The Turner Classic Movies Appreciation Thread

I'm amazed you always consciously notice aspect ratio.

I think I'll just go ahead and take the blue pill.

I watched like 30 minutes of that Dr. Who movie with Peter Cushing and that was all I could handle. That's what I get for listening to PG Cooper and his over-praise of TCM.

June

Every August, TCM does their "Summer Under The Stars" line-up. Everyday of the month, a classic film star is highlighted as their movies are played for 24 hours, from 6:00 that morning to 6:00 the next morning. So far Gene Tierney, Olivia de Havilland, and Adolphe Menjou have been highlighted. I watched Tierney in Heaven Can Wait (1943). It's kind of interesting that the film be shown on her day and she be top-billed, and yet she gets totally overshadowed by the rest of the cast, particularly Don Ameche and Charles Coburn. Whatever, the movie made me laugh and was very fun so I'll call that a win. For Menjou, I watched Charlie Chaplin's A Woman of Paris which was...pretty fucking boring. Yeah, I was disappointed in this one. It's mostly well made, but the story is dull and the drama is very petty. I did like Menjou though. He plays a shallow rich guy, but he doesn't vilify the role the way a lot of films would. He actually seems like a pretty decent person. Shallow sure, but he isn't hurting anybody. So that was kind of neat I suppose.

Today, the focus is on Teresa Wright. I'll be recording 1941's The Little Foxes at 8:00 PM, but the real treat is the film playing immediately after; Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt. I've already seen the film and won't be rewatching it, but it's a really awesome film from one of cinema's masters. If you haven't seen it yet, you really should.

The rest of the stars this month from tomorrow on are: Fred Astaire, Michael Caine, Katharine Hepburn, Raymond Massey, Robert Walker, Joan Crawford, Rex Ingram, Robert Mitchum, Ann Margaret, Groucho Marx, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Patricia O'Neal, Lee J. Cobb, Vivien Leigh, John Wayne, Mae Clarke, Alan Arkin, Marlene Dietrich, Debbie Reynolds, Warren Oates, Virginia Bruce, Greta Garbo, Monty Wooley, Ingrid Bergman, George C. Scott, Gary Cooper, and Shelley Winters.

Haven't seen Virginia Woolf, definitely need to. Sweet Smell of Success is incredible, it's known for the screenplay which is easily one of the best ever in terms of dialogue alone, but the cinematography shouldn't be overlooked either. Great, great movie.

It's definitely not a pleasant watch.

Reposting just because I like them so much.

In a sad turn of events I no longer get TCM. It pained me but I realized I was basically paying for an entire tier of cable just for the one channel and given the multitude of other sources I have for movies I just couldn't justify it. If it was ever made available ala carte I'd snatch it up in a heartbeat.

Looks like I'm all alone.

I think I've only seen three of his movies. Sunset Blvd is one of my favorites. Some Like It Hot is a great screwball comedy. But the Seven Year Itch is a piece of shit. I think that movie soured my Wilder experience and I haven't really sought his other films.

You should watch Double Indemnity, maybe my favorite Wilder film.