: biography, musical

# posted by gail @ 02:15    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  *1*
3. Commentary:  This movie has obsessed me since it was first advertised when I was a nascent teenager. For some reason, I hyped the possible experience up in my mind to the place where I found the movie disappointing and was embarrassed (in the way young teens are) that I liked the movie. But, the summer of the year we (my sisters and I as a group) saw it, we also spent that summer on vacation singing all the songs from the movie, working out harmonies, etc. My decision to buy the movie was of the gut and immediate when I noticed the commercial, last year, for the "limited release" of an edition of this movie. I snapped it up and I'm glad I did. We've watched it maybe four times since then, and sing our way through the movie when we view it. During one viewing I made a savory stew and it was as though The Spirit of Mary Poppins inhabited our house. And, I'm no longer embarrassed to admit this! So there!

Labels: kids, mom-favorite, musical, period

# posted by gail @ 07:19    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M
2. Mentions:  *1* (added 2/10/05 after watching movie)
3. Commentary:  So, I was wrong. There is one movie that Mom has seen that I have not...this one. In fact, she was the one who suggested we get it, when Costco has it, when we saw a commercial on TV for the dvd. She may have seen it at MCF's house...we visited there a lot up until just about a year and a half ago. Anyway, I'm not quite sure this is the movie she is remembering...I'm thinking she must be thinking of some kind of Liberace production type of movie, but she insists this is the one.
       Which is fine with me. I am, generally, a Roman Polanski fan, and usually try to watch all his movies. I hadn't yet thought of owning them. This should be an interesting start.

Labels: drama, musical, period, war

# posted by gail @ 15:20    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  *1*
3. Commentary:  Watching this movie is pure delight for my mother. Although she appreciates children's or 'family' musicals, considers them, "very nice", her preference is for adult musicals. Recently, when we were watching a Broadway retrospective on PBS, she mentioned, while "Sweeney Todd" was being reviewed, that she thought she'd "enjoy that one".
       My mother is a big fan of cross dressing and love/gender complications in movies. Add Julie Andrews, Robert Preston and James Garner and my mother will buy a ring side seat.

Labels: comedy, gender-bender, mom-favorite, musical, period

# posted by gail @ 01:53    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  I supposedly got these for my mother. She haunts cable looking for replays of the That's Entertainment series. I have to admit, though, I really enjoy them. They are especially good for generating energy. My mother and I both sing along to them. Sometimes, I dance along to them, too. Just for your info, the 4th disc, "Treasures from the Vault", is repetitious and boring. Don't bother.

Labels: collection, dance, documentary, historical, mom-favorite, musical

# posted by gail @ 19:18    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  Neither of us has seen this one
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  This is one of only two dvds I've intentionally bought without viewing the presentation.
       The other was The Mosquito Coast and, being a Peter Weir movie, I was destined to own it whether I liked it or not. It is my least favorite, so far, of all the Peter Weir films I've seen. I consider Master and Commander more worth another watch than this one.
       Anyway, I bought this one strictly from seeing Jamie Foxx on Inside the Actors Studio a couple of Sunday's ago. Mom and I both watched that episode and when I told her last week I'd bought the movie, she was pleased. But, we haven't yet seen it. I can't wait.
       We finally watched the movie. Jamie Foxx's performence is dazzling, the music is good, the story is fairly interesting. We've only seen it once. I've kept it because of the "Hit the Road Jack" sequence and some of the other music, but, well, I don't know when we'll watch it again.

Labels: biography, drama, musical

# posted by gail @ 19:09    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  This is one of our family classics. We both watch it for Joel Grey's performance as the MC. Mom get's bored with the story and the subtleties, though; for her it's a case of "say-mo, say-mo". Not a frequent feature in our house.

Labels: drama, musical, period

# posted by gail @ 23:09    0 comments    email......this post