REVIEW: Fruitvale Station

Directed by Ryan Coogler
2013 Drama
1 hour 30 minutes
From The Weinstein Company

Starring
Michael B. Jordan
Melonie Diaz
Octavia Spencer
Ariana Neal

Shirley Jones: A Memoir

With only a few interruptions from the bf, I spent all day on Tuesday with Shirley Jones.  I turned on my Kindle while still rousing from the sack and there she was.  What a nice surprise.  It was a pre-order and I had forgotten about it.  And when I went to bed last night, I finished her off.  I read the whole damned book in one day, not something I often do.  It doesn't seem right.  I think of the time it must have taken... in thought, collecting photos, sitting at the computer... and I knock it off in one day.

MGMs Sopranos II

We'll recall Kathryn Grayson was the subject of MGMs Sopranos I.  After the career of MGMs great soprano, Jeanette McDonald, slowed down, the studio was anxious to get moving with some more lasses with golden pipes.  Grayson came first and just a few years later came our next songstress, Jane Powell. 

Randy and Cary

I think they are one of Hollywood's great love stories.  Yes, Cary Grant and Randolph Scott.  You don't?  Why?  Because you don't believe they were lovers at all, they were not like that?   Or you know they were acting like bachelors but don't think it was a great love story?  Well, thank God we don't all feel the same about things, eh?  How dull would that be? 

REVIEW: The Way, Way Back

Directed by Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
2013 Comedy Drama
1 hour 43 minutes
From Fox Searchlight

Starring
Liam James
Toni Collette
Steve Carell
Sam Rockwell
Allison Janney
Anna Sophia Robb
Rob Corddry
Amanda Peet
Maya Rudolph

Joanne Dru

If one has loved westerns as much as I have, one could not have missed the name of this beautiful actress.  Frankly, she was really almost too beautiful to be in westerns.  Did women of the Old West really look like that?  Her face, body, voice, style seemed more suited to romantic dramas, and while she did a few of those, movie history clearly puts her right in the heart of cowboy country.  

The Directors: Edward Dmytryk

You can name an Edward Dmytryk-directed movie.  I know you can.  Are you thinking or did you already know of one?  Well,  depending upon how well you recall what you read, he directed Walk on the Wild Side, which we covered in a posting just three back.  Remember?

About Miss Leslie

Since I truly discovered the movies in 1952, I have had five favorite actresses, women who somehow possessed a magic that found its way into my heart.  I have had postings on four of them... Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly, Capucine and Jessica Lange.  The final one up for discussion was actually the first of those special women.  Her name is Joan Leslie.

REVIEW: The Lone Ranger

Directed by Gore Verbinski
2013 Comedy Western
2 hours 29 minutes
From Walt Disney Pictures

Starring
Johnny Depp
Armie Hammer
Tom Wilkinson
William Fichtner
Ruth Wilson
Helena Bonham Carter
Barry Pepper
Mason Elston Cook

Walk on the Wild Side: Favorite Movie #10

1962 Drama
From Columbia Pictures
Directed by Edward Dmytryk

Starring
Laurence Harvey
Capucine
Jane Fonda
Anne Baxter
Barbara Stanwyck
Joanna Moore
Richard Rust
Donald Barry
Karl Swenson
Ken Lynch
Juanita Moore