Russell Crowe – The Early Years

This post is prompted by Flix Chatter’s recent post, Russell Crowe Birthday Tribute: Top 10 Favorite Roles of the Aussie Thespian. Her Top 3 favorite Crowe roles are the same as mine:

Jeffrey Wigand in The Insider (This is the one that deserved an Oscar; if you haven’t seen it, get thee to Netflix or whatever ASAP.)
Maximus in Gladiator
Bud White in L.A. Confidential

Her list brought to my mind the films that Crowe starred in before he got super-famous — relatively obscure Australian movies that didn’t win any major awards, yet were entertaining to watch, with the occasional interesting aspect to them. How do I know? Well, not that long ago, from around 1999 until 2005 or so, I was quite the fan of Crowe’s. Although I was nowhere near as dedicated as other admirers, I rented, borrowed or bought much of his early work. Sure, these films were 10 or more years old, but I had to see them. In those pre-Netflix days, before video was widely available online, this took some doing. Though lesser in both renown and production values, these movies did usually showcase Crowe’s talent and occasionally give insight into Australian society. Here’s a quick look at the ones I consider to have been most rewarding:

Crowe, Danielle Spencer, and Robert Mammone star in THE CROSSING

The Crossing (1990): Soapy love triangle starring Crowe as the main character’s former best friend and and Danielle Spencer as the former girlfriend. They met on this shoot and had an on-again, off-again relationship, before marrying and divorcing. Why you should bother: Crowe is darn good in it; it’s stunning really how much of his craft was already in place. Fun factoid: Director George Ogilvie paid to have Crowe’s broken front tooth replaced. (Update: Crowe and Spencer are not divorced, they are separated.)

Brides of Christ (1991): This miniseries from Australian television is about the teachers and students at a convent school in the 1960s. Crowe plays the boyfriend of the rebellious main character; their relationship is cut short when he gets drafted and sent to Vietnam. Why you should bother: Though it’s a dramatized version, BoC provides a glimpse of Australia’s social change and involvement in the Vietnam War, which I was not aware of previously. Other stars in the cast include Brenda Fricker as a nun and pre-fame Naomi Watts. Also Crowe does his own guitar playing and singing. Fun factoid: Though not that well-known in the U.S., female lead Kym Wilson is a big TV star in Oz. She starred in the Aussie indie Flirting with Watts and Nicole Kidman. I highly recommend this quirky little romance. Don’t be fooled by some of the DVD cover art you might see though; Wilson, Watts and Kidman are barely in it. The (perfect) leads are Noah Taylor and Thandie Newton.

For The Moment (1993): Crowe plays an Australian WWII airman stationed in Canada, in love with his girlfriend’s married sister, whose husband is fighting in Europe. Why you should bother: Potentially clichéd characters elevated by some interesting, great-ish performances. Crowe in uniform, reciting poetry. Fun factoid: This film was an American/Canadian production, filmed in Manitoba, Canada at actual Commonwealth airbases.

The Sum of Us (1994): I can’t do any better than this summary on IMDB: “A widowed father…is searching for ‘Miss Right,’ his son …is searching for ‘Mr. Right.'” It’s a character-based comedy-drama, the kind that doesn’t really get made all that often anymore, depicting a realistic family’s good and bad times. Why you should bother: Crowe’s non-stereotypical character’s orientation is pretty much accepted and no more commented on than, say, eye color, presenting a refreshing perspective. Plus insight into Australian Christmas. Fun factoid: Crowe had already worked with the actor who plays his dad, Jack Thompson, when the former was a 6-year-old extra on a TV show. Bonus video: From the soundtrack,”Better Be Home Soon” by Crowded House:

You can hear Crowe talk about these and a lot of his other films in one of my all-time favorite episodes of Inside the Actors’ Studio:

If it’s Springtime, Why Is It Still Cold Outside Movie Quiz

mcgonagall — Warning: this is no lightweight quiz. Extreme brainwracking may occur! Professor McGonagall approves.

My friend Michael of It Rains…You Get Wet answered this thought-provoking movie quiz earlier, it was actually devised by Dennis at Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule, under the name “MISS JEAN BRODIE’S MODESTLY MAGNIFICENT, MATRIARCHALLY MANIPULATIVE SPRINGTIME-FOR-MUSSOLINI MOVIE QUIZ.” I’m so late on this that Dennis has already compiled all the answers here, here, here and here, but I still had a lot of fun with this quiz so, at the risk of total redundancy, I’m posting my answers.

1) The classic movie moment everyone loves except me is:
Any of the 112 moments of The Constant Nymph (1943). Joan Fontaine was 25 and doesn’t seem 14 to me, just a little mental, but not as crazy as Charles Boyer’s character would be to leave Alexis Smith’s for a teenager. By the end of the film, I really felt they deserved each other.

2) Favorite line of dialogue from a film noir
“Baby, I don’t care.”

3) Second favorite Hal Ashby film

The Last Detail. My number one is Harold and Maude. But have you ever seen 8 Million Ways To Die (1986)?

4) Describe the moment when you first realized movies were directed as opposed to simply pieced together anonymously. *

I’m not really sure, but I have a pretty clear memory of my mother telling me how Atlanta burning in Gone with the Wind was actually the set from another film, and that they had filmed that first. Before that I thought they started with the first scene and went through it in the order of the finished film. I was maybe 10 or 11.

5) Favorite film book

Halliwell’s Film Guide.

6) Diana Sands or Vonetta McGee?

Vonetta McGee. Repo Man.

7) Most egregious gap in your viewing of films made in the past 10 years

Children of Men. I know, I know!

8) Favorite line of dialogue from a comedy
It is really difficult to choose one, but let’s go with: “All you need to start an asylum is an empty room and the right kind of people.”

9) Second favorite Lloyd Bacon film
Espionage Agent (1939), with Joel McCrea and Brenda Marshall. Number one would be 42nd Street.

10) Richard Burton or Roger Livesey?
Roger Livesey.

11) Is there a movie you staunchly refuse to consider seeing? If so, why?

A Clockwork Orange, because I don’t want anything to ruin Singin’ in the Rain. Killer Joe, because the description of that one is enough. Twilight, I guess just because I’m sick of hearing about it. There’s many others, probably hundreds.

12) Favorite filmmaker collaboration

Orson Welles and Gregg Toland. Christopher Nolan and Wally Pfister. Quentin Tarantino and Sally Menke. Alfred and Alma Hitchcock.

13) Most recently viewed movie on DVD/Blu-ray/theatrical?

The Guard (2011).

14) Favorite line of dialogue from a horror movie

“If you want good product, you gotta buy American.”

15) Second favorite Oliver Stone film

JFK. First favorite is still Platoon.

16) Eva Mendes or Raquel Welch?

I don’t have strong feeling one way or the other. Let the flaming commence!

17) Favorite religious satire

The Life of Brian. With runner up to Father Ted. It’s only runner-up because it’s not a movie, and it would have made a funny one.

18) Best Internet movie argument? (question contributed by Tom Block)

19) Most pointless Internet movie argument? (question contributed by Tom Block)

I think a lot of the time, these are the same thing. Internet movie arguments are the best, because mostly they are fun, and they’re also pointless, because I’ve yet to have one change my mind about anything important. Any argument that turns personal or has people unfollowing and blocking each other is a big bummer, though.

20) Charles McGraw or Robert Ryan?

Robert Ryan.

21) Favorite line of dialogue from a western

“Old man, make three coffins.”

22) Second favorite Roy Del Ruth film

Tail Spin. First choice is Topper Returns. The movie isn’t all that great, but Joan Blondell is in it.

23) Relatively unknown film or filmmaker you’d most eagerly proselytize for

It used to be Rian Johnson, because I knew he was a genius about 5 minutes into Brick. Richard Linklater is hardly an unknown filmmaker, but his Bernie (2012) is mostly unknown, and that is the one I’ve probably yammered on about the most.

24) Ewan McGregor or Gerard Butler?

With apologies to Ruth at Flix Chatter, Ewan McGregor.

25) Is there such a thing as a perfect movie?

I don’t know. But there are some that are pretty darn close. Casablanca. Jane Eyre.

26) Favorite movie location you’ve most recently had the occasion to actually visit *

Da Stuzzi, the café they dressed for Café Debussy in Inception (2010).

Pointe Hardware & Lumber, where they filmed Gran Torino (2008).
“Clint Eastwood’s Favorite Hardware Store”

Metro Airport (DTW), used for Up In The Air (2009).

27) Second favorite Delmer Daves film

As a director, Destination Tokyo (1943). First is Dark Passage (1947). As a writer, An Affair to Remember (1957). First would be The Petrified Forest (1936). I know, it was an adaptation of a play.

28) Name the one DVD commentary you wish you could hear that, for whatever reason, doesn’t actually exist *

Casablanca.

29) Gloria Grahame or Marie Windsor? Gloria Grahame.

Gloria Grahame as Violet in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE

30) Name a filmmaker who never really lived up to the potential suggested by their early acclaim or success.
At the risk of incurring some major wrath…Orson Welles.

31) Is there a movie-based disagreement serious enough that it might cause you to reevaluate the basis of a romantic relationship or a friendship? *

Not based on a certain actor, director or film. Twitter is basically an exercise in “to each his or her own.” However, I can’t be friends or more with anyone who enjoys rape scenes, i.e. clapping, cheering, wolf whistles.

* denotes a classic or, if you must, recycled question from quizzes past that Miss Brodie thought might be interesting to revisit.

31 Days of Oscar – 2013 Predictions and Musings

I am the first to admit that I have been too busy to actually see a good many of the 2013 nominees, but I still like predicting who will win and lamenting who should win but probably won’t. I haven’t read anyone else’s predictions but I do rely heavily on tweet buzz. I estimate a whopping .5% of the Academy are on Twitter, so we’ll see how that goes.

Best Picture — While I’ve seen less than half the nominees in this category, and I suspect that Moonrise Kingdom belongs in it, I’m really happy to see movies from so many different genres get the nod. We’ve got a detective story, a Western, a couple of fantasies, historical drama, a musical, and even a rom-com that shows that two dysfunctional people can have a functional relationship. Not that Silver Linings Playbook is going to win…it looks like that distinction will go to Argo, with which I’m completely happy.

The detective story? Zero Dark Thirty. That’s how I think of it, but sometimes I wonder if I saw the same movie as everyone else. So I’ve really stopped reading anything about it. Yes, it shows torture and that really is bad f*cking news…but it also shows that, whether despite the torture or because of it, terrorist attacks continued. [[Possible spoiler —> Lead agent Maya (Jessica Chastain) gets her initial lead by tricking a suspect. Maya’s boss’s boss George (Mark Strong) sure does get ticked that his team isn’t making more progress. He advocates for more torture and more violence, to no avail. In the end, what does work (in the film anyway) was a methodology worthy of an old episode of Columbo or Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple…cross-checking rediscovered records from Moroccan intelligence. That’s right…bin Laden was found as a result of detective work.]] If this film glorifies torture, then Trainspotting and Requiem for a Dream glorify drugs.

Maybe the reason ZDT is so controversial is because a woman is the lynchpin of the ultimately successful “greatest manhunt in history.” Maybe it’s because Jason Clarke makes Dan, Maya’s colleague who does a lot of torturing, funny and likable, and that makes people uncomfortable (could just be me). Whatever the reason, the controversy surrounding this film has overshadowed its actual merit. There seems to be more outcry against a fictional piece of entertainment than there was against a real-life U.S. policy. Which is sad because it takes a ton of talent to retell a now-familiar story that is more static than dynamic in such an absorbing and visually stunning way. Yet this didn’t even get a nomination for Cinematography.

Actor — Daniel Day Lewis.

Actress — This is between Jessica Chastain and Jennifer Lawrence, with Lawrence winning it. I guess there’s a small chance they’ll cancel each other out and someone else will take home the statuette, but I doubt it. This is Chastain’s second Oscar nomination and sometimes I wonder if she’ll ever win, because her acting seems so effortless and her looks are so timeless. Hopefully those two attributes provide her with a long career.

Supporting Actor — I’d like Christoph Waltz to win but I’m thinking it’s going to be Tommy Lee Jones.

Supporting Actress — Anne Hathaway. I don’t get why there’s so much negativity about her.

Director — Even though I’d rather talk about who isn’t in this category, I have the feeling this is a really close race. Or maybe it works the other way around…the race was so close that not all the worthy could be nominated. At any rate, I predict Steven Spielberg.

Foreign Language Film — I don’t really think there’s any doute about this one...Amour.

Animated Feature — Frankenweenie or Brave. Probably Brave.

Cinematography — I’d like Django Unchained or Skyfall (Bond DP Roger Deakins is a perennial nominee who has never won), but I think Life of Pi.

Costume Design — Les Misérables or Anna Karenina. I find this category fascinating, you might want to check out The Hollywood Reporter’s Costume Designers’ Roundtable if you haven’t already.

Original Screenplay — Probably not Zero Dark Thirty or Moonrise Kingdom. I’m thinking Django Unchained.

Adapted Screenplay — I’d like Argo, but I get the feeling it’ll be Lincoln.

Screenplay update: Guess what…both Zero Dark Thirty and Argo won Writers Guild of America awards last night (Feb. 17).

Original Song — “Skyfall” had better win.

reblog: The beauty of MELANCHOLIA

This weekend we’re showing MELANCHOLIA, a very strange and very beautiful film…if you’re in Detroit, you might want to check it out Sunday (2/17) at 3 p.m. at Ponyride, 1401 Vermont in Corktown 🙂

Cinema Detroit

We won’t lie, we’d never seen Lars von Trier’s Melancholia on a big screen before. While the director is understandably controversial, there’s no disputing that he made a beautiful film. We really want more people to see this movie, hopefully the screen caps below will help convince you to stop by Ponyride tomorrow (Sunday, February 16)) at 3 p.m.

Like Peter Greenaway with The Draughtsman’s Contract and Lech Majewski with The Mill and The Cross, among others, von Trier draws from painting for Melancholia‘s lighting and compositions. Just one example is John Everett Millais’ Ophelia,

For more on the look of Melancholia, check out this fascinating clip from the filmmakers, including cinematographer Manuel Alberto Claro:

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31 Days of Oscar – Week 2

Week 2 of fabulous 31 Days of Oscar posts, brought to you this week by Aurora (@CitizenScreen) of Once Upon a Screen

If you want to …

If you want to make a movie, make it. Don’t wait for a grant, don’t wait for the perfect circumstances, just make it.

Quentin Tarantino

All about “stingers”

“Stingers,” aka “post-credit scenes,” are those awesome little clips that reward the patience of that intrepid moviegoer who, resisting his or her comrades’ rush to the parking lot or the restroom, remains seated for the entire credits of a motion picture. Just when this film fan thinks it’s all over…a little gem of a scene pops up, giving much satisfaction and perhaps a slight feeling of superiority.

The term “stinger” is also applied to extra scenes or bloopers shown during the credits, which are also a ton of unexpected fun, but to me, they’re not as gratifying as true post-credit scenes.

A stinger is the sign of filmmakers who really love movies. I can picture these people wanting to share that feeling of not wanting to leave the cinema. The stinger becomes an in-joke between the makers of a film and its fans, and may also complete the story or hint at further developments taking place after the time included in the movie.

Text advertising the next installment of a movie series (“James Bond will return in…”) had been around since From Russia With Love (1963), but according to Wikipedia, “[o]ne of the earliest appearances of a true stinger” was in The Muppet Movie (1979). The earliest movie stinger I can remember is Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, in which the main character, having demolished the fourth wall throughout the film, appears and says to the audience, “It’s over. Go home!”

Comedy and action-adventure seem to provide the majority of post-credit scenes, although some horror films have them. The Avengers cycle has delivered a few of my favorites.

The Avengers (2012) actually had two stingers, one involving The Other and Thanos, and this one:

Recently I ran across MediaStinger, a site which exhaustively catalogs scenes that run during and after the credits in movies and video games. Consult this site before going to the theatre and you’ll never miss another stinger. Details and spoilers are thoughtfully hidden behind a link. Comments are not hidden though, so don’t scroll down too far if you want to preserve the surprise.

The most recent post-credit scene I’ve seen (I don’t think this is a spoiler anymore) is the very fleeting one in Django Unchained. What is the first stinger you remember seeing, and what are some of your favorites?

Announcing the 31 Days of Oscar Blogathon

The envelope please…

The winners, the losers, the snubs, the back stories, the gossip, the players, the games…this time it’s all about Oscar!

We’re back! Myself, Kellee (@IrishJayhawk66) of Outspoken and Freckled, and Aurora (@CitizenScreen) of Once Upon a Screen are hosting a new, mammoth blogathon event that coincides with Turner Classic Movies’ 31 Days of Oscar, February 1 to March 3, 2013. It’ll be a month filled with fabulous tales and screen wonders.

But this one is not just for classic film fare; we want to see and hear it all from the golden man’s more than eighty-year history, up to and including this year’s nominees. And you don’t have to stick to just Best Picture or acting winners. Posts about nominees or winners in all the other categories…Original Screenplay, Costume Design, Cinematography, etc….are more than welcome.

The details:

Let us know what you’ll be writing about by email [paula.guthat[at]gmail.com] or leave us a comment.

Submit links to as many posts as you would like by email or by comments in time for any of the following due dates throughout the month. Submissions should include as much information about you as possible: First name, Twitter username, link(s) to your site(s) and email address.

January 31
February 7
February 14
February 21
February 28

We’ll promote entries for an entire week after each due date. If you have a preferred promotion date, please make a note of that as well. However, we welcome all submissions by any of the dates specified. Don’t forget to include your Twitter handle if you have one.

This is the banner I created for the blogathon. We encourage you display it on your site to help promote this event and cannot wait to hear from you. Happy blogging!

UPDATE: I have so many ideas for this blogathon, far more than I could ever tackle myself, so I offer these as topics for posts or inspiration thereof:

Is there a film, performance or art or technical work the non-nomination of which you feel is a crime? Tell us about it.
Sometimes the Oscar seems to hinder, not help, someone’s career, including but not limited to the “Best Supporting Actress Curse.” Discuss.
Special Achievement Awards and Board of Governors’ Honorary Oscars…do you dare go there? Who should have gotten a competitive Oscar, and/or who might win in the future?
Spotlight on sound editing and sound mixing, or any other unfairly neglected award.
Your favorite/the most influential Best Costume winners/nominees/should-have-beens through the years, or just focus on one.
Short films are often given short shrift…throw some love on your favorite.
Cinematography and editing vs.directing…the auteur theory, etc. Discuss, using Oscar-winning examples.
The Oscars still create the most hoopla, but should we be paying more attention to other awards, such as the Golden Globes or (fill in the blank)?

That’s all for now…I will add more when I think of them.

Christmas movie mea culpa

About a week ago I put together a Christmas movies poll, partially because I was curious, and partially because my husband and I are hosting Christmas movies at a café here. Wow, did I forget a TON of them! Slightly later, I put up a revised poll, and I still forgot a ton. Friends in real life and online suggested their favorites, which I’m listing here. Some I’ve seen…

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation – I think you all know this one.

How The Grinch Stole Christmas – How could I forget this?

Going My Way – Bing Crosby’s Fr. Chuck O’Malley could give Spencer Tracy’s Fr. Flanagan a run for his money as the coolest priest ever.

The Bells of St. Mary’s – Fr. O’Malley is back, in the top-grossing film of 1945, clashing with Sr. Benedict (Ingrid Bergman). Will he convince her to lighten up? Is the Pope Catholic?

…and some I haven’t:

Young At Heart (1955) – “A cynical songwriter upsets the lives of three musical sisters.” With Frank Sinatra and Doris Day.

A Town Without Christmas – A “little boy…writes that he wishes to leave this world so he will no longer be a burden to his divorcing parents, a race begins to find him before he harms himself.” [IMDB]

The Holly and The Ivy – Ralph Richardson and Celia Johnson star in this “heartwarming tale of an English minister and his family reunited at Christmas time. Their story includes a remembrance of their WWII trials.”

We’re No Angels (1955) – “After escaping Devil’s Island, three offbeat prisoners [Bogie, Aldo Ray and Peter Ustinov] help a goodhearted family outwit a scheming relative.”

Holiday Inn (1942) – “The A[staire], B[erlin], C[rosby] of American musical comedy.”

I also have to mention Christmas Under Fire, a 10-minute film from 1940, which I’d never seen before, brought to my attention by @Filmatelist. I say with not one iota of irony: this is why the Allies won the war.

And I am sure there are others. I realize that this poll is deeply flawed. At the same time, I doubt any other Christmas film can top It’s A Wonderful Life, with a healthy 19 votes.

The Top 10 was as follows:

It’s A Wonderful Life	19
The Apartment	11
The Thin Man	10
Scrooged	10
Christmas In Connecticut	9
Love Actually	8
Elf	7
Miracle On 34th Street	7
A Christmas Carol (any version)	7
White Christmas	6

I was happy to see my two favorites, Scrooged and Christmas in Connecticut make the Top 10, I wasn’t really surprised to see Wonderful Life on the top of the heap. There’s many good reasons why. But that it’s a whole other post.

EDIT: I forgot to say, someone suggested that I should have specified which Miracle on 34th Street I was talking about in the original poll. I completely forgot there was a remake. I love the late John Hughes, but for me, the 1947 version is really the only one.

Merry Christmas (Movies)! [Poll]

At this time of the year, my thoughts naturally turn to seasonally-appropriate movies. Some of them have an obvious tie to Christmas, and others don’t. For instance, you might not think of two of my year-round favorites, The Apartment (1960) and The Thin Man (1934), as Christmas movies, but they both take place during the season. These just wouldn’t be the same without the office holiday party in the former or Nick Charles using tree ornaments for target practice in the latter. Then again, my December viewing wouldn’t be the same without Love Actually or Christmas in Connecticut.

scrooged-low-res — Bill Murray as heartless? TV exec Frank Cross in the modern Christmas classic SCROOGED (1988).

I’m wondering what others think so I hope you’ll take a minute to take a look at this list of both traditional and “alternative” Christmas movies and vote for your favorite(s). Yep, multiple selections are allowed. If you don’t see your favorite, please add it in the comments. Also if you’ve written a post about a Christmas movie of any kind or era, feel free to leave a link. Thanks!

What is your favorite Christmas movie? 2.0
	Elf
	Scrooged
	The Muppet Christmas Carol
	Bad Santa
	Love Actually
	Die Hard
	The Thin Man
	The Apartment
	Trading Places
	Christmas in Connecticut
	Miracle on 34th Street
	It’s A Wonderful Life
	A Christmas Carol (Which version? Please specify in comments)
	The Santa Clause
	White Christmas
	A Christmas Story
	The Holiday
	The Shop Around The Corner
	Home Alone
	Home Alone 2
	The Bishop’s Wife
	It Happened on Fifth Avenue
	Christmas Under Fire
	Remember the Night
	The Preacher’s Wife
	Pocketful of Miracles
	Holiday Affair
	A Christmas Angel

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