TV/Movies Megathread

[Ideologue]

Sure.

[Eddie Teach]

I'd consider all 4 of those women Real World hot but not Internet Standards hot.

[Sheilbh]

I've Carrie so many times that the idea of someone finding Sissy Spacek attractive chills me to my bones

[Admiral Yi]

I found her attractive in Coal Miner's Daughter.

[Ideologue]

I've Carrie so many times that the idea of someone finding Sissy Spacek attractive chills me to my bones

[Ed Anger]

Watched the Tribble episode. It was no tribble at all.

[mongers]

I found her attractive in Coal Miner's Daughter.

Yeah, I was just thinking that, but couldn't remember the film title. 

[Ideologue]

Rear Window (1954).  A crippled asshole who still unaccountably has a lot of friends--including a woman he has sex with who is half his age and, we can determine in his shirtless scenes, three times his aging, flabby looks--does nothing all day but stare at neighbors through their windows.  He comes to believe Harry Truman has killed his wife.  He did.

I guess I've been ruined by the countless parodies and pastiches of Rear Window I've seen over the years; but beyond that, there were threads that could have pulled together to say something mean and incisive about human nature--their thrillseeking interest in a possible murder, the near-disinterest in the suicidal plight of "Ms. Lonely Heart," and the framing of Stewart's Jeffries as a silent, shadowy villain when confronted by a scared, panicked and at first seemingly confused old man--and it just doesn't happen.  I guess I just didn't expect a straightforward ending, and it left me somewhat unsatisfied.  Also the action scene, though set up extraordinarily well, is only a moderate step up from the goofy, meant-to-be humorous fight scene in the baggage car in The Lady Vanishes.  Note that it's called "covering your eyes," and if you covered those interminable three yards between you and him a bit faster, I think he'd get a lot fewer of those flashbulbs off.  Once you arrive, I sincerely doubt that Jimmy Stewart's nonexistent arm muscles are actually up to the task of fighting you off.

But, my God, what a set, and some really amazing shots, and a real trunkfull of fun dialogue.

B+

P.S.: Ms. Torso is hot, but she's not Grace Kelly hot.  This further proves Jeffries' nature as a real ass.  Movie still could've gotten an A if she hadn't been wearing a slip during the scene where she climbs up the fire escape and has to pull up her skirt (murderers love to leave their houses open to burglars).  And yes, I did play it in slow motion to be sure.

Given that she does a stunt immediately thereafter it's also probably a stand-in.  But that's the magic of movies: I could've pretended.

P.P.S.: The Lady Vanishes is no longer incomplete, and was also a B+.

What next?  How about the one where Sean Connery slaps a woman until she has sex with him?  Sorry; perhaps I should be more specific.  I mean the Hitchcock film.

[Ideologue]

Also, I've kinda changed my mind on Shelley Duvall.  I wouldn't go so far as to call her gorgeous, at all, but she is (was) hardly unattractive.  Not the best teeth, but that's okay.

She looks like shit in The Shining, but so would you if you had Stanley Kubrick making you do a hundred takes of screaming your damned head off in a row until you cried and he laughed and punched you in the stomach.

[Admiral Yi]

The Crucible.

I only turned this on because there was absolutely nothing else on the tube.  I was fully expecting Arthur Miller Salem With Trial blah blah blah boring.  Man, I was really pleasantly surprised.  Maybe it's because I'd never seen it acted before, only read it, but what had seemed an extremely two-dimensional play on paper really comes to life in this version.  Virtually every character was deep, *and* sympathetic.  The judge who hanged them was trying his darndest to do the right thing.

Very moving, very emotional.

[Ideologue]

Oh, yeah, man The Crucible's killer.  I would be surprised you never saw it before, but on reflection I think the only times I've watched it were in school.

Psycho (1960).  Just excellent.  I can't imagine seeing it for the first time in 1960, before it had soaked ineradicably into the public consciousness.  This is the first time I've seen it in twenty years--I remember not loving it then, but even then I knew what was coming, and simply was too young to appreciate its craft.  I certainly didn't notice at the time what a phenomenal job Anthony Perkins did with seamlessly shifting gears between a reasonably charming, seemingly harmless Seymour Skinner-esque loser and frightening monster.

If it has any flaws, it's that even for her first try, Janet Leigh really is the worst criminal.  And I didn't really care for that last hour with the world's most inconsiderate mental health professional nearly on the verge of stroking himself to the thought of his intellect, while he explains Norman Bates' fake malady, is pretty didactic by today's standards.

A+

[Josephus]

Also, I've kinda changed my mind on Shelley Duvall.  I wouldn't go so far as to call her gorgeous, at all, but she is (was) hardly unattractive.  Not the best teeth, but that's okay.

She looks like shit in The Shining, but so would you if you had Stanley Kubrick making you do a hundred takes of screaming your damned head off in a row until you cried and he laughed and punched you in the stomach.

That's right. She looked much better as Olive Oyl in Popeye. 

[CountDeMoney]

Marcia Wallace, Star of 'The Simpsons' and 'Bob Newhart Show,' Dies at 70

Marcia Wallace, an Emmy-winning character actress on two of TV's most enduring shows, has died. She was 70.

Wallace passed away Friday in Los Angeles. Her cause of death was not immediately announced, but Cathryn Michon, who co-wrote and directed Wallace's final movie, "Muffin Top," gave this statement to Deadline: "She passed at 9 p.m. last night due to complications from breast cancer of which she was a long and proud survivor and advocate for women and healing. Ironically it was during breast cancer awareness month during which she was always a funny ray of hope for so many. I'm devastated."

Wallace rose to fame in the 1970s as joke-cracking receptionist Carol Kester on "The Bob Newhart Show." The role of Kester was written specifically for Wallace after producers took note of her many appearances on "The Merv Griffin Show."

In 1992, Wallace earned an Emmy for her voice-over work on "The Simpsons" as Bart's long-suffering Springfield Elementary School teacher Edna Krabappel, who had an affinity for men, booze, and cigarettes. Wallace provided the pipes for other "Simpsons" characters, including Ms. Mellon in "Bart the Genius," Enchantra in "Marge Gamer," and Mrs. Krabapatra in "Simpsons Bible Stories."

In a statement to EW, "The Simpsons" producer Al Jean said, "I was tremendously saddened to learn this morning of the passing of the brilliant and gracious Marcia Wallace. She was beloved by all at 'The Simpsons,' and we intend to retire her irreplaceable character." Jean added that Mrs. Krabappel would be retired on the animated comedy, now that Wallace has passed.

Wallace's quick wit and outsized personality made her a hilarious mainstay on the game-show circuit of the 1980s, appearing on "Hollywood Squares," "The $25,000 Pyramid," "Win, Lose or Draw," and "Match Game."

Wallace also starred in smaller roles on many popular TV series, such as "Murder, She Wrote," "Bewitched," "Columbo," "The Brady Bunch," and "A Different World."

Wallace — who would have turned 71 on November 1 — was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1985, leading her to become an activist on the subject. In 2007, she received the Gilda Radner Courage Award for her efforts to educate others on the disease.

She is survived by a son, Michael Hawley, who co-starred with his mother in "Muffin Top."

[Ideologue]

[The Brain]