Top 250 Review: What Ever Happened to Baby Jane

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, whenever it is you've found this entry.  Today I'm watching my future wives favorite movie "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane".  Currently it is number 246 in the top 250!  It stars Bette Davis, Joan Crawford and Victor Buono.  "A former child star torments her paraplegic sister in their decaying Hollywood mansion."  As of 3/26 IMDB has a rating of 8.1.  Lets see if I end up caring what happened to Baby Jane...(as a reminder there are usually slight spoilers within)

• Is that Shirley Temple?
• That kid was creepy!
• That is a creepy voice on this kid
• Why are most kids in movies so creepy?
• That was a nice southern accent
• People in the old times (50's and 60's were weird looking!)
• Why hide the purse under the pillow, that is weird, the 60's were weird!
• GO GOD WHAT DID THEY DO TO CRAWFORD AND DAVIS!!
• Damn nosy neighbors!
• They bleeped their own movie, very nice!
• I love the music back in the 50's and 60's in TV and Movies!  It fits this flick so well
• Birds do fly out the windows....
• Why keep empty bottles?  Oh of course it is for the deposit!
• Nice mocking voice Jane!
• Jane is going to kill that bitch!  Don't get involved in family business
• Never a good sign when the phone is off the hook...downstairs...where you can't get to
• Davis is extremely creepy thus far!  I don't remember watching anything with her in it before; most likely due to lack of explosions
• Is she going to poison her?  Oh my god it is the bird isn't it!
• Wait...she didn't even cook the bird, I'm disappointed
• Then they play this music and I take back what I said
• Type a message and fly it like a paper airplane!
• This flick has good pacing thus far
• That is a big boy!
• Part of me wants to slap Blanche for the fucking beeper!
• Nice, get rid of the housekeepers, then no one knows what is going on
• If I was Blanche I'd keep those knitting needles close!
• Rat might be good, who knows...but you've got to cook it
• What will wheeling yourself in circles do?
• They've made me sympathetic to Baby Jane which means something is coming to make me turn on her...or is that my pro wrestling training kicking in!
• Something about this piano guy makes me not trust him
• Did they not slide down the stairs on their butts back in the early 60's?
• Did they not have 911 back then?
• Kicking her in the legs ain't going to do anything!
• Probably should call the police before breaking into the room
• Why put down the hammer?  That doesn't make any sense!  You're getting a hammer to the head LADY!  DON'T YOU WATCH MOVIES!!
• Wonder why they did the weird white make-up on Baby Jane; to make her look like a "baby" or her doll?
• Damn nosy neighbors!!!
• Is this going to be a criss cross movie?
• Yes, ask Blanche what to do?  You know the woman you're hold captive!
• Good god, I hope Edwin doesn't get hit by a car!  The car won't survive!
• Is she going to drown the sister in the tide?  After the admission and everything?

Well that was interesting.  Currently the TV show Feud is about this flick and the feud between Joan and Bette.  Overall I enjoyed the flick, it wasn't horrible but I feel the 8.1 is slightly high.  I feel it was my normal 7/10.  It was enjoyable and both of the main actresses did fine, although I feel like Bette had more of a role to sink her teeth into.  

The pacing of the flick was well done although the story line with Edwin seemed forced and pointless and forced.  I guess it was a way for the police to know what was going on but it seemed forced and the storyline with Edwin and his mom seemed forced to me.  

Same goes with the neighbor since that storyline didn't go anywhere.  Could have had the neighbor call the police and leave the Edwin storyline out completely as they both seemed too much.

I found the music to be very well done as i mentioned above.  While overpowering a few scenes overall I enjoyed it.

I can't find a fault for the film minus the random side storylines that didn't go anywhere.  Overall I'd give it a 7/10.  Worth checking out if you can.  I know you can find it on Amazon here and is worth checking out if you enjoyed older flicks!

Movie Review: A Face in the Crowd

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening...whenever it is that you've found this entry!  Today I'm back with my first movie review in a while.  I'm going to be watching the 1957 flick "A Face in the Crowd".  It stars Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal and Anthony Franciosa.  "An Arkansas drifter becomes an overnight media sensation. As he becomes drunk with fame and power, will he ever be exposed as the fraud he has become?"  As of March 26 2017 it has an IMDB rating of 8.2.  That is a pretty high mark lets see if it stands up to that rating...or if it is...just another face in the crowd! (I will be here all week, don't forget to tip your waitress)

• Unless it is Matlock the only way to watch Andy Griffith is in black and white
• An angry Andy Griffith is very weird looking
• This lady, Patricia Neal, is kind of strange looking
• It is VERY weird to have a non-nice Andy on screen, especially since all the mannerisms are Sheriff Andy
• Lonesome Rhodes is a decent singer
• Wow racism was alive by then!
• Clean him up?  He is on radio not the TV!
• I like his suitcase!
• It is so weird that it is Andy but it isn't!  Everything is the same except he is a kind of a jerk!
• Wait...he fought the sheriff and won?
• Girl Friday joke I like it
• Lonesome behaves like I do doing customer service
• Whoever wrote Lonesome was brilliant!  I wonder how much was the director and how much was Andy
• "Nothing is illegal if they don't catch you!" BRILLIANT!  
• Budd Schulberg wrote this and in this case he did an amazing job!
• I wonder if Donald Trump watched this movie?
• Telling your wife to mind your own business, that is trouble brother!
• What is it about sleazy characters I enjoy
• Wholly shit!  My lovely future bride just pointed out that Walter Matthau is in this flick!
• Wow this movie is long yet doesn't seem it
• I saw on IMDB that Marlon Brando turned down this role.  I don't know if he could have done this as well as Andy did
• This Vitajex is SO 50's/60's!  IT IS AWESOME!
• I wonder if Trump/Obama/The President has the same thoughts as Lonesome on the balcony scene, I know I would!
• Lonesome is such the opposite of Sheriff Andy it is awesome!
• Did that guy just died!
• Lonesome is awesome, the way he turns it against everyone else.  I'm envious of him!
• And this movie officially become long!
• Lonesome Rhodes is the smartest person I've seen on screen for a while!
• Seriously it is amazing how much what Lonesome says fits today
• Oh no, she isn't going to!  Ruined everything!
• Nice shot with the reflection and all
• That'd be a tough blow to deal with

This was a very good flick.  I would give it a 7/10.  

It had a few flows, the biggest being that it was long.  It was just over two hours and drug at spots and felt repetitive at a few spots.  They had Lonesome do his country bumpkin routine a few too many times for me.  Also I felt the side story with the wife was not needed.  We already knew that Lonesome wasn't a good guy.

Obviously the biggest thing about the flick is Andy Griffith isn't Sheriff Andy.  But as I said above the mannerisms are basically him.  The language is the same.  The verbiage is almost the same even! Everything but the words coming out of his mouth!  It was awesome and bizarre at the same time.

The storyline was great and fit the modern times and really any times.  The idea that a charismatic person can dupe people into trusting them.  It happens over and over again in history.  My first thought was the line from 1776:  "Most men with nothing would rather protect the possibility of becoming rich than face the reality of being poor."

Worth watching this flick if you can find it, I enjoyed and will probably be watching it again in the future.  Until next time....Abyssinia!

Yep, he obviously was comparing it to the Holocaust

This is the reason I need to stop looking at Facebook.

What this video and you tell me if Tim Allen was comparing "this town" to the the near genocide of the Jewish (and other) people in German or if he was talking about the political climate in the '30s.  

I'll tell you what I think, I think he made a joke about the fact that in this country right now if you don't agree with the "majority" you're ripped apart.  I think he was referencing the fact that in the 30's you had to tow the company line in Germany. I do not believe that he was saying that not agree with liberal hollywood would get you killed or anything like that.  

Jebuss people, get the fuck over yourselves!  Both sides have been throwing around the name Hitler and Nazi since 2000.  He made an ill conceived joke that is all.  This country needs to grow some tougher skin or we're all in trouble.  

Fuck it is too early for this shit!

Does it matter if a character is gay?

Beauty and the Beast had a HUGE opening weekend making approximately $170 million dollars. That is the biggest PG rated opening and March opening of all time.  I know when we thought about seeing it the only seats were front row if that.

However I got to wondering WHY it was such a hit.  I mean the 1991 flick was pretty good and one of my personal favorites sure.  The cast isn't horrible although I question a few choices (this of course is prior to seeing the flick and on superficial thoughts).  Then I saw who was the highest PG film prior to this, it was Finding Dory.  Interesting....

Why is that interesting you ask?  Do you remember right before Beauty and the Beast came out there was a bit of a dust up because one of the characters had a "gay moment".  This caused people to blow up the interwebs with pros and cons.  I fell in the middle, mostly because I don't care.  The fact that the character is gay doesn't impact the story so I feel that it shouldn't have been mentioned.  If people felt the character was gay that is fine and if they didn't feel the character was gay that is fine.

Dory had a similar issue.  Here is a quote from the article:

“If audiences are perhaps jumping the gun in anticipation of this possible milestone, it’s because queer people are desperate and hungry for more than we’ve been given in the past,” Nico Lang writes in Salon, citing a recent GLAAD study that showed the number of queer characters in movies has flatlined.

“[It] would help the reputation of the studio, which has a tradition of shutting out LGBTQ character,” an Out Magazine article said, noting Disney’s failing grade in the GLAAD index.

So there we have it.  Both films had controversy and both are hugely successful.  The funny thing is that both films had little buzz (I feel) until these "controversies".  

The problem is that being gay or straight doesn't impact character 95% of the time on the screen.  If the police chief in the Lethal Weapon movies was gay would that change things?  What if Kima on the Wire was straight?  Would that storyline really be any different?  That is the problem with addressing characters sexuality, most of the time it doesn't matter.

Yet we make a big deal out of it.  Why?  That is my question to all of you, why does it matter if a character is gay unless it is important to the story!