Passages

[domino harvey]

I think I've only seen her in Singin in the Rain-- what's a good Charisse musical to add to the queue?

[zedz]

I think I've only seen her in Singin in the Rain-- what's a good Charisse musical to add to the queue?

They don't come better than The Band Wagon - quite literally.

[Cold Bishop]

You must see The Band Wagon.

EDIT: Beat to the punch, but not suprisingly. It is one of the best, if not the best of the Hollywood Musicals.

[domino harvey]

Awesome, thanks for the suggestions guys!

[devlinnn]

Can I just add her sublime 10 minutes in Silk Stockings as she gets ready for bed (I really was never the same after seeing this as a kid), all of the fabulous Meet Me in Las Vegas, her shoulder line in Brigadoon, the way she made you forget On an Island with Youwas an Esther Williams vechile, the way she wore her blouse in The Harvey Girls.

[Bete_Noire]

Maybe this means Nicholas Ray's Party Girl will finally get a R1 DVD release!

Ah, wishful thinking.

[zedz]

While she was never going to be one of the great actors, she was just fabulous with her two best directors, Minelli and Ray. And in all her other pictures she proves unequivocally the axiom that 90% of screen performance is about photogenuity, movement in space and grace.

I think Charisse in her best roles is the ultimate exemplar of this. It's not even as if the films work despite, or because of, her dramatic limitations: that consideration just seems completely irrelevant. 'Dancing in the Dark' shows just how much more expressive of character pure movement can be than 'acting'.

However, if you want to see Cyd at her best without recourse to dance, check out the nice little noir Tension, in Warner's last box.

[Michael]

I think I've only seen her in Singin in the Rain-- what's a good Charisse musical to add to the queue?

They don't come better than The Band Wagon - quite literally.

Seconded. If I remember correctly, Charisse said in one of the extras on the Bandwagon DVD that Dancing in the Dark was her favorite of all her career. I watched that scene on crummy youtube as I got ready for work this morning, already feeling overwhelmed for the day. It's utterly exquisite.

The Band Wagon will play on TCM next week.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Jean Delannoy

PARIS (AFP) — French filmmaker Jean Delannoy, who was crowned at the 1946 Cannes film festival for "La symphonie pastorale" (Pastoral Symphony), has died at age 100, his family said Thursday ...

He died one week after Jean Desailly, who had a prominent role in La Symphony Pastorale.

[Knappen]

RIP

Time to finally watch Maigret tend un piège and Les Amitiés particulières.

[Cold Bishop]

Hopefully this starts a critical reevaluation on the man's work, as he's really one of the Cahiers casualties who really needs restoring to favor.

At the least L'Éternel retour should finally get out on DVD for its Cocteau connection. And Les Jeux sont faits for it's Sartre.

[domino harvey]

George Carlin

[cdnchris]

George Carlin

This is just WAY TOO much the last little while.

[Cinephrenic]

simply....legend. Sad lose. America needs more people like him.

[jt]

Very very sad. As good a stand-up as anyone in the world and was just starting to try straight acting. A big loss.

[flyonthewall2983]

I had the pleasure of seeing him live four years ago. Despite his various health problems over the years, he never lost his edge. The deaths so far this year have been staggering, and it's not even July

[HerrSchreck]

George Carlin

Godammit.

Wasn't ready for George to check out yet.

Fuck.

(as if one could be "ready".. but the dude was still vital and I would have like to have him around for the next election..)

In Tim Russert news, Brokaw is announced as the MTP replacement at least until the election.

[flyonthewall2983]

His last appearance on television (that I know of anyway).

[esl]

Time to finally watch Maigret tend un piège and Les Amitiés particulières.

Watched Les Amitiés particulières on Youtube a few weeks ago with english subs. Is it available on DVD with english subtitles? I see a R2 version on Amazon France but no indication of any subtitles.

[Person]

George Carlin was probably the greatest comedian of all time. Often, he wasn't funny at all - because he didn't intend to be - he just brazenly told the truth about the human condition. His last HBO special featured many non-comedic monologues, this one being the most hard to laugh off:

21st Century America

The Carlinian worldview is very much like a modern version of H. L. Mencken's worldview. Mencken, it seems to me, was the originator of the idea of modern life being a circus, a freak show, "with America being the front row seats," and that one should not expect it to get saner or fairer, and that one should sit back and enjoy the show. 9/11 and the Bush Show upped the ante and has made the world more vital - it woke people up to how fucked up the world is. Every day, we are now besieged with reports of environmental decay, moral decay, political decay, economical decay , cultural decay and on and on. Carlin had a great piece on this:

Saving the Fucking Planet!

Along with Mencken, I often think of Carlin as, 'the Schopenhauer of stand-up comedy' in that he held a pessimistic worldview and ranted against the ills of the world, but somehow didn't let that get him down, forming a contentment out of it. And like the great philosopher, I doubt that Carlin was in the least bit bothered about being dead, but he would have wanted to know how the Story of Mankind ends. We will have to be his eyes now.

Enjoy the nothingness, George!

[Donald Brown]

Carlin was named this year's winner of the Mark Twain Award shortly before he died. There could be no more deserving recipient. Few social commentators possess his piercing wit and insight, and besides that, he was just plain funny.

[colinr0380]

Ji Jung-Hyeon who worked on Oldboy, Public Enemy and Mongol among other films.

[chaddoli]

Been watching clips on YouTube all day and stumbled across this gem.

[tavernier]

That's classic Carlin!

[chaddoli]

From HBO:

HBO will remember George Carlin this week with encore presentations of many of his HBO specials. The specials span his association with the network, from his first HBO special (“George Carlin at USC”) to his last (“It’s Bad for Ya”).

“George Carlin: It’s Bad for Ya,” which debuted on the network in March, will be seen on the main HBO channel this Friday, June 27 at 9:00 p.m. (ET/PT).

In addition, HBO2 will present 11 of his specials over two nights. The HBO2 schedule is (all times ET/PT):

Wednesday, June 25
8:00 p.m. George Carlin at USC (1977)
9:30 p.m. George Carlin Again! (1978)
11:00 p.m. Carlin at Carnegie (1983)
midnight Carlin on Campus (1984)
1:00 a.m. Playin’ with Your Head (1986)

Thursday, June 26
8:00 p.m. What Am I Doing in New Jersey? (1988)
9:00 p.m. Doin’ It Again (1990)
10:00 p.m. Jammin’ in New York (1992)
11:00 p.m. Back in Town (1996)
12:05 a.m. You Are All Diseased (1999)
1:00 a.m. It’s Bad for Ya (2008)

The retrospective skips Life Is Worth Losing (2005) and Complaints and Grievances (2001), don't know why but still a classy act by HBO. I will be enjoying both evenings.