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After missing last week because I had nothing underground (it's been a week and I'm still not sure if it was supposed to be about movies set underground or underground movies), I'm back on track with Thursday Movie Picks, the weekly series hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves. This week we are talking about movies about movies. No, I did not repeat myself, that's the theme.
Hail, Caesar! (2016)
It follows a day in the life of a Hollywood fixer in the 1950s whose job is to clean up and solve problems for big names and starts in the industry. A great comedy from the Coen Brothers, this film is a beautiful love letter to the movie industry. It's entertaining, kind of mysterious, filled with humour and great performances.Hugo (2011)
An orphan who lives in a Paris railway station comes into contact with a toymaker who turns out to be French film pioneer Georges Méliès. This Martin Scorsese film is a celebration of early French cinema. It's visually stunning but unfortunately, the story was a bit tedious. And the film was cold mainly because the lead was like a piece of wood.
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Set in 1927, it follows a silent film production company and a cast making the transition from silent to talking pictures. Easily one of the best musicals ever made. It makes you want to sing and dance along with the characters but most important it beautifully tells about a very important period in the history of cinema.
LOVE Singin' in the Rain. Such a joyous experience. Debbie, Gene and Donald O'Connor are all so brilliant and their camaraderie and brio are the only things that keep Jean Hagen from completely stealing the picture as Lina Lamont. I will never ever understand how she didn't win the Oscar for her work here.
ReplyDeleteI thought pieces of Hail, Caesar! were outstanding but I didn't think it gelled together as a whole. Channing Tatum was a hoot.
I'm in agreement about Hugo. Visually beautiful but turgid and rather dull.
I reached back a bit further and my first is a (fictionalized) version of the story explored in one of the books-A Cast of Killers-I chose when we did books we'd like to see translated to film.
Hollywood Story (1951)-Producer Larry O’Brien (Richard Conte) decides to make a film of the infamous unsolved murder of a silent film director that had occurred decades earlier and remained shrouded in mystery. As he attempts to investigate during pre-production the truth begins to emerge and he finds his life in danger. We see behind the scenes of at the time modern filmmaking as well as the appearance of several one-time silent stars. Slightly reworked (probably because many of the participants were still living) version of the infamous real life murder of silent film director William Desmond Taylor which remains officially unsolved to this day and destroyed the careers of silent stars Mabel Normand and Mary Miles Minter and rocked the 1922 film community.
The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)-Movie producer Jonathan Shields (Kirk Douglas), ruthless and opportunistic claws his way from bottom of the barrel movies to the apex of studio system success. Along the way he enlists, uses and betrays movie star Georgia Lorrison (Lana Turner in her best screen work), director Fred Amiel (Barry Sullivan) and writer James Lee Bartlow (Dick Powell) making sworn enemies of each. Now down on his luck Shields, though his agent (Walter Pidgeon), attempts to involve them in a collaborative project but old wounds are not so easily healed. Nominated for six Oscars it won five including Adapted Screenplay and Supporting Actress (Gloria Grahame-a great actress but her role is a nothing).
Contempt (1963)-Writer Paul Laval (Michel Piccoli) is hired by boorish American producer Jeremy Prokosch (Jack Palance) to contemporize his current film’s script about Ulysses which he feels director Fritz Lang (who plays himself) is making too prosaic. Heading to the Isle of Capri with wife Camille (Brigitte Bardot) in tow he becomes enmeshed in the process of filming as his marriage disintegrates in large part due to Camille’s resentment that Paul is using her to leverage his position in the production. Directed by Jean-Luc Godard.
I haven't seen any of your picks but they sound interesting.
DeleteI have Singing In The Rain on my Blind Spot list and this makes me even more excited to watch it. I think I'm going to get to it this month.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy it!
DeleteI did like the kid with unpronounceable name in Hail, Caesar!, but i was a bit disappointed with it. oh Hugo. I didn't even finish it.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to know I'm not the only one who didn't like Hugo
DeleteI love all your picks! Sorry for not being around but was gone on the weekend and they had lousy wi-fi and I am doing the A to Z challenge. Anyhoo, I love Hair Caesar and thought it was a real gem. There are so many hidden references to that time in Hollywood that the average Joe would not get. I am one who loved Hugo and found it a beautiful Homage to Melies whom I love. There are no words to express how great Singing In The Rain is. The dancing is brilliant and jean Hagen as Lena lamont should have won the Oscar
ReplyDeleteDon't worry :) I'm loving reading the A to Z challenge posts. Anyway, I'm glad you too loved Hail, Caesar!, it is such an underrated movie in my opinion.
DeleteAh, 3 great movies. Yes, I do love Hugo. I thought it was one of Martin Scorsese's great films.
ReplyDeleteA lot of people agree with you.
DeleteSingin' in the Rain is my #1 of all time, so I'm glad to see it here. I really love a lot of individual scenes in Hail Caesar (basically anything involving Alden Ehrenrich, Scarlett Johansson, or Tilda Swinton), but on the whole it fell a bit flat for me. I remember loving Hugo at the time, but I haven't given it one second of thought since.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear Hail, Caesar! didn't work very well for you. I'm glad you enjoyed some parts of it though. Alden Ehrenreich's were my favourites.
DeleteThe previous theme was suppose to be literal as in set underground. I can't control how a theme is interpreted so you can just interpret it any way you want :). Or you can can always ask for a clarification, I always say that, when I first publish each year's theme schedule.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen any movie set underground anyway haha
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