Long time, no post!

Wow! Has it really been a month since I last posted? Sorry about that, folks. But now, I'm back and posting again! :)
First of all, I saw the movie American Graffiti. The movie highlights the last night in a small town of a group of teenagers before some of them are going off to college in 1962 (Hence the catchphrase, "Where were you in '62?"). At any rate, that movie was absolutely splendid. The music is superb (if you go to basically any 50's-themed place, they'll most likely be playing the soundtrack) and it truly is an accurate representation of growing up in the 50's and early 60's.

The other day, I watched The King's Speech for the second time. This time, though, I saw it with my dad and he thought (and I quote) that the movie, "was excellent!" So, if you haven't seen that movie yet, I highly advise you do so.

Yesterday, with nothing else to do, I watched the movie The Bad Seed. I thought it was really good, and it had an intriguing plot and neat characters. However, the ending ruined it for me. If you scroll down a bit, I'll reveal the ending to you.

Be warned! Here be spoilers...








So. The little girl, Rhoda, went to the dock where she killed the little boy Claude for his Spelling medal. Her mother had apparently thrown it back into the water (or something along those lines) so Rhoda took a net (like one to draw leaves from a pool) and began to search for it. All of this is happening during a lightning storm, and all of a sudden, lightning hits the dock and it collapses underwater, taking Rhoda down with it. Ummm.... how anticlimactic is that?

What's more, after that scene, the actors are introduced. Second-to-last is Patty McCormack, who played Rhoda, and after her is Nancy Kelly, who plays her mother, Christine. Suddenly, Christine slings Rhoda onto her knee and begins to spank her and that's the end of the movie.

Personally, I didn't like it one bit. But to each his own! So if you want to watch it, it's available on Netflix for instant streaming to either your computer or Wii.

Happy Birthday, Gloria Swanson

As it would have been Gloria Swanson's birthday today, I figured I would make a post with a little about her and my favorite movie of hers, Sunset Blvd. She was born on March 27th (today) in 1899 in Chicago, Illinois. She was the daughter of Adelaide and Joseph Theodore Swanson, and they separated when she was young. Her first film was in 1914, and she was cast as an extra in The Song of Soul. In 1916, she moved to California to further pursue her acting career. She starred in dozens of films and soon became a silent-film star.                    Here's Gloria Swanson in 1921.

And now a review on Sunset Boulevard...

What is there to say besides the fact that it is one of the best movies of all time? (It scores #6 on the list of my favorites on my "Movie" tab) And if you haven't seen it, then I highly advise that you do. It's the story of the over-the-hill silent-film star who has become a dellusional recluse, Norma Desmond, and her encounter with the young filmwriter named Joe Gillis. She imprisons him in her home and makes him write a screenplay designed specifically for her to make herself known in Hollywood again. She falls in love with him (although she is old enough to be his mother) and all the while he is having an affair with another woman. It's a truly gripping and amazing movie that I think anyone will be impacted by.

This movie holds one of the most famous lines of all time: "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up."


And the sad thing is, is that I'm sure cases such as Norma Desmond's have happened with other silent-film stars, when they just can't get past the fact that they're not famous anymore and will most likely live their lives in solitude.

...on that happy note... happy birthday to an amazing actress, Gloria Swanson.

"We didn't need dialogue. We had faces!"

Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie

Before I bought "Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie," I looked at the reviews online, and there was not one review that wasn't glowing with praise for it. I decided to buy the DVD and I am so glad I did. As I am an I Love Lucy fanatic, I've already seen tons of pictures concerning Lucy and Desi. However, I had only seen a fraction of what the movie disclosed to me. Not only are there photographs, there are also interviews with family and friends, and numerous videos that were taken with Lucille and Desi in them. It gave me a way to look at them that wasn't simply "Lucy and Ricky" from their TV show, but as a real family. It was very truthful and I would recommend it to anyone who loves Desi and Lucille (or Ricky and Lucy) or whoever would like a great documentary about great, smart, and intellectual people. I wish I had watched this before I wrote my biography on Lucille Ball; this movie gave me so much more information, on a personal level, about her, Desi, her family, her friends, and her career.

I bought it from Barnes and Noble (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/) for, I think, $18 but you can find it for $11 at Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/) and $13 at Deep Discount DVD (http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/). It's really worth buying, not just renting. From now on, I think I'll refer to it if I ever need any "Lucy Information." :)

My Favorite Movies

Here's a list of my favorite movies. Actually it's just the first 20, but I have composed a list of my top 65 favorites, so I'll share them with you a little at a time. Here's the link to the list:

My Top 20 Favorite Movies

Thanks for reading and enjoy!
PS- If you haven't seen some of these movies, I suggest that you see them. They're all masterpieces!

Also-- if you're interested in seeing a full-length list of my favorite movies, please view the Movie tab at the top of my page. :)

This is a Norman Rockwell painting called "The Movie Star." I thought it was fitting for this blog post.