Just to let you know...

That I haven't fallen off the face of the earth or become trapped in a parallel universe a lá Doomsday. I'm participating in the self-afflicted torture known as NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). In case you're not familiar with it, the general idea is to write a 50,000+ words novel in 30 days. This means that you need to be writing about 1667 words per day if you want to finish my November 30. I'm currently lagging 4500 words behind with only 5564 words. Still, it's only 6 days since it started and I haven't had the time to write on two of those days so I'm not doing too badly. I suppose...

Because my novel actually has something to do with classic film, I thought I'd give share with you a (very) vague synopsis. No, really, it is the vaguest synopsis you will ever read. HOLD ONTO YOUR HATS, PEOPLE.

Eve Lynne, an actress who came to fame during the heyday of Hollywood's studio system, looks back on her life after the filming of her final picture has finished. From her beginnings as the daughter of an upper middle class English couple to her international stardom, it's hard to believe how far she's come. 

I know, right? It just screams best seller. No, but in all seriousness, I'm pretty much winging it. And my quest to be as historically accurate as possible (how does one find out who supervised the casting process in Gold Diggers of 1933? Craziness.) is driving me insane. I am, however, determined to finish the novel - although it's doubtful that it will ever see the light of day again and November 30.

Anyway, the whole point of this post was to let you all know that there may be a significant lack of posts throughout November. I do have several ideas for posts though, so perhaps I'll find some time to write them.  Who am I kidding, I probably won't survive NaNoWriMo. If you don't hear from me again, it's been lovely folks! And now, I'll leave you with a song that I've been playing on repeat since I watched Walk the Line the other week. Enjoy!

    

100 Essential Classic Films: Part 2 (90-81)

Here I am with Part 2 of my 100 Essential Classic Films list. I hope you enjoy reading about my choices and once again, don't forget to let me know what you think about them! :)

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#90 It, 1927

Dir.: Clarence G. Badger

Starring: Clara Bow, Antonio Moreno, William Austin

IMDb says: A salesgirl with plenty of "it" pursues a handsome playboy.

Why I picked it: It will forever be one of my favourite silent films and, as such, it's definitely one that I would show to a silent film newbie. Not only is it a wonderful example of the "fluffy" silent film genre, it's also quite snappy and as such is perfect for those used to watching the much more fast paced modern films.

#89 Heaven Can Wait, 1943

Dir.: Ernst Lubitsch

Starring: Don Ameche, Gene Tierney, Charles Coburn

IMDb says: An old roué arrives in Hades to review his life with Satan, who will rule on his eligibility to enter the Underworld.

Why I picked it: Heaven Can Wait is an utterly charming film filled with wonderful actors, beautiful costumes (made even more gorgeous by Technicolor), and an intriguing plot. Don Ameche gives a particularly brilliant performance as the endearing cad, Henry Van Cleve.

#88 The Apartment, 1960

Dir.: Billy Wilder

Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacClaine

IMDb says: A man tries to rise in his company by letting its executives use his apartment for trysts, but complications and a romance of his own ensue.

Why I picked it: The Apartment is romantic dramedy with a difference: Billy Wilder's masterful use of the dark twist. The world isn't a place of rainbows, unicorns, and fairytale romances, but maybe eventually everything will work out OK. Lemmon and MacClaine make about the sweetest on-screen couple that you will ever see.

#87 High Society, 1956

Dir.: Charles Walters

Starring: Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Celeste Holm, John Lund

TCM says: In this musical version of The Philadelphia Story, tabloid reporters invade a society wedding

Why I picked it: The poor, younger, musical sister of The Philadelphia Story is often been frowned upon by lovers of the original film, but if you try to forget that it's Grace Kelly taking Katharine Hepburn's place as Tracy Lord (I know... what?!!) then you might just find yourself really enjoying it. It has some truly hilarious moments and everything with Frank and Celeste is pure gold.

#86 Sorry, Wrong Number, 1948

Dir.: Anatole Litvak

Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Burt Lancaster

IMDb says: Whilst on the telephone, an invalid woman overhears what she thinks is a plot to murder her.

Why I picked it: Sorry, Wrong Number is a film that will have your nerves in shreds by the end. Although you do start to realise what's going to happen sooner than Leona (Stanywck's character) does, the ending won't fail to send chills up and down your spine. It's a thriller of the highest degree!

#85 City Lights, 1931

Dir.: Charlie Chaplin

Starring: Charlie Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill, Florence Lee

IMDb says: The Tramp struggles to help a blind flower girl he has fallen in love with.

Why I picked it: The silent, loving gestures made by Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp towards a blind, young flower girl with whom he has fallen love with in City Lights, hit home with more force than the love scenes in possibly any films since. If you want to watch silent films, here's your starting point.

#84 Mr. and Mrs. Smith, 1941

Dir.: Alfred Hitchcock

Starring: Carole Lombard, Robert Montgomery, Gene Raymond

IMDb says: Not a typical Hitchcock movie, this is a comedy about a couple who learn that their marriage was not valid.

Why I picked it: There is nothing better than a Hitchcockian comedy. It's not something you expect, almost like when you bite into something that you think will taste one way but ends up tasting so much better! But Hitchcock's films are scattered with (dark) humour much more than most people realise and, not surprisingly since he can do no wrong, he excels at the romcom just as much as he excels at the psychological thriller.

#83 The Grapes of Wrath, 1940

Dir.: John Ford

Starring: Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, John Carradine, Charley Grapewin

IMDb says: A poor Midwest family is forced off of their land. They travel to California, suffering the misfortunes of the homeless in the Great Depression.

Why I picked it: The Grapes of Wrath deals with the Great Depression in a brutally honest and painful way. It's remains a stringent reminder of the hardships borne by the working class people who lived during the Thirties. Definitely not a film to miss.

#82 Since You Went Away, 1944

Dir.: John Cromwell

Starring: Claudette Colbert, Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Shirley Temple

IMDb says: While husband Tim is away during World War II, Anne Hilton copes with problems on the homefront.

Why I picked it: As someone who grew up with war films that were almost all depicted from a British home front perspective, when I first saw Since You Went Away I was a bit sceptical as to whether a film about the vastly different American home front could ever be as brilliant as "our" WWII films. I was pleasantly surprised. Although it has a completely different feel to the British films I'm used too, it's beautiful, poignant film of epic proportions (almost 3 hours long!) that every classic film fanatic should see.

#81 The Innocents, 1961

Dir.: Jack Clayton

Starring: Deborah Kerr, Peter Wyngarde, Megs Jenkins, Michael Redgrave

IMDb says: A young governess for two children becomes convinced that the house and grounds are haunted.

Why I picked it: A more chilling, haunting film you'll never see. The Innocents plays creepy tricks with your mind, something that the incredible cinematography only perpetuates. If you get the chance to see this film, don't pass it up!

An Awful Victory (poll results)

The Awful Truth won out as the most popular film from my first batch of 100 Essential Classic Films with 9 of the 30 votes.

In second place came Seven Brides For Seven Brothers with 6 votes.

After that came Camille, The Heiress, Ninotchka and Funny Face each with 3 votes. Psycho and Grand Hotel followed with 2 votes and 1 vote respectively. Marked Woman and Oliver! didn't have a look in as neither of them received a vote.

I'll be posting the next instalment of 100 Essential Classic Films shortly, so stay tuned for that and for the poll! :)

New Poll!

I have a new poll up (it's over there in the sidebar :) ) asking you which of the 10 films I posted for the first part of my 100 Essential Classic Films series is your favourite. I thought it would a fun thing to do alongside each one of the series posts. Anyway, just a heads up so that we can get lots of people voting! :D 

Oh, and because this isn't much of a post, here's a photo of shocked!Deborah.

What I watch when I'm not watching oldies (part 1)

After reading Clara's post this morning about how she hasn't seen a classic film since last month, I was inspired to write about what I'm watching when I'm not watching something made between 1910-1960. It's something I've wanted to write about for a while because there are so many tv series and films that I love to pieces but that definitely don't fall under the "classics" category. So, I hope you enjoy this slightly different post! 

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This year I've watched a lot of tv series but my two biggest tv watching endeavours have definitely been watching House and The Golden Girls. They boast 14 series between them and I'd never really seen any of the episodes before so it did take me a while to wade through the series. Well, it took me just over 2 weeks to watch all 180 episodes of TGG, but it took me at least a couple of months to get through House. I highly recommend both series. House is really fascinating and humorous and The Golden Girls is just plain wonderful!

Whilst I do greatly love the two series I mentioned above, the two tv series that really stole my heart this year were Matador (which actually has nothing at all to do with bull fighting. I wrote about it here) and Band of Brothers. I devour anything to do with WWII, so when my Dad bought the BoB box set I just had to watch it. Let me tell you, nothing will ever be the same again. You know something is going to be good when Spielberg and Hanks collaborate on it, but nothing can prepare you for the incredibleness of this mini series. After I watched the last episode (it's a ten part mini series), I cried and cried. I cried not so much because I'd just finished watching an incredible piece of television, but because the story is just so powerful and the ending really knocks the wind out of you. Even the most hard hearted person in the world would get emotional over it. As Orson Welles (I think) said about Make Way For Tomorrow, "It would make a stone cry.". What makes it all the more amazing is that fact that it actually happened. Obviously, there is going to be some tweaking here and there, but nevertheless, these men were real people who were unimaginably courageous and strong. At the beginning of each episode some of the surviving men from Easy Company are shown talking about the events that are being shown to us in the series, and it really makes the realities of the whole experience hit home. I honestly can't recommend Band of Brothers enough. If you don't mind quite a bit of swearing and a blood and guts, then you should go ahead and check it out! I recommend reading the book written by Stephen Ambrose as well. I'm currently reading it and it's really fascinating and gives you a lot more insight into the mini series. 

I also watched The Pacific this year, which is sort of (not really) the sister series to Band of Brothers except that, instead of being set mainly in Europe, it's set in, you guessed it, the Pacific. Again, it's a truly incredible piece of television, but it's not quite up there with BoB in my books.

A couple of weeks ago I discovered Downton Abbey. Let me tell you, Elizabeth McGovern is a life ruiner ;D But, in all seriousness, it's a wonderful tv series and, lucky for me, living in Britain I'm able to see the new episodes as they air! Eep! It makes a change from having to wait months for American tv series until they air over here. Something that makes the series all the more wonderful for me is the fact that it's set in the county I live so I know all of the names of the towns that they mention. And also, the actress who plays Anna comes from a little village just outside my home town! :D Oh, and did I mention that they totally rip off (or pay tribute to) the flower contest scene in Mrs. Miniver during one of the first series episodes. Cora Crawley even has a huge Greer Garson-esque hat!

The Countess of Grantham, is better than you. And so is her hat.

Something a little more "random" (omg, your bins are so random!) that I watched this year was the Australian mockumentary, Summer Heights High. If you got the quote above you are awesome. All of the episodes are on YouTube and it's so hilarious and brilliant. 

Currently I'm plowing through The X-Files because I finally decided it was time to bite the bullet and watch all the episodes that I haven't seen before (most of them). It's somewhat shocking that I haven't already seen all of the show because Gillian Anderson is my absolute favourite modern actress (she ranks just a teeny tiny bit behind Deborah for all time favourite) and, whilst I've seen a large amount of her films and other tv work (Bleak House is what introduced me to her 6 years ago. I've never looked back.) I've always been too much of a scaredy cat to take much interest in TX-F. My Dad and brother both love it, but I have never seen a true horror film (well, modern horror film at least) because I know I won't sleep for days (I even had a nightmares when I heard Spotify playing the Paranormal Activity 2 trailer in between songs once...). There is at least one episode of TX-F that I know I'll never watch, Die Hand die verletzt. It terrified my father and brother so much that they couldn't watch it, so I'm not even going to try. If there are any big fans of the show reading this, I'd appreciate it if you could let me know of any other episodes similar to the one I just mentioned so I can quietly skip past those too! 

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Well, I think that's all for now! I really enjoyed writing this though, so perhaps, if people are interested, I'll make another post about my "old favourites". You know, things I can watch over and over and will most probably force upon any offspring I may have... Just let me know what you  all think! Hope you enjoyed reading!