Saturday, July 11, 2009

Play It Again Sam

[Q| Here's another mash-up theme song, this time from Warner Brothers.

At the beginning of each WB movie, the theme of "As Time Goes By" (from "Casablanca") is heard as the WB shield ripples across the screen.

As the lyrics are sung, it's easy to morph into "I've Grown Accustomed to Your Face" from "My Fair Lady".

"Hearts filled with passion, jealousy and hate
Woman needs man and man must have his mate..."
"Your smiles, your frowns
Your ups, your downs..."

I suspect one can morph back to the original song.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Sunday In New York

[Q| Three days, $120, twenty movies, 45 hours... not unlike a comicbook convention.

We start with Oliver! and end with Tommy.

Oliver!... Ah, the good old days, when movies had intermissions and overtures sans pictures. I was a bit sceptical about this Best Picture, but was won over with the first big musical number in the London markets. Enjoyable, but needs to be seen in a movie palace.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was the biggest disappointment. Overrated. What did the title have to do with the story? There was no song with that title. And... Piggy was going to let MM rot in jail, after stealing the tiara back from her... but then he owns a diamond mine in apartheid South Africa, so his morals are probably rawther questionable...

An American In Paris was the most popular movie, although all films had decent audiences. I napped during the concert fantasy, but a large coffee got me through the rest of the day. The required Gene Kelly Dance Fantasy was too long, but Leslie Caron... le sigh...

On The Town has some interesting similarities to Hair. Hair has a better soundtrack (best part: draft center), but also some anachronisms (set in 1967ish, shot in 1978ish) like the Citicorp Building in the establishing shot of New York. Lots of great actors in the backgrounds.

The marathon ended with Tommy, an actual opera.. Interesting design and cinematography, but the story...eh. Who knew Jack Nicholson could sing?

Overall, a good selection of musicals. I hear the Bye Bye Birdie is playing downtown, so I might add that as a coda.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Lips!

Okay... just came *snicker* from watching the Rocky Horror Picture Show... not a big crowd, not a lot of adlibs, but there was rain.

Earlier, Pal Joey, which I had seen and then forgotten (how could I forgot Kim Novak in that green dress?)

Love Me Or Leave Me is the unknown gem of this series. Doris Day playing a determined singer who chooses the wrong man. Lots of pain and suffering, with an almost happy ending. I cannot compare it to A Star Is Born, since I haven't seen that yet.

The only miscue of this series is not showing West Side Story. Lincoln Center is the neighborhood, "America" is a great song for the Fourth of July, it won the Best Picture Oscar, and the talent on this movie is stellar.

Six more movies tomorrow.