LAMMY Nomination for Best Classic Movie Blog

The LAMBs have spoken. Out of the Past is one of the 7 blogs nominated for Best Classic Movie Blog. Last year this blog was nominated for Best Theme and the Classic Movie Blog is brand new. Now the LAMBs are not terribly Classic film blogger friendly. They have shuffled us into that "other" category holding us at an arms length. They treat the Horror Film bloggers even worse. But hey at least they are trying and are acknowledging us in our very own category.

If you are a LAMB and haven't voted yet, please vote for my little ole blog Out of the Past for Best Classic Movie Blog.

You may be asking yourself "Why should I vote for you?". Here are 10 good reasons why:

1.  I bake. A lot. And I'm willing to bribe people with baked goods.
2. I devote as much of my free time to this blog as possible. It's really a second job but it's also a passion. There is not a day that passes by that I don't try to think of what I should write next.
3. I read other classic film blogs religiously. Thank goodness for Google Reader!
4. A lot of work goes into each post. I try to make each post as interesting and humorous as possible and try to incorporate images and video when I can.
5. I'm friendly. I've made friends with several other film bloggers. It's a great community and I like to think I help foster that.
6. Did I mention that I bake?
7. This blog is everywhere. Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Stumble Upon, MovieBlips, All Consuming, Ravelry (yes my blog feeds on a Knitting/Crocheting site!), BlogBurst, BlogHer, Latina Bloggers, Decades I Love, Golden Age of Hollywood Ning, etc.
8. This blog isn't going anywhere. As long as I'm alive and I'm watching classic films, I'll be posting on here.
9. My name Raquelle comes from the Hebrew name Rahel which means "ewe" (a female lamb). Rachel in the Old Testament was a Shepardess. So I have a sheep connection to the LAMBs. That must mean I'm perfect for winning this award? Right?!
10. Last but not least, I have the best readers any classic film blogging gal could wish for.

Even if I don't win, I'm glad to have been recognized. So thanks to everyone who voted and if you can spare a moment please vote for me again? Thank you. xoxo

TCM iPhone App

Turner Classic Movies came out with an iPhone app a few months ago and I was super excited to get it. It would be a little TCM that I could take with me everywhere I go. So I shelled out the $2.99 for it as soon as it hit the App Store and downloaded it on to my iPhone. What I thought would be a portable TCM.com turned out to be something completely different.

I equate the TCM iPhone app to going on a date with a really hot guy only to have your mother come along. While it's a great opportunity to hang out with that guy you've been lusting after, the date would be a million times better if mom wasn't around watching your every move. And if there is a second date, chances are it will be better and sans mom.

The app could be a lot more enjoyable if they opened up the possibilities but instead they restrict, restrict, restrict. This app could go from sucky to awesome if they added just one function: Search.

Let's take a little tour of the App.

The Home page highlights the four major sections (Schedule, Video, Photos and Blog) and includes a banner above showcasing that month's theme. It's updated regularly and each item is always the newest for each section. A click (tap) on the arrow button brings you to another screen with the full content.

If you watch TCM religiously, the Schedule feature is pretty nice. You can view all the films that will be shown within the next 7 days and you can click/tap through to any given film for more information. You can also view what's showing during the next two months. You can even set it to your time zone or switch to Canada for their listings. It won't however allow you to set reminders or alerts for future showings. 

Let's say you really wanted to watch Horse Feathers (1932) (which seems to be on heavy rotation on TCM lately). A click through to the information page gives you pretty much all the info the film's TCMDB page would have: An overview, TCM article, Video, Notes, Full Credits, Full Synopsis and even user comments.

 

Video section gives you a select showcase of widescreen videos, trailers, movie clips and promos. TCM picks the videos based on the current and upcoming schedule.

Now we come to the Photo section which features a regularly changing list of images from lobby cards, posters, press books, production photos and publicity photos. TCM picks the images based on the current and upcoming schedule. You can't search for pics or do anything with them other than look.

Finally, there is the Blog section. Don't get too excited, it's only the Movie Morlocks blog. This is probably the most useful section because it's a regular updated feed of the highly active official TCM blog. You can get a full RSS of the blog anywhere else but here. However, you can only view the last 10 postings. 

What you can't do on the app:

1) SEARCH for films, photos, videos or anything AT ALL!
2) Set reminders/alerts for future showings of films
3) Play games.
4) Send any of the info, video, pictures, etc. to yourself or to a friend via any sharing method (email, Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
5) Download any pictures to your phone (most apps won't let you do that anyways).
6) Read biographies on stars or directors
7) View Archives of the Movie Morlocks Blog

I don't think the TCM app is going to change any time soon but it would be worth their investment to enhance the app with search functionality. It would even be worth paying $4.99 instead of $2.99. As it stands, the TCM app doesn't seem complete. If you are hesitant to pay money for an app, I would suggest downloading the free IMDB app instead (which has Search functionality) and accessing TCDMB through Safari. But if you are a super TCM freak/addict who happens to be glued to your iPhone (or iTouch or maybe even iPad), this app may be worth your while.

Anyone else have this app? Thoughts on it?

And thanks to @AddieReed who asked about this app on Twitter which inspired me to do this post.

Full Disclosure: I bought this app for my iPhone.

Robert Mitchum Portraits

These lovely scans of Robert Mitchum come via Kate Gabrielle who hails from the blog Silents and Talkies (as well as many other blogs too). She took them from the book Film Star Portraits of the Fiities by John Kobal. Thanks Kate!

If you have anything you want to submit to the It's a Veritable Robert Mitchum Explosion series, please feel free. I'll take whatever you throw at me as long as it basks in Robert Mitchum's awesomeness.