Catching Up With Quelle (12)

Pillow Talk (1959) - My boss gave me a B&N gift card for the holidays and Carlos and I used it to have a date night at our local B&N store. We had some drinks at the cafe and had fun browsing through the DVD/Bluray section. I bought Pillow Talk (1959) on BluRay. It's a restored anniversary edition and what I liked about the package was that it came a BluRay, DVD and access to a digital download and also a fun 4-color booklet inside. The booklet is not removable so you can't lose it! I already had an old DVD of this but the quality was so poor that I am glad I made the upgrade. I played the BluRay on our HDTV and there was a noticeable improvement! But for some reason I couldn't watch the film all the way through. Something about it annoyed me. I think I need to distance myself from the film for a while so I don't fall out of love with it.

Have you ever fallen out of love with a classic movie? Have you upgraded one of your old DVDs to a restored DVD or BluRay?

Downton Abbey Rant - Downton Abbey's Season 3 premieres tonight in the States. However, the entire season has already aired in the UK and a DVD will be available with limited access fairly soon. Why is it that we in the United States, as rabid Downton Abbey fans as we are, cannot get access to the series when it airs in the UK? Why can't it be a simultaneous premiere on both sides of the pond?

I want to make the case to ITV in the UK to allow PBS's Masterpiece Series to air the episodes simultaneously for season 4. My first reason is to reduce piracy. I already know of a few American bloggers who have watched the full third series before it aired in the US and they did this by getting access to pirated copies. I didn't do this myself because I like PBS and would rather support them. Not that I'm above accessing pirated copies of shows, I had to do that with Mad Men when I didn't have cable (I'm both sorry and not sorry about that).

My other reason is that a lot of UK shows are supported heavily by American audiences. I would like to offer two case studies.

Vicar of Dibley (1994-2007)

From what I have heard in the past, this show was marginally successful in the UK but a huge hit on PBS in the US. It was especially popular around Christmas time and I remember seeing lots of episodes on PBS during the holiday season. The series continued on primarily because US audiences wanted more. I wish I could quote a source on this and if I find it I will link or quote it here! We helped keep this show going! And while I adore the Vicar of Dibley, it's full of very odd references to UK culture that we just don't get. In fact at one point, I started making a glossary of names and references so I could better understand the show! But audiences in the US still love it for it's quirky characters, funny jokes and overall charm.

As Time Goes By (1992-2005)

I was watching a fundraising special on PBS some years ago (after the series had ended) and on the special were actress Moira Booker, she plays Judith, and Philip Bretherton, who plays Alistair. Both Booker and Bretherton said on the fundraising special that the support of American fans was one of the main reasons this series lasted so long. TV shows like these do not have very long lives in the UK and the longevity of this one was a result of the support of PBS and American audiences. I absolutely adore this show and my repeat viewings and the fact that I own EVERY SINGLE DVD IN THE SERIES is definitely part of that support. Both Booker and Bretherton had also mentioned that they came to the US with the other actors in the series for some public event and were wowed by how much support there was here for the show and how much audiences here loved it.

Why do we love British shows so much? Because they are so well done, we are sick of all the reality crap and want something well-done and entertaining like Downton Abbey. Please do not punish us! Let us be a part of the experience by doing a simultaneous release for Downton Abbey Season 4!

Will you be watching Downton Abbey tonight? Have you already seen season 3? (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

UPDATE: Thanks to Twitter I found out that the delay in Downton Abbey being aired in the U.S. was a decision made by PBS and not by ITV or by any rights issues. I think that decision on PBS' part is stupid and I hope they'll reconsider in the future.

New Year's and Ocean's 11 (1960)

Ocean's 11 (1960) is one of my favorite movies. In fact, it's in battle with Bachelor Mother for the #1 spot right now. I have at least 10 posts I could write about this darling film but today I'll stick with the New Year's theme. I apologize in advance that I do not have any screen caps for this post other than ones I stole from YouTube. My DVD copy went AWOL and my Blu-Ray is pretty useless on my Mac.

This is Ocean's 11 plus one. Danny Ocean (Frank Sinatra) has brought all his World War II buddies from the 82nd Airborne to Las Vegas for a well-orchestrated casino heist of Biblical proportions. Funded and originated by professional conman Acebos (Akim Tamiroff), the eleven men from the 82nd Airborne are going to rob millions of dollars from the five big casinos in Las Vegas. And they are going to do it at the stroke of midnight on New Year's.

The men involved in the New Year's Casino heist are Danny Ocean  (Frank Sinatra), Jimmy Foster (Peter Lawford), Sam Harmon (Dean Martin), Josh Howard (Sammy Davis Jr.), Mushy O'Connors (Joey Bishop), Anthony Bergdorf (Richard Conte),  Roger Corneal (Henry Silva), Vince Massier (Buddy Lester), Curly Steffans (Richard Benedict), Peter Rheimer (Norman Fell) and Louis Jackson (Clem Harvey).

The casinos they are going to hit are the Flamingo, Sahara, Desert Inn, Riviera and the Sands.

Here's the plan. At the stroke of midnight, people at the different casinos will have countdown to the New Year and will begin singing Auld Lang Syne. Danny Ocean has calculated that the song takes about a minute and 38 seconds to sing. While they are singing, there will be an explosion at one of the local electrical towers bringing it down. It will black out all the casinos temporarily and the way Anthony Bergdorf (Richard Conte) has it set up, all the casino security doors will automatically open. During the blackout, the men will steal the money from the casinos, put it into garbage cans and Josh (Sammy Davis Jr) will pick up all the bags and bring them to the local trash dump for hiding.

The plan can't go wrong. Right?

Ocean's Eleven and Acebos chose New Year's as the perfect moment for their heist because it's a time of vulnerability for the casinos. Each casino will be packed with people drunkenly celebrating New Year's, singing Auld Lang Syne and without a care in the world. Their celebration is the perfect distraction for a quiet robbery. When the men do rob the casinos, it's in the dark so their identities are disguised and they hold the casino vault workers hostage and have them sing Auld Lang Syne while they are being robbed.

I love the New Year's in Las Vegas circa 1960. It's full of glamour with all the women dressed in their finest gowns and accessories and all the men in well-fitted suits and skinny ties. There are showgirls, singers and so much fun! There is so much wonderful 1960 kitsch with New Year's party favors, streamers, hats, noisemakers, balloons and more. Everyone is carefree, smoking and drinking to their hearts contents and ringing in the New Year with a kiss with their date or a perfect stranger.

A feathered showgirl pony carousel? WHY NOT?!

So was the casino heist planned and executed by Ocean's 11 on New Year's successful? You'll just have to watch the movie and find out.

Now I leave you with Dean Martin singing one of the movie's main songs "Ain't That a Kick in the Head". Happy New Year!

Catching Up with Quelle (11)

It's been a tough week for me. I had some personal problems, then Jack Klugman died and my week off has been full of chores and catching up with stuff that I haven't been able to before when I was working. I did manage to watch a few movies and do some reading so there is that. I hope all of you had a better holiday than I did!

Period of Adjustment (1962) - I really wanted to write up a review and post it before TCM's airing and before Christmas but I just never got around to it. At first I thought this film was just another kooky comedy from the 1960s kind of like Lord Love a Duck. I watched the first hour and gave up. But for some reason, the film kept popping into my head and I couldn't quite let it go. I had to give it another chance.

Isabel (Jane Fonda) and George Haverstick (Jim Hutton) are newlyweds. They got married on Christmas after having met not so long ago at a hospital. They are on a honeymoon trip (traveling in a hearse!) which is turning out to be a disaster. They make a pit stop at the home of Ralph Bates (Anthony Franciosa) and his wife Dorothea (Lois Nettleton) but they only find Ralph there. Dorothea left after Ralph got fired from his job by his boss, her father. Both couples are going through a period of adjustment. The newlyweds have been thrown into their situation and are highly uncomfortable and not ready for sex and the married couple are dealing with issues of disappointment and unrealized expectations.

I watched the film again and was surprised to find that it is quite good. Newlyweds or anyone going through a new phase in their romantic relationship can appreciate this film. The main conflict of the story is essentially a battle of the sexes. The male and female characters are struggling with their respective roles, especially Franciosa's Ralph who is always trying so desperately to be "the man." One of the most interesting characters just happens to be the most quiet. And that is Ralph and Dorothea's son Skip "Junior" (Scott Robertson). He's a quiet little boy who likes to play with dolls. This angers and frustrates his dad Ralph. This innocent little boy is breaking down gender binaries unknowingly by playing with the toy that he wants to play with rather than the one he's expected to play with. The mere act of playing with a toy intended for little girls threatens his dad masculinity by voiding his influence as a male role model. In one scene, Ralph gets so angry that he throws the boy's doll into a fire. Quite an interesting subtext! I am so glad I gave this film a second chance.

Lady in Cement (1968) - Speaking of second chances, I thought I'd also give Lady in Cement another try. I didn't like it when I first watched it and this surprised me. I'm a huge fan of Tony Rome (1967) and Lady in Cement is the sort-of-sequel to that film. I have been partaking in multiple repeat viewings of Tony Rome and I was hungering for something more. So I decided to watch Lady in Cement again and I quite enjoyed it on the second viewing! There is something about the broken detective genre of the 1960s that I really enjoy. Also it's funny to see Lainie Kazan as a Spanish-American stripper! I really wish there were more than just two Tony Rome movies. There should have been more. I enjoy these much more than the James Bond films I've seen, although I like those too. For those of you who like Tony Rome and Lady in Cement, The Detective is similar but takes place in New York rather than Miami. Tony Rome is probably the most mild of the three whereas Lady in Cement and The Detective concern themselves a lot with homosexuality as part of the crime world.

Now Listening - I thought I'd share what music I'm listening to. Lately I have been listening to The Shelter of Your Arms, a collection of Sammy Davis Jr. songs. It's quite wonderful!


I just realized this post is very 1960s and that my recent viewings have been mostly films from the 1930s or the 1960s. I'll need to start finding more films from the decades around and in between to round things out a bit.