Sunday, October 7, 2012

Catching Up with Quelle (3)


Classic Film Dress at the MFA - Recently I went to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and in the Contemporary Art wing I saw this:



The piece is called "Hollywood Stars Paper Dress" and it's from 1968. It's a paper dress which were popular in the late '60s. This one was made by Universal Studios to promote their biggest stars. Actors and Actresses featured on the dress include Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, Steve McQueen, Julie Andrews, Paul Newman, Henry Fonda, Kirk Douglas, and more. I really dislike Contemporary Art (I'm more traditional) but I loved this piece!

Classic movies seem to follow me everywhere!

It's so hard to pass up a good sale - I was at B&N with Carlos the other day and we were browsing in their Music & Movies section. We stumbled upon this great selection of DVDs for 50% off. With the discount, most of them were $7.50 or $10.


These were the ones I really wanted: 



I asked people on Twitter what I should get and several people suggested their favorites. While I was narrowing down my selection to my 5 must-haves, I got a call from the car mechanic shop. My vehicle needed $1,300 worth of repair! Yikes! So I reluctantly put all of these back. Carlos took pity on me and bought me Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House as a gift. That's the one I wanted the most. 




James Bond Breakfast - To celebrate the 50th anniversary of James Bond, Carlos and I have been watching early Bond films. Last night we saw From Russia with Love (1963) and in it James Bond (Sean Connery) orders a breakfast of green figs with yogurt and black coffee. I absolutely love it when characters in classic movies either order food or explain what they are serving for dinner. It gives me great ideas. For breakfast this morning, I served up a bowl of Lactose Free Yogurt (Green Valley Organics brand), some chopped Green figs I got at Whole Foods and drizzled honey over the top and added a sprinkle of cinnamon. It was divine. It's a very Mediterranean breakfast considering the James Bond character is in Istanbul, Turkey in the movie.





Thursday, October 4, 2012

Photo by Sammy Davis Jr.

Photo by Sammy Davis Jr.
by Burt Boyar
ISBN 9780061146053
Hardcover
It Books
February 2007

"Jerry [Lewis] gave me my first important camera, my first 35 millimeter during the Ciro's period, early '50s... I met Milton [Greene]. He got me involved with serious photography and using available light." - Sammy Davis Jr.


We always see collections of images of the stars, captured by professional photographers for us to marvel at and enjoy. But it's very rare that we see images from the stars' perspective. Photo by Sammy Davis Jr. is a collection of photographs that the entertainer took of his friends, fellow Rat Packers, family and colleagues during the '50s and '60s. Sammy Davis Jr. had a way with a camera. He captured some of the most amazing people in the entertainment industry in the most intimate settings.

Burt and Jane Boyar were close friends of Sammy's. Jane helped Sammy with his autobiographies and Burt compiled this photo book after both Sammy and Jane passed away. However, the problem with friends writing about friends is that inevitably there will be some bias. Of course the author is going to want to portray Sammy Davis, Jr. in the best light possible. My husband didn't believe the author's claims that he left his family with a lot of money especially after he read from several other books and sources that Sammy had been in very deep debt at the time of his passing. The author pulls out figures and even bank names and deposit amounts to prove his point. Who do we believe? A friend, a family member or a third-party? It's hard to say.

The text of the book is not that great. The font is made to be pleasing to the eye to look at but it's actually hard on the eyes to read. The author discusses Sammy's relationship with some of the key figures in the book in one or two pages for each. The text rambles on, Sammy's words are paraphrased, quoted, sometimes both all at once. It's actually a bit boring and I found myself abandoning several sections of writing. Get this book for the images. Not the words.

Because the photographs are spectacular. Sammy had an eye for photography. And he was surrounded by some of the most fabulous people in show business and he captured them in both happy and vulnerable moments. His photographs give us a visual point-of-view that only a star like himself would have had during that time.







Stars include: 
Jerry Lewis (on the cover)
Kim Novak (lots of intimate picture of her from when they dated)
Kirk Douglas
Dean Martin
Lauren Bacall
Humphrey Bogart
Betty Grable
Shirley Maclaine
and many more

There are also pictures of Sammy's second wife May Britt, his daughter Tracey and his two adopted sons with May. There are photographs of Sammy's entertainer father, his mother, and a few of the girlfriends he's had a long the way. My favorite photographs are the self-portraits Sammy did with mirrors. Sammy Davis Jr. also liked talking photographs of people in everyday life but his celebrity made him too obvious to his subjects. So he often took photos from hotel balconies and windows or he went incognito into the streets to take pictures.



Sammy Davis Jr. was the epitome of a self-taught man. He never had any schooling and was raised in the entertainment business. Everything he learned he learned by himself or by the example of others. Including photography.

If you are a fan of Sammy Davis Jr. and of the stars of the 1950s and 1960s, get this book! It'll be a wonderful addition to your coffee table collection or to your home library.

Disclosure: I bought this book for my husband as a thank you present and he lent it to me for this review.

Image Source: Vanity Fair

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Guest Post ~ Carlos' Indiana Jones Adventure




Hello! I am Raquelle’s husband, Carlos. Raquelle and I share a great passion for movies. She primarily reviews movies made in the 1920s though the 1960s. I concentrate on movies mostly from the 1960s to the present. Between the two of us we have every decade covered!

The Indiana Jones movies have been a passion of mine since 1981, when Raiders of the Lost Ark was released. All four Indiana Jones movies were being shown for one Saturday only. The reason for the rerelease was to drum up business for the upcoming Blu-ray box set. These movies were extremely well received by audiences who were treated to exotic locations, a wise-cracking archaeologist, and nearly unattainable ancient artifacts.

I asked my manager for a Saturday off. This is a rare treat in the world of retail. Saturday’s is the busiest day of the week so it is all hands on deck. I joke with customers who ask if I work on Saturdays. I tell them if  I’m not at work on a Saturday it means I am either on vacation or dead! He gave me the ok and I purchased two tickets, one for myself and my Dad. I invited Mrs. S. but she declined. 


Knowing the popularity of the movies and not having been shown in the theaters for a quarter century, I wanted to get there as early as possible. We arrived at the movies around 9:45 am and the gate to the entrance was down. There were about 40 people waiting to get in. I was expecting more fans of the movie to turn out for this once-in-a-lifetime event. At 10 am the gates were raised and everyone shuffled in. We were corralled into a line, so we could be given a commemorative poster and lanyard. The lanyard was more functional as it was an indicator of our paid admission. There was a 30 minute break between movies which gave us the opportunity to eat and stretch our legs. 


Back of the Lanyard


Front of the Lanyard - This is the idol that Indiana Jones almost acquires in the first movie.

Movies:






As a movie buff where I plant my ass in a theater is of utmost importance. Almost to the extent of where and why Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory sits. I need to sit in the center of the theater about three quarters of the way up. In this location my eyes are level looking at the center of the screen. Also my ears are treated to a perfect balance of sound. I located the most centrally available seats and settled in with my Dad to my left. 

The lights go down...Raiders starts! It was a thrill to watch this movie again after so many years. We stayed for the first three movies, but we skipped “Kingdom of  the Crystal Skull”. I had seen it in 2008 when it came out.









Before “Last Crusade” an Indiana Jones trivia contest was held. The prizes were commiserate with the questions. Here are the questions:

  1. What is Indiana afraid of? 
  2. What is Indiana full legal name?  
  3. How does Indiana get the grail? 
  4. How did Indiana get the scar on his chin? 
  5. How did Indiana get the fedora? 
(See answers at the bottom of the post)

The best prize was the box set of all the movies on Blu-ray. I only knew the answers to questions 1 and 3. 

Sunday previous I trekked to the same theater for a special screening of Raiders of the Lost Ark. It was being promoted for a special screening on Imax for one week only. I know what you are thinking: you went to see Raiders of the Lost Ark on  Imax and a week later you go back to see Raiders of the Lost Ark AGAIN and the three more Indiana Jones movies! 

Watching a movie on an Imax has no equal as it represents the zenith of current digital movie technology. It is engineered for the highest degree of high definition and 6 channel uncompressed audio. There is a catch however. The are two types of Imax’s: Classic Design and Multiplex Design. Classic Design is built in a certain manner to take full advantage of the experience. This is not your grandfather’s movie theater. Important features include seats set at a steep incline, a very large screen,  72 x 52.8 feet, and the seats placed much closer to the screen.  Multiplex Design is a regular theater has been turned into an Imax. It does not contain the important attributes needed for the full experience. As I entered the “Imax theater” I stopped in my tracks and wondered if I went into the wrong theater. I was expecting a Classic Design Imax, but I was in a regular theater. I went back out and asked the man who took my ticket if I was in the right theater. He explained it was “technically an Imax”. I gave him the benefit of the doubt and went back in and found my seat. The movie started and I kept waiting for the Imax experience to kick in. Within five minutes I realized that was not going to happen. I stayed through the entire movie, disappointed. When I returned the next weekend for the marathon, I explained what happened to a supervisor and she returned the cost of the ticket, $16. Lesson learned! If you want to see a movie on an Imax, it must be on a Classic design not a Multiplex design.



Answers:
1) Snakes
2) Dr. Henry Walton Jones Jr.
3) The notes in his father’s diary
4) A whip used to hold back the lion
5) Given to him by the treasure hunter who found the Cross of Coronado

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