Dear Monty

He was like a wounded bird to me... and when I first became aware of him, I was a nine-year old kid.  But I always did see things through an emotional lens and I focused on people that I seemed to relate to or certainly wanted to relate to on an emotional plane.  As a fan to an actor, I took some sort of higher ground with Montgomery Clift.  I knew he hurt.  I saw it in his eyes, in the way he kind of hid his body in plain view.  He never had good posture, he slunk, he didn't want to be noticed... though he certainly got involved in an odd occupation for someone who slunk and didn't want to be a public figure.  I always felt I understood him.  

Breakfast at Tiffany's: Favorite Movie #38

1961 Comedy-drama
Directed by Blake Edwards
From Paramount Studios

Starring
Audrey Hepburn
George Peppard
Patricia Neal
Buddy Ebsen
Mickey Rooney
Martin Balsam

Quiz 3

Here we go with your 3rd quiz.  Even though there are only 11 questions, there are still the same ol' 25 possible points.  One bit of advice... read carefully, don't jump to any hasty conclusions.  LOL.  Have fun.  Answers on Monday.

REVIEW: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Directed by John Madden
Comedy-Drama
2 hours, 4 minutes
From Fox Searchlight

Starring
Judi Dench
Bill Nighy
Dev Patel
Penelope Wilton
Celia Imrie
Ronald Pickup
Lilette Dubey
Diana Hardcastle
Tom Wilkinson
Maggie Smith

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: Favorite Movie #39

1962 Western
From Paramount Pictures
Directed by John Ford

Starring
John Wayne
James Stewart
Vera Miles
Lee Marvin
Edmond O'Brien
Woody Strode
Andy Devine
Jeanette Nolan
John Qualen
John Carradine

Yesterday and Today at the Movies

Here we go with a discussion of movies of today and movies of yesteryear.  I hesitated titling this old movies v. new movies.  That sounds so either/or while I think it's more about and.  Movies have much merit regardless of when they were made, just as there are detractions.

It is probably important that we define some terms... namely, what is an old movie?    How far back do we go for a film to be called old?  A cousin and I recently had a chat about that very thing and  she said anything earlier than the 1980s is old.  I was at first surprised because I don't consider that to be the time of an old movie but I started ruminating about it and came to the immediate conclusion that it's a subjective thing.  Old to you may not be old to me or vice versa.  I recalled a young neighbor once told me an old film is anything not currently in the theaters.  Unfortunately, she added "No one cares about an old movie."  Um, I do.

East of Eden: Favorite Movie #40

1955 Drama
From Warner Brothers
Directed by Elia Kazan

Starring
Julie Harris
James Dean
Raymond Massey
Jo Van Fleet
Burl Ives
Richard Davalos
Albert Dekker
Timothy Carey
Lois Smith

Heaven Knows, Miss Kerr

Heaven has her now and boy is it lucky.  She is no doubt the grande dame, a status she enjoyed throughout the bulk of her long career but Deborah Kerr was a true force to be reckoned in the first 15 years of her stay in Hollywood.  She seemed to nab all the plum roles.