|
Post by Calidore on Aug 19, 2023 19:20:17 GMT -5
Not a refusal; but, there was an Oscar that had an imposter accept the award. It was the late 70s or early 80s, in one of th lower tier categories and the real winner was not there, but then suddenly he was, except it was an imposter accepting the award. I can't recall the exact year and Google has been no help, but I watched it live, when it happened. It was back when Johnny Carson was the regular host of the show. Found a couple of similar incidents, #s 7 and 17 below, but the years are 1963 and 1938 respectively. Either of them ring a bell?
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Aug 19, 2023 22:08:49 GMT -5
I remember the Marlon Brando refusal and the speech made by an Indigenous woman in place of his acceptance speech was big news when I was a kid in the early 1970s.
Didn't Woody Allen not bother showing up for one of his wins in the 1970s or 80s? He was out playing the clarinet in a New York jazz club, or something like that. I followed the Oscars more closely in those days. My interest seemed to wane from sometime in the 1980s or 90s onwards.
|
|
|
Post by Prince Hal on Aug 20, 2023 9:03:47 GMT -5
I remember the Marlon Brando refusal and the speech made by an Indigenous woman in place of his acceptance speech was big news when I was a kid in the early 1970s. Didn't Woody Allen not bother showing up for one of his wins in the 1970s or 80s? He was out playing the clarinet in a New York jazz club, or something like that. I followed the Oscars more closely in those days. My interest seemed to wane from sometime in the 1980s or 90s onwards. Allen had a standing gig on Monday nights at Michael's Pub for a long time and chose not to skip it for the Oscars. Michael's closed years ago, but Allen still plays somewhere... maybe at the Cafe Carlyle(?).
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Aug 20, 2023 11:40:37 GMT -5
I remember the Marlon Brando refusal and the speech made by an Indigenous woman in place of his acceptance speech was big news when I was a kid in the early 1970s. Didn't Woody Allen not bother showing up for one of his wins in the 1970s or 80s? He was out playing the clarinet in a New York jazz club, or something like that. I followed the Oscars more closely in those days. My interest seemed to wane from sometime in the 1980s or 90s onwards. Sacheen Littlefeather. She got a lot of threats, at the ceremony, but stood her ground. There was also the streaker, who ran across the stage, behind David Niven.... One of the years that Carson was the host, there were several winners who were not present, because they were working on other projects. Carson had a running gag going, throughout the ceremony, of them all being in a car together, coming up from Tijuana. He gave regular updates as to their progress. Then, there was the year Jack Palance won Best supporting Actor, for City Slickers, and did the one-armed push-ups..... Carson had tales of him hanging off the Hollywood sign and other stunts, for the rest of the ceremony. The Brando thing sits alongside Vanessa Redgrave, talking about the Palestinian plight, in her speech and Michael Moore's win for Bowling for Columbine, where he attacked the then-beginning Iraq War, which led to a confrontation with some Teamsters, backstage (and tons of attacks, in the media, from the usual sources, plus others who seemed to think the Oscars wasn't about politics, missing that it has everything to do with "politics.")
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Aug 20, 2023 14:49:04 GMT -5
I remember the Redgrave and the Niven incidents - all from the early 1070s, weren't they? The Michael Moore one I didn't know about, as it came years after I gave up paying much attention. One of these days I might start looking at some of the older ceremonies from the 1930s and onwards.
Last night I watched God of Gamblers (1989) for the first time since the mid-90s, which was when I first saw it. An entertaining comedy-adventure and a highly commercially successful film that spawned a bunch of sequels that I haven't seen. Actually that was the motivation behind this viewing - I was going through the wiki lists for films of the early 1990s and noticed some of the GoG sequels. Thinking I might want to try one or two of them I figured I'd better watch the first one again to refresh my memory.
Apparently most of the later GoGs aren't really sequels but more like spin-offs starring Steven Chow as a different character. I'll try one of those at least, as well as the actual sequel with Chow Yun Fat back in the title role.
|
|
|
Post by Batflunkie on Aug 23, 2023 8:40:38 GMT -5
Watched "Hit The Ice" (1942) We got a few collections of Abbott and Costello movies in and work. Love the duo, but haven't really watched much of their stuff outside of a VHS copy of "Africa Screams" that my grandparents had. It's a fairly straight forward movie, the duo (playing photographers) get swept up in a crime and go to the alps to prove their innocence by catching the real crooks. Really liked the musical numbers sung by Ginny Simms, even if they seemed tacked on to pad the running time
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Aug 23, 2023 12:38:37 GMT -5
Watched "Hit The Ice" (1942) We got a few collections of Abbott and Costello movies in and work. Love the duo, but haven't really watched much of their stuff outside of a VHS copy of "Africa Screams" that my grandparents had. It's a fairly straight forward movie, the duo (playing photographers) get swept up in a crime and go to the alp s to prove their innocence by catching the real crooks. Really liked the musical numbers sung by Ginny Simms, even if they seemed tacked on to pad the running time
Don't think I've seen that one, unless I watched it on tv as a kid and have forgotten it. I watched Hold that Ghost last year and, more recently, Abbott & Costello Go to Mars. Hold that Ghost was fantastic - I had never seen it before and it immediately jumped up to near the top of my personal rankings of favourite Abbott and Costello movies. Mars is probably one of their weaker efforts as a complete movie but the last third or so, once they finally get to Mars, is really great. The stuff before that is OK but not up to their usual high standards,IMO.
|
|
|
Post by Prince Hal on Aug 23, 2023 12:57:31 GMT -5
Watched "Hit The Ice" (1942) We got a few collections of Abbott and Costello movies in and work. Love the duo, but haven't really watched much of their stuff outside of a VHS copy of "Africa Screams" that my grandparents had. It's a fairly straight forward movie, the duo (playing photographers) get swept up in a crime and go to the alp s to prove their innocence by catching the real crooks. Really liked the musical numbers sung by Ginny Simms, even if they seemed tacked on to pad the running time
Don't think I've seen that one, unless I watched it on tv as a kid and have forgotten it. I watched Hold that Ghost last year and, more recently, Abbott & Costello Go to Mars. Hold that Ghost was fantastic - I had never seen it before and it immediately jumped up to near the top of my personal rankings of favourite Abbott and Costello movies. Mars is probably one of their weaker efforts as a complete movie but the last third or so, once they finally get to Mars, is really great. The stuff before that is OK but not up to their usual high standards,IMO.
Yep! Love that haunted house/casino.
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on Aug 23, 2023 16:00:59 GMT -5
I’m not really a very big Abbott and Costello fan. But I’ve watched Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein every so often ever since I was a kid. I also like Africa Screams a lot. Every once in a while I watch an Abbott and Costello movie hoping that I’ll find another funny one. Even when they’re not that great, they’re not hard to watch. I saw Hold that Ghost last year and I laughed a lot. It made me glad that I keep watching their movies.
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Aug 23, 2023 16:17:01 GMT -5
I’m not really a very big Abbott and Costello fan. But I’ve watched Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein every so often ever since I was a kid. I also like Africa Screams a lot. Every once in a while I watch an Abbott and Costello movie hoping that I’ll find another funny one. Even when they’re not that great, they’re not hard to watch. I saw Hold that Ghost last year and I laughed a lot. It made me glad that I keep watching their movies. I think their earlier movies are generally stronger, though Meet Frankenstein (1948) goes against that trend. I think I'll watch that one this Hallowe'en.
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on Aug 23, 2023 16:21:25 GMT -5
I’ve been meaning to watch Buck Privates but I haven’t gotten around to it yet.
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Aug 23, 2023 16:52:07 GMT -5
I’ve been meaning to watch Buck Privates but I haven’t gotten around to it yet.
One of their best, as I remember it, but I haven't seen it since I was a kid. I've been going through the 1930s lately so I'll probably wait until I get back to the early '40s before seeing it again.
|
|
|
Post by driver1980 on Aug 26, 2023 9:49:58 GMT -5
I’ve been watching the Police Academy films on Blu-ray. I enjoyed these as a kid, and I’ve seen them on VHS, DVD, and now Blu-ray.
Okay, the fourth and seventh films are poor. In fact, the seventh film is really poor, with little-to-no laughs and a poor script (that takes itself too seriously), but five good films out of seven is a good batting average for me. The original is the best, the second and third films are great sequels, the fifth is a lot of fun, and the sixth is decent enough, although it was a little tired by the sixth film.
What makes me laugh, though, is how the films feel like they are very much in “our” reality, while completely being filled with contradictions, timeline inconsistencies, etc. If that makes sense. Of course, I know picking this stuff apart is as ‘worthy’ an endeavour as picking apart David Niven’s Casino Royale.
The city in these films isn’t mentioned, but the uniform seems akin to LAPD, although it feels like an east coast force (I know some films were produced in Canada).
There’s a complete absence of detectives in these films. I know the film series is about uniformed cops but there’s not even a sign of a detective or two, not even one hanging around the stations. It’s 100% uniformed.
The films do take place in real time. The first was released in 1984, and the Class of ‘84 graduate, they have their first assignment in 1985, the third film, released in 1986, sees the Class of ‘86 graduate, the fifth film, released in 1988, specifically mentions 1988, etc.
Yet this creates inconsistencies which I guess viewers were never meant to pick up on. The cadets in the first film are sergeants in the third film. Cadet to sergeant in two years? I’m not sure that works. Also, Lieutenant Mauser (Art Metrano) is in the second film, circa 1985, and is promoted to captain by the end of the film, but in the third film, set in 1986, he’s now the commandant of a rival police academy. There sure are some quick promotions in these films!
Another one is Hightower (Bubba Smith), who is promoted to lieutenant in the fifth film. Cadet to lieutenant in four years? Wow.
Like I said, none of this was meant to be analysed, picked apart, etc. And I only do it in a humorous way. It’s a complete fool’s errand to pick apart and examine a film series like this.
Just a couple of more points…
When the cadets become officers and begin their first assignment in the sequel, their lieutenant, the aforementioned Mauser, tells them that they will start at 10am each morning. What, no evening or night shifts?
Also, one of the new officers is assigned motorcycle duty for his first posting. I’m curious, would a new officer be assigned to that? I know here in the UK, all new cops must start time on the beat (with some possible car work) before thinking about motorcycle duties, specialisations, etc.
Oh well, I still enjoyed them. :-)
|
|
|
Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 27, 2023 10:17:36 GMT -5
I watched 1939's Stagecoach last night for the umpteenth time. Directed by the great John Ford and starring John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Thomas Mitchell, John Carradine, Andy Devine, et. al. this was one of the films that put westerns back in the A-tier and made John Wayne a bankable star. This was also the film that introduced Monument Valley to the world outside northern Arizona/southern Utah. I'm always struck by the fact that there's only really one big action sequence in the film, the Apache attack on the stage. But it's a doozy, including one of the very best stunts of Yakima Canutt's fabled career. It really is kind of "Grand Hotel on a stagecoach." Wayne is great as the Ringo Kid (hard to believe he was actually three years older than Claire Trevor). Thomas Mitchell deserved his Oscar as Doc Boone. The film tends to get a bad rap for its treatment of native Americans. And the Apache are really nothing but stage-dressing savages to act as antagonists. On the other hand, John Ford hired actual Navajo from around Monument Valley to play the Apache and it was a huge influx of money into an area and a people who were incredibly impoverished even before the Depression hit. This is just one of the great Hollywood films and is among the very best westerns of all time. An excellent overall movie that is hugely historically important.
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on Aug 27, 2023 11:04:50 GMT -5
I watched 1939's Stagecoach last night for the umpteenth time. Directed by the great John Ford and starring John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Thomas Mitchell, John Carradine, Andy Devine, et. al. this was one of the films that put westerns back in the A-tier and made John Wayne a bankable star. This was also the film that introduced Monument Valley to the world outside northern Arizona/southern Utah. I'm always struck by the fact that there's only really one big action sequence in the film, the Apache attack on the stage. But it's a doozy, including one of the very best stunts of Yakima Canutt's fabled career. It really is kind of "Grand Hotel on a stagecoach." Wayne is great as the Ringo Kid (hard to believe he was actually three years older than Claire Trevor). Thomas Mitchell deserved his Oscar as Doc Boone. The film tends to get a bad rap for its treatment of native Americans. And the Apache are really nothing but stage-dressing savages to act as antagonists. On the other hand, John Ford hired actual Navajo from around Monument Valley to play the Apache and it was a huge influx of money into an area and a people who were incredibly impoverished even before the Depression hit. This is just one of the great Hollywood films and is among the very best westerns of all time. An excellent overall movie that is hugely historically important. It’s one of the movies that makes 1939 one of the best years for American cinema ever. I’ve seen it a bunch of times, but not lately. I should see if the library has it.
|
|