The Personal Recommendation Hall of Fame II

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Women will be your undoing, Pépé
@edarsenal It probably won't surprise you to know that I nominated A Taste of Honey for you. I am so glad you liked it!
I had wondered when I first saw it nominated; who it might have been and why they may have considered it for me. But I didn't linger since I've had a few, including the previous Rec HoF, wonderful surprises, so I waited to see what I would see. Surprise-wise.

Having seen it, it is quite apropos that it was one of yours. You do have a kind of elegance for procuring such gems from the rough, as it were.

BRAVO my dear, BRAVO
__________________
What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
- I might not be a real King of Kinkiness, but I make good pancakes
~Mr Minio



The trick is not minding
I’ll have a review for Bringing Up Baby later today.
I can say with certainty that I enjoyed it. I laughed. A lot. Screwball comedies from that time were sometimes hit or miss, but this was largely a hit.
Proper review to come later.



Philadelphia



I've wanted to see this ever since it came out and it just fell through the cracks. It's hard to believe it's been 27 years but that really hit home when I saw how young the actors were. I thought this movie was a little dated but that's an observation rather than a complaint. I just think it would have been even more effective had I seen it 20 years ago. Like Good Night, and Good Luck, this was a movie that didn't go anywhere unexpected, but I enjoyed this one more due to the emotional component. I knew the movie was about Hanks having HIV but I didn't know it featured homophobia so prominently. It actually cracked me up at times because that behavior is so archaic, yet it was a good reminder of the progress we've made. This was prime Hanks as far as I'm concerned. One may say this performance or the one as Gump were Oscar bait, but at least he was playing characters as opposed to playing himself the way it seems recently. He was great, as was Denzel as always, and the supporting cast. It's a sappy and manipulative movie, but that's the way it should be with an important human story like this one. Good flick.




Women will be your undoing, Pépé



Marty (1955)

Marty Pilletti: Ma, sooner or later, there comes a point in a man's life when he's gotta face some facts. And one fact I gotta face is that, whatever it is that women like, I ain't got it.

You know you're watching something very good when the end credits roll and it surprises the hell outta ya. Now, I know its only 90 min to begin with, but it truly does shoot right by.

Anyway, in the crowded city of The Bronx, New York, 34 yr old Marty, the Butcher, is asked by every customer: "When you gonna get married, Marty? You should be ashamed of yourself."
It drives him crazy. He wants to get married, but all he gets is shot down. Surrounded by buddies who want action but spend more time asking each other, "What you wanna do?" "I don't know. What you wanna do?"

Pestered by his ma to check out the Stardust Ballroom because it's full of tomatoes, a frustrated Marty goes with his buddy Angie. To stand against the wall with other guys doing the same thing. Scoping. Hoping. And coming up with nothin.

This time, Marty meets Clara.
She's 29. Tired of being alone and getting dumped.
They talk.
For the rest of the night.
Because, as Marty says to Clara, "See, dogs like us, we ain't such dogs as we think we are."
They see something more in one another as they continue talking.

And who knows.
Maybe. Just maybe.
Anyway, it sure as hell beats hanging around the street corner, everyone asking everyone else: "What ya wanna do?" "I don't know, what you wanna do?"

A simple story of very ordinary, lonely people that works quite beautifully. It makes perfect sense why it won an Academy Award.



@cricket

Glad to see you enjoyed Philadelphia. It's been a favorite of mine for a long time.

The homophobic behaviors do feel archaic now, but 1993 was a much different time and the AIDS epidemic just made the homophobia worse. I don't know if you noticed how tame the movie is in terms of same sex affection, but they had to be really careful because other wise it wouldn't have been accepted by mass audiences of the time. They actually filmed a scene of Hanks and Banderas in bed together (just talking, not a sex scene) and couldn't use it.




@cricket

Glad to see you enjoyed Philadelphia. It's been a favorite of mine for a long time.

The homophobic behaviors do feel archaic now, but 1993 was a much different time and the AIDS epidemic just made the homophobia worse. I don't know if you noticed how tame the movie is in terms of same sex affection, but they had to be really careful because other it wouldn't have been accepted by mass audiences of the time. They actually filmed a scene of Hanks and Banderas in bed together (just talking, not a sex scene) and couldn't use it.

Yea remember the tee shirt the lead singer of Skid Row wore? He would later apologize but still. There were a lot of nice subtle moments in the movie like when it showed the older juror. Without saying it, the look on his face said I'm gay and I understand.



The trick is not minding
Bringing up Baby


Katherine Hepburn has always been an actress of immense talent. Never was that more apparent then Bringing Up Baby.

Here she displays her comedic talents with perfect timing. She Plays a ditzy heiress who meets a uptight paleontologist (Cary Grant) and falls in love with him. Problem is eh can’t stand her. So she concocted a plan to keep him around. Everything goes wrong. But she just keeps on trying to please him, and perhaps show him how to live a little. Along the way they pick up a Leapord named Baby, which further escalates and exacerbates the issues they face.

This screwball comedy is just one adventure after another as they keep getting further and further in trouble. It’s so absurd you can’t help but laugh, because it’s supposed to be absurd. And somehow it all works! And when it sometimes feels likes a scene is going on for too long or it’s ventured too far into absurdity, Hepburn steps in to remind us that it’s all just a game.

And really, it is her movie. She’s adorable in this. Kooky, precocious, free spirited and somewhat silly, she brings a childlike innocence to Susan Vance, the heiress. She has to be played over the top because of played seriously, the effect wouldn’t be the same. She nails the role, and indeed, I kept watching her every time she appeared even if she didn’t have a line.

Great pick, surprised me by how much I enjoyed this one.



Thursday Next's Avatar
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
I had wondered when I first saw it nominated; who it might have been and why they may have considered it for me.
It's a film I like a lot, for pretty much all the reasons you articulated in your review, and I thought you might appreciate it. Pretty sure it was my number one pick for the 60s list.



I thought Bringing Up Baby was pretty good and you can put me in the not a fan of Katherine Hepburn camp. Didn't like it as much as Philadelphia which I consider one of the better movies from one of the better decades for movies.