She Blogged By Night

It's a new year, and all I can hope for 2009 is that it doesn't suck as much as 2008 did. That's a pretty low bar for 2009 to reach, yet I'm not at all confident 2009 will reach this goal. We'll see.


Let's get the administrative junk out of the way. The About the Blog post has been revamped, as has the Edits post. I've made several edits to posts recently, the most notable being: Added information I received from Jeremy Morgan to the Mrs. Potter post, added links to Louie's blog in my El Brendel post, and created a new "Wife vs Secretary" photo gallery.


Now, on with the fun. It was a film-filled holiday here at Casa del Stacia, which I thought I would share with you all, because it fulfills my need to constantly tell you all about my fabulously fabulous life.


Just before Christmas I rented "The Man Who Came to Dinner" again. My husband hadn't seen it before, it's a terrific holiday film, and watching it again reminded me just how wickedly funny it is. I think this film more than any other proves wrong those who say Bette Davis doesn't really act but just plays herself.


Part of the reason I watched it, though, was because of Ann Sheridan's blouse. And if you don't recall what I'm talking about, let me show you:


Hubba. Hubba. Not only is she wearing some clingy flimsy fabric with nothing underneath -- and looking even better than Jean Harlow while doing so -- but those buttons? They're hands. Hands in the grabby-grabby position, allegedly keeping her blouse closed, but who knows what they're really thinking. At one point Monty Wooley, who is in a wheelchair and therefore eye level with the most prominent aspects of her blouse, can't keep his eyes off them. Positively hysterical. How this film got so much past the censors is beyond me.

I recently purchased some movies from Sunrise Silents who were kind enough to include a snazzy holiday DVD with my order. The DVD included the Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle short "Mabel's New Hero", which features Arbuckle in what my husband accurately labeled "comedy pants".


"Comedy pants" is the hot new catchphrase of 2009! Use it today!

My husband got a pair of sweats for Christmas which were humorously oversized; they, of course, were quickly dubbed "comedy pants". The sight of my husband in comedy pants made me laugh so hard it cured my hiccups. True story.

Arbuckle allegedly said, "I've never used my weight to get a laugh. That is, used my size as the subject for humor. You never saw me stuck in a door-way or stuck in a chair." Yet in "Mabel's New Hero" he does break a chair when sitting on it, and of course a lot of kids laugh at him because of the swimsuit he's wearing, which wouldn't be as funny if he wasn't fat.

On the basis of this clip on YouTube, I bought my husband the Cynthia Rothrock masterpiece "Undefeatable" (a.k.a. "Cui hua kuang mo", 1993), which may just be the best movie ever made in the history of the universe. Bad acting, paper-thin plot, the power mullet on the bad guy and Rothrock's face being curiously hidden during all of the more athletic and esoteric stunts -- it's almost as though she wasn't the person performing the stunts! -- make this a terrific early-90s Z-grade martial arts flick. If you're into this genre of film, you must watch this movie. The DVD is available for something like £3 on Amazon UK. That means you need a region free DVD player, but if you want to see the best martial arts films, you need a region free DVD player so you can play the films released only in Hong Kong and/or the UK.

Speaking of region free, I received a copy of "Quatermass and the Pit" (the Hammer film, 1967) for Christmas. It's out of print in the U.S. now and used copies sell for 9 frajillion dollars, but you can get the UK version for £5 on Amazon UK. Maybe I'm pushing Amazon UK a bit here, but I gotta tell you, if I could hug an online store, I'd hug the hell out of Amazon UK.

Hope you all had a great holiday and have a wonderful, or at least accordion-free, 2009.

EDIT: It's come to my attention that I was not nominated for Best Business Blog this year. AHEM. I don't understand how this could be! After all that solid stock advice I gave you on September 15th, which lead to the terrific stock market rally of the 16th and beyond. Honestly, it's like you people aren't even paying attention.

In celebration of the upcoming holidays -- beginning with the winter solstice today and continuing on to Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa -- I thought I'd post one of my favorite holiday videos: Turkey Lurkey Time from the 1968 play "Promises, Promises". Featured are Donna McKechnie, Baayork Lee, and Margo Sappington.



In the same vein, Gwen Verdon and company perform to "Mexican Breakfast" on a (probably 1967) episode of The Ed Sullivan Show. Not the best quality, but there is a better albeit smaller version here. I wish "Mexican Breakfast" from this show was available -- it's not the version from the "Harper" soundtrack, so I assume it was performed by the show's house band.



I could watch these all day.

Due to the holidays and general time constraints, I am back on hiatus until the first of the year. If I finish some summaries, though, they'll go up as soon as they're ready.

See you next year.

Ibetolis at Film for the Soul tagged me for the Twenty Actresses Meme. Five days ago. So yes, I'm shamefully behind on my blogging, but I also suck in another way: I almost couldn't come up with 20 actresses I like. Why? Because I like actors more. There, I said it.

Of course I had to ponder this for a while. In real life I don't prefer men over women, so why should I in movie life?

It's because they have better roles. And there's more of them. And I find myself wanting to be the male characters simply because they tend to be more intellectual, active, and interesting. The male characters experience life while the female characters tend to be used as objects to illustrate the movie's philosophy as portrayed through the male. I don't want to be Susan Alexander, I want to be Charles Foster Kane! Not to mention that serious dramas focusing on women in real life roles -- and not as some sexy secretary girlfriend of the male hero -- all but disappeared after the early 1950s. Nothing passes the Bechdel Test anymore.

This meme originated at Film Experience, where I discover I'm not the only one who likes actors better. Like Movie Viewing Girl, I wonder if I'm just jealous or catty when I say I prefer actors. I won't deny the possibility.

With all that yammering out of the way, here are my 20 favorite actresses:

Bette Davis was my first favorite actress. I admit I decided she was my favorite actress because I thought she "should" be, not because I was familiar with her work. That was when I was a kid, though, and now that I'm an old feeb I realize what a powerful actress she could be. Several months ago I gave up on a forum because a male poster there honestly said he didn't like Davis because he just didn't care for those strong, modern types of women. He was referring to "The Letter", a movie that is 68 years old. Yes, those modern women from 1940 are pretty scary, aren't they?



When I was trying to think of female role models I had as a child growing up in the 70s and 80s, I could only come up with one: Miss Piggy. I am not joking. She was smart, confident, beautiful, strong, and suffered no fools. She would karate chop your ass if you screwed with her.



Marie Prevost is my current obsession. Plan on seeing a lot of her around here in the near future.



I love Joan. She wasn't a good actress, a great beauty or a good dancer, but she was genuine and strong. She gave us so much wacky camp later in her career that she is elevated to goddess-like status in my eyes.




Deborah Kerr is probably my favorite actress. She is unflinching and sensible in almost every role she plays, giving an accessible quality to characters that otherwise may seem far too difficult for us to identify with.



Judy Davis is a gem. One of our best modern actresses, no question.



Uma Thurman is another terrific modern actress.



Victoria Abril is the only non-English-speaking actress on this list, mainly because I suck all to hell and don't watch enough foreign films.



Agnes Moorehead seems like she was a real pain in the butt in real life, but I love her acting.



Clara Bow. I wish I could go back in time and be her friend. I don't care if that sounds juvenile, it's true, and thbpt to you if you don't like it. One of my favorite moments is in "It" when Clara chews out the welfare workers. You can clearly read her lips as she tells them to "Fuck off!"


Marie Dressler's broad acting style was incredibly charming. I'd want to be friends with her, too. There is no way we could ever have a popular actress like Marie nowadays -- even now articles and blog entries about her always start out with "Despite being so fat and old, people loved Marie Dressler" -- and that's an absolute shame.



I LOVE KAY FRANCIS.



Elsa Lanchester is tons of fun in anything. Gorgeous as The Bride, hysterical as the spunky Miss Marbles in "Murder By Death", always intelligent and charming.



Rita Hayworth was probably more personality than actress, but she is so compelling that I can't stop looking at her.


I've always thought Ann Sheridan had the perfect mix of innocence and straightforwardness. And that outfit she wears in "The Man Who Came To Dinner"... wow. WOW. I can't believe the censors didn't pitch a fit over that blouse.



I adore Judy Garland, but halfway keep it to myself. Lots of people in classic cinema forums loathe her. She was also in "The Wizard of Oz", and if you've lived in Kansas as long as I have, then you'll know how complicated it is to admit to liking anything about that movie.




I love character actors, and the next three are no exception. Glenda Farrell is sassy, especially in "The Mystery of the Wax Museum". You know, back when women played hard-hitting reporters that got into dangerous adventures and investigated mysteries. I swear, Bonita Granville's Nancy Drew saw more excitement than any modern female stars today.



Joan Blondell is a terrific character actress, the best thing about a lot of 1930s pre-codes.



Gillian Anderson hasn't been in many films so it's kind of weird to list her, but I loved her in the PBS series "Bleak House", in the film "House of Mirth", and of course "X-Files", so she gets included. And I love her voice.


Kate Winslet is so good, I'll forgive her for that atrocity committed to cinema. You know the one, with the boat? That one. (Edit: I apparently stole this image from Nick at Nick's Flick Picks and I didn't even mean to! Grateful credit and thanks go to Nick.)

Because I am so late in finishing my meme I won't tag any one, but if this inspires any of you to do the meme yourself, let me know and I'll post a link here.

Check 'em out:

The Beerman posted his list here
Jack Pendarvis posted his list in comments

Good morning, my little turlingdromes. Er, I mean turtledoves. Sorry.

What are some of your favorite moments in movies? And I do mean moments: a few words, a furtive glance, a small detail within a bigger scene.

You know me, I have dozens of these favorite moments, but I'll just list a few (and I'll try to avoid spoilers):


"The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" (2004): Ned remembers to call Zissou "Stevesy" even after the helicopter crash. Heartbreaking.

"The Innocents" (1961): When Miss Giddens kneels on the ground and shouts "Miles!" to the heavens. Chills my very soul, every time.

"Metoroporisu" (a.k.a. "Metropolis" ) (2001): Tima holding on to the bridge, crying out "Kenichi!" over and over again, to the strains of a Ray Charles classic blaring so loudly it almost drowns out the chaos around them all.

"Just Imagine" (1930): Single O's bashful yet curious expression when Loko makes it known that he finds Single O cute. Adorable!

So tell me some of your favorites!

Pictured is Joyzelle Joyner and Ivan Linow (Loko) from "Just Imagine."

As always, a moving tribute to those in the film industry who left us in 2008. It's been a rough year. I never realize just how rough until I watch the montage and see those I thought were still with us.



Note: The version TCM showed Friday evening just before 7:00 PM Central had Van Johnson in it, but I don't believe this version does. I'll post an update later.

Final update: As of January 1st I still can't find the video on the TCM site, but Moira at Skeins of Thought has the edited version with Van Johnson in it here. They removed Roberta Collins from the montage and added Van Johnson, which is a bit unfortunate.

As about 100 people in comments have mentioned, the song playing in the tribute is "God Only Knows" by Joe Henry.

I lied. I missed not doing the Monday Morning Question, so they're back sooner than expected. And today you also get The Monday Morning Request for Help and the Monday Morning Announcement! Yippee!

The Request for Help: I would like to direct everyone to a charity auction and fundraiser for Vera Nazarian, creator of Norilana Books. Vera is losing her home due to foreclosure, and many of her friends and colleagues have formed a LiveJournal community to help her. You can read about her story here, where you can also donate via Paypal. If you'd rather offer something on auction or bid on one of the auctions -- all proceeds from the auctions go to help Vera -- the details are here. Note that you must have a LiveJournal account to participate in auctions, but only need a Paypal account for donations.

I hope some of you can spare a dollar or two to help Vera out. There are a lot of amazing things up for auction as well.

The Announcement: Because of asshole spammers, I am now turning off comments on various posts as they get targeted. A note will be appended to any post that has comments turned off. If this upsets you, please take it out on a spammer by punching them in the neck. Thank you.

The Question: My question is just a general one: What movies have you watched lately? What did you like, what did you hate?

You may have noticed I've been fiddling with the sidebars. A couple weeks ago I added a new section called "Recently Watched", which I try to keep updated with everything I've seen. It's been eye-opening, to say the least. And I think we can all agree that anyone who watches 7 movies in one day has a problem.

Lots of the movies I've seen lately were good, but I'd say that "Coma" (1978) was the real surprise. Surprisingly well done, structured nicely, built tension very well. Simple enough to be believable. Too bad they added a misguided attempt at feminism to the plot. Bujold carried her part very well, but the overdone "Damn women! Why don't they just stay at home and bring me beers?" attitudes weren't convincing or necessary. My husband and I argued over just how feminist the ending was, because

[SPOILER ALERT!]

I was angry that Bujold still had to be rescued by the big manly man at the end. My husband thinks she was intelligent and resourceful to the very end, though, and it wasn't so bad. I did notice no one questioned her ability to be a surgeon, and even nowadays we see TV shows and movies make a big deal about "women doctors", so I guess "Coma" was sort of progressive. However, the overall point of the movie was to follow the trials of a plucky young female doctor as she uncovers what those creepy immoral men are doing. You could find lesser versions of that basic idea back in the 30s. Three words: "Mary Stevens, M.D." There was also a hint of moral indignation in "Coma" at her friend having an abortion, and they made sure the friend was killed off completely for her sins.

Pictured is Alice White in some crazy art deco costume for who knows what. Ganked from Profiles in History's list of lots at their upcoming auction. Thanks to Amy Jeanne at It'll Take the Snap Out of Your Garters for pointing it out to me. There are thousands of pics to browse through; I will never sleep again.