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Favorite Trailers That Make The Cut!🎬

Posted by donnamarie on

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I was working on a post the other day and the TV show Nothing but Trailers was on in the background. It got me thinking about some of my all-time favorites and what constitutes a great trailer.

First of all, it can’t just be a series of scenes from the movie. That really irks me! What’s the point of me going if you’ve already given me your best shots? Just lazy.

An excellent trailer peaks your curiosity gets your heart stirring and demands that you’re first in line to see it. An incredible trailer gives you minimal information but builds the anticipation with atmospheric music, punctuation shots, and an ending that elicits the core emotion of the film.

This is the criteria I applied to the following trailers and is the basis for them being some of the most memorable.

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Number One has got to be the 1979 sci-fi classic – Alien. “In space, no one can hear you scream.”

Starring Sigourney Weaver, director Ridley Scott scared the crap out of me and the little boy sitting in front of me at the theater. Oh, and to make matters worse, I was pregnant at the time. Yikes! (if you’ve seen it you understand, if you haven’t, what?? You must!) And my girl Sigourney Weaver showed the world what a badass woman in space looks like.

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Sigourney Weaver

This is the epitome of an incredible trailer. Little bits and moments and truly haunting music. My heart was racing and I had no idea of what I’d just seen.

The visuals were outstanding! There was absolutely nothing familiar in the images coming off the screen. The Alien and its accompanying elements were designed by Swiss surrealist artist H. R. Giger. (I don’t know how he slept with those images in his head) The film received both critical acclaim and box office success, receiving an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.

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Number Two is the sci-fi thriller –The Dark Knight (2008) – “Why So Serious?”

First of all, Heath Ledger. Second of all, Heath Ledger!! Even in the trailer, his intensity shines thru. He draws you in and you’re compelled to see more. His Oscar-winning performance was incredible and the most talked about that year.

Ledger almost made a complete sweep of over twenty awards for acting, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture, and the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

Heath Ledger

Unfortunately, we lost him, but his genius as The Joker lives on. Starring Christian Bale as the caped crusader and directed by Christopher Nolan, when I saw this trailer I knew where I was going to be on opening night. Totally lived up to the hype.

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Last, but certainly not least of this compilation is the original master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock’s – Psycho (1960) “…she just goes a little mad sometimes.”

This trailer shows Alfred Hitchcock taught the world just how horror is done. Fits every criterion for an incredible movie trailer and then some. Starring Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins, my heart is racing right now re-visiting this magnificent piece of cinema.

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Sir Alfred Hitchcock – (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980)

Hitch’s stylistic trademarks include the use of camera movement that mimics a person’s gaze, forcing viewers to engage in a form of voyeurism. In addition, he framed shots to maximize anxiety, fear, or empathy and used innovative forms of film editing. (Wikipedia)

To quote me, “An incredible trailer gives you minimal information but builds the anticipation with atmospheric music, punctuation shots, and an ending that elicits the core emotion of the film.”

An unquestionable classic!

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Now that I’ve shared some of my faves, I’d love to hear some of yours! 😎

 

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“All About Eve” Harrington is Back!

Posted by donnamarie on

Fasten your seatbelts. … #AllAboutEve is coming to theatres

 

All About Eve

March 5th & 8th 2017

 

From the moment she glimpses her idol on Broadway, Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter) strives to upstage Margo Channing (Bette Davis). After cunningly stealing Margo’s role, Eve disrupts the lives of anyone close to the actress in this timeless cinematic masterpiece. With its witty dialogue and knockout performances, the film earned a record 14 Oscar nominations* and also features Marilyn Monroe in an early supporting role.

 

1950: Best Picture (won), Supporting Actor (George Sanders, won), Costume Design (B&W, won), Directing (won), Sound Recording (won), Screenplay (won), Actress (Anne Baxter), Actress (Bette Davis), Supporting Actress (Celeste Holm), Supporting Actress (Thelma Ritter), Art Direction (B&W), Cinematography (B&W), Film Editing, Music (Score).

The principal cast of All About Eve. (Left to right) Gary Merrill, Bette Davis, George Sanders, Anne Baxter, Hugh Marlowe and Celeste Holm

Bette Davis is one of my all time favorite actresses! Her style and attitude both on and offscreen are legendary. She didn’t take any stuff and could give it right back! (my kinda girl:) “All About Eve” (1950) showcases Ms. Davis in all her glory. Love her, or hate her, there’ll never be another one like her! My post “If it’s Sunday Breakout the Hankies” pays tribute to Ms. Davis and her outstanding film career.

 

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(Miss Joan Crawford was one of her fiercest rivals)

 

“All About Eve” is a 1950 American drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. It was based on the 1946 short story “The Wisdom of Eve” by Mary Orr, although screen credit was not given for it. (Wikipedia)

 

The film stars Bette Davis as Margo Channing, a highly regarded but aging Broadway star. Anne Baxter plays Eve Harrington, an ambitious young fan who insinuates herself into Channing’s life, ultimately threatening Channing’s career and her personal relationships. George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Hugh Marlowe, Barbara Bates, Gary Merrill, and Thelma Ritter also appear, and the film provided one of Marilyn Monroe‘s earliest important roles.

 

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Eve (Anne Baxter) Miss Casswell (Marilyn Monroe bottom center) Margo Channing (Bette Davis)

 

Praised by critics at the time of its release, “All About Eve” received 14 Academy Awards nominations (a feat only matched by the 1997 film “Titanic” and the 2016 film “La La Land”) and won six, including Best Picture. All About Eve is the only film in Oscar history to receive four female acting nominations (Davis and Baxter as Best Actress, Holm, and Ritter as Best Supporting Actress).

 

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“Titanic”, “All About Eve”, “La La Land”

 

This classic was selected in 1990 for preservation in the United States National Film Registry and was among the first 50 films to be registered. “All About Eve” appeared at #16 on AFI‘s 1998 list of the 100 best American films. (Wikipedia)

 

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A back screen documentary on “All About Eve.”

 

“All About Eve” is one big screen classic not to be missed! So, grab your tickets, a bag of popcorn, and “buckle your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy night!”

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See you at the Movies!

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Women of Strength – Zora Neale Hurston

Posted by donnamarie on

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African American Women Filmmakers

Zora Neale Hurston

Zora Neale Hurston

(January 7, 1891 – January 28, 1960)

Better known for her work as a novelist, Zora Neale Hurston could be, according to an essay by academic Gloria Gibson, the first African-American woman filmmaker. The film footage, which includes Children’s Games (1928), Logging (1928), and Baptism (1929), appears to be from her work as a student of anthropology under the guidance of famed anthropologist, professor, and mentor, Dr. Franz Boas of Columbia University. (Wikipedia)

A graduate of Barnard College (B.A. in anthropology in 1928) and a Guggenheim fellow, Hurston traveled back to a South similar to her hometown of Eatonville, Florida (one of the first all-black towns to be incorporated in the United States) to capture a variety of short takes of African-American life. Ethnographic in nature, the films reflect a focus of folklorists of that time period who believed that “…cultural performance and beliefs must be expeditiously collected and documented because they would soon be gone forever” (Gloria Gibson).

Hurston authored four novels and more than 50 published short stories, plays, and essays, she is best known for her 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God.

In addition to new editions of her work being published after a revival of interest in her in 1975, her manuscript Every Tongue Got to Confess (2001), a collection of folktales gathered in the 1920s, was published posthumously after being discovered in the Smithsonian archives.

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During a period of financial and medical difficulties, Hurston was forced to enter St. Lucie County Welfare Home, where she suffered a stroke. She died of hypertensive heart disease on January 28, 1960, and was buried at the Garden of Heavenly Rest in Fort Pierce, Florida. Sadly, her remains were in an unmarked grave until 1973 when novelist Alice Walker and literary scholar Charlotte Hunt found an unmarked grave in the general area where Hurston had been buried and decided to mark it as hers. (Wikipedia)

Zora Neale Hurston

Shining Star of “Women of Strength.”

 

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Is 2017 Our 1984?

Posted by donnamarie on

1984 movie

John Hurt passed on January 25th and with him a tremendous body of work worth celebrating. “The Elephant Man” (John Merrick), (Kane) “Alien”, “Harry Potter” (Garrick Ollivander), (Max) “Midnight Express” and two of his most prophetic roles – (Chancelor Sutler) “V for Vendetta” and as (Winston Smith) – in director Michael Radford‘s remarkable film, “1984”.

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John Hurt (Winston Smith)

Nineteen Eighty-Four, also known as 1984, is the British dystopian drama film written for the screen and directed by Michael Radford, based on George Orwell‘s novel of the same name. Starring John Hurt, Richard Burton, Suzanna Hamilton, and Cyril Cusack, the film follows the life of Winston Smith in Oceania, a country run by a totalitarian government. (Wikipedia)

George Orwell’s terrifying vision comes to 2017.

Winston endures a squalid existence under the constant surveillance of the Thought Police. Winston works in a small office cubicle at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history (aka Alternate Facts) in accordance with the dictates of the Party and its supreme figurehead, Big Brother. A man haunted by painful memories and restless desires, Winston is an everyman who keeps a secret diary of his private thoughts, thus creating evidence of his thoughtcrime. (Wikipedia)

As a result of his resistance, Winston is tortured and learns about the state’s true purpose, the principles of doublethink — the practice of holding two contradictory thoughts in the mind simultaneously.

 

Right now our country is rapidly becoming Orwell’s vision of a country co-opted by tyranny. From Alternative Facts to out and out lies about events we witness with our own eyes; the parallels are stunning.

Watching and participating in the Women’s March and rallies, I’m heartened with the energy of this movement of 21-century change.

If the past is prolog, we already know what lies ahead if we aren’t resilient. But, our fate rests in our own hands and we can alter the ending of our “1984″ by fighting back against those who would be Kings and Dictators.

 

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Another brilliant John Hurt performance and cautionary tale “V for Vendetta” stares back at me as truth. Just turn on your television.

 

Thank you, Sir John for sharing your gifts and revealing truths of the human condition.

 

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Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 25 January 2017)

 

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Dirty Dancing 30th Anniversary Event!

Posted by donnamarie on

 

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Sunday, January 29 and Wednesday, February 1  

Fathom Events and Lionsgate present a special two-day event, Dirty Dancing 30th Anniversary, in select cinemas nationwide.

Click here for tickets.

 

I still remember sitting in the theater with my heart beating with anticipation as I reminisced about a time and music that is a flashback to my childhood memories. From the first beat, I knew I was in for a rockin’ good time.

Choreographed by Kenny Ortega, “Dirty Dancing”(1987) is a soulful coming of age tale of star-crossed lovers Baby (Jennifer Grey) and Johnny (Patrick Swayze). The film showcases an award-winning dance soundtrack that genuinely represents the spirit of the early 1960’s.

 

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Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze

Written by Eleanor Bergstein, and directed by Emile Ardolino, “Dirty Dancing” was originally a low-budget film by a new studio, Great American Films Limited Partnership, and with no major stars (except Broadway legend Jerry Orbach in a supporting role), “Dirty Dancing” became a massive box office hit. As of 2009, it has earned over $214 million worldwide. (Wikipedia)

 

Dirty Dancing is based in large part on screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein’s own childhood: she is the younger daughter of a Jewish doctor from New York, spent summers with her family in the Catskills, participated in “Dirty Dancing” competitions, and was herself nicknamed “Baby” as a girl. (Wikipedia)

 

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Bergstein constructed the character of Johnny based on the stories of Michael Terrace, a dance instructor whom Bergstein met in the Catskills in 1985 while she was researching the story.

Dirty Dancing

Jack Weston (L) Patrick Swayze (R)

“Dirty Dancing” was the first film to sell more than a million copies on home video, and the Dirty Dancing soundtrack created by Jimmy Ienner generated two multi-platinum albums and multiple singles, including (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life”, which won both the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Original Song, and a Grammy Award for best duet (Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes) . (Wikipedia)

 

Kelly Bishop, Jerry Orbach
Patrick Swayze
Grey and Swayze
Patrick Swayze
Jennifer Grey

 

So, whether it’s your first time or you’re enjoying it all over again, make sure to make plans to see “Dirty Dancing” on the big screen and, have the time of your life!

 

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Forever 44! 🙏🏽❤

Posted by donnamarie on

Thank You, President Obama!

 

For your grace, dignity, and service to this country. What a blessing to have been a part of your remarkable Presidency. 

 

God bless you and your beautiful family.

 

Forever 44!

 



The Resistance! ✌🏽

Posted by donnamarie on

National Resist Day

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January 19, 2017

 

“Never be afraid to do what’s right…” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

On this day of resistance, I pledge to be a Resistor to intolerance, racism, and bigotry. I will never be afraid to stand up for what’s right; fighting for justice and humanity.

This video is my statement and commitment to “stay woke”, raising my voice and speaking out against tyranny.

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“When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.”

Thomas Jefferson

 

Selma – The Struggle Continues…

Posted by donnamarie on

Honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

Perserverance

January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968

 

Selma is a 2014 American historical drama film directed by Ava DuVernay and written by Paul Webb. It is based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches led by James Bevel, Hosea Williams, Martin Luther King, Jr., and John Lewis. The film stars actors David Oyelowo as King, Tom Wilkinson as President Lyndon B. Johnson, Tim Roth as George Wallace, Carmen Ejogo as Coretta Scott King, and rapper and actor Common as Bevel.

Selma

At first, I was skeptical on how this history would be portrayed. I didn’t want a melodrama about Bloody Sunday and those on the front lines of the Civil Rights Movement. But, Director, Ava DuVernay did an incredible job and for me, the film should be included as part of the historical record.

Selma was a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement. In your living room. In your face. The first march took place on March 7, 1965, organized locally by SCLC Director of Direct Action James Bevel, who was directing SCLC’s Selma Voting Rights Movement. State troopers and county posse men attacked the unarmed marchers with billy clubs and tear gas after they passed over the county line, and the event became known as Bloody Sunday. Law enforcement beat activist Amelia Boynton unconscious, and the media publicized worldwide a picture of her lying wounded on the bridge.

Selma had four Golden Globe Award nominations, including Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director, and Best Actor, and won for Best Original Song. It was also nominated for Best Picture and won Best Original Song at the 87th Academy Awards.

Whether you know the history or just learning, I consider the film Selma essential viewing for a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement.  A Movement which we must always remember and never forget as …

 

The Struggle Continues.

Resistance!

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R. I. H.

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Without Lying Down – Women of the Golden Age!🎬

Posted by donnamarie on

The Early Visionaries of American Film

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A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…Women were the driving force behind Hollywood and the movies. Today we pay homage to the women who broke the glass ceiling and wrote and directed the films that gave birth to the “Golden Age” of cinema and the motion picture industry.  Unfortunately, when the men realized the gold mine films were becoming, the women faded away thanks to the Hollywood studio system. Well, as the saying goes, “that’s the way they do you.”

 

Frances Marion 1918

Frances Marion 1918

 

Frances Marion was a trailblazer. becoming one of the most powerful screenwriters of the 20th century. With a career that spanned decades, she became the first female to win an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 1930 for the prison life film The Big House, starring Robert Montgomery, Wallace Beery and Chester Morris.

Marion’s research included visiting San Quentin to experience the atmosphere and lingo of the inmates. The movie gave audiences their first taste of hearing prison doors slam shut, tin cups clanking on mess-hall tables and prisoners’ feet shuffling down corridors.

 

 

Adding to her accolades, Frances received the Academy Award for Best Story for The Champ in 1932. The tearjerker chronicled the relationship between a washed out boxer (Wallace Beery) and his young son (Jackie Cooper). Marion was credited with writing 300 scripts and producing over 130 films.

 

 

Born Marion Benson Owens (November 18, 1888) in San Francisco, California, she worked as a journalist and served overseas as a combat correspondent during World War I. On her return home in 1910, she moved to Los Angeles and was hired as a writing assistant and actress by “Lois Weber Productions”, a film company owned and operated by another pioneer female film director Lois Weber.

 

Lois Weber

Lois Weber – Film Director

Frances was quite beautiful and could have continued as an actress but preferred to work behind the camera. She learned screenwriting from Lois Weber and went on to become the highest paid screenwriter, woman or man. Hollywood moguls competed for her stories and stars of the day Mary Pickford, Lillian Gish, Greta Garbo and Rudolph Valentino brought her characters to life on the screen.

From 1919 – 1939 her star was ascendant, born at the right place and the right time, honing her craft during one of the most liberating eras for women in film.

 

 

Mary Pickford
Lillian Gish
Greta Garbo
Rudolph Valentino

When Marion met Mary Pickford (actress, producer, screenwriter) they became best friends with Marion writing screen adaptations of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and The Poor Little Rich Girl for Pickford. As a result of the commercial success of “The Poor Little Rich Girl” in 1917 Marion was signed as Pickford’s “exclusive writer” at the salary of $50,000 a year, an unprecedented arrangement for that time.

Pickford was the celebrated “America’s Sweetheart” and in 1919 together with her swashbuckler actor husband Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., director D.W. Griffith (Birth of a Nation) and “The Tramp” Charlie Chaplin established “United Artists” pictures.

These four were the leading figures in early Hollywood and this was their stand for independence against the powerful studio system. Mary Pickford was also  one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

 

In 1921, Frances Marion directed a film for the first time with Just Around the Corner. That same year, she directed her friend Mary Pickford in one of her own scripts entitled The Love Light. Their relationship was more than just writer and star, they were collaborators and the friendship between Pickford and Marion lasted more than 50 years.

Married four times, Frances Marion had two children with third husband, actor Fred Thomson. This was her longest marriage, lasting from 1919 until Thomson’s sudden and tragic death from a Tetanus infection in 1928. Frances’ great friend Mary Pickford had introduced them. Frances said it was love at first sight.

 

Fred Thomson and Frances Marion

Fred Thomson and Frances Marion

For many years she was under contract to MGM Studios, but, independently wealthy, left Hollywood in 1946 to devote more time to writing stage plays and novels. Frances Marion published a memoir Off With Their Heads: A Serio-Comic Tale of Hollywood in 1972.

Frances died on May 12, 1973 leaving a legacy of innovation, independence and inspiration for future aspiring female writers. The documentary, Frances Marion: Without Lying Down,” is an insightful profile of her life and achievements in Hollywood.

 

Without Lying Down

Mary Pickford and Frances Marion

 

Narrated by “Pulp Fiction” actress Uma Thurman and Oscar-winner Kathy Bates, who gives voice to the screenwriter’s own words taken from her letters, diaries. and memoirs. The documentary also features footage from more than twenty of Marion’s movies, with commentary by silent film historian Kevin Brownlow, and film critic Leonard Maltin.

Available for purchase at Amazon.com, I highly recommend checking it out!

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“I’ve spent my life searching for a man to look up to without lying down.” Frances Marion

 

It would take more than 60 years before women were once again present in meaningful numbers at every level of film production.

kathryn Bigelow
Sofia Coppola
Nora Ephron
Martha Coolidge
Lena Dunham
Ava DuVernay

 

 

 

 

 

65th Anniversary 💃🏽 Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

Posted by donnamarie on

 

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Singin in the Rain

 

Fathom Events, Turner Classic Movies, and Warner Bros. Entertainment presents a special two-day event, Singin’ in the Rain 65th Anniversary, in select cinemas nationwide on Sunday, January 15 and Wednesday, January 18.

This special event also includes exclusive commentary from Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz, who will give insight into this classic film.

 

“Singin’ in the Rain” is on my list as one of the greatest musicals of all time! Funny with incredible dance numbers and a memorable score that will stand for generations.

A previous post on some of my favorite musical moments includes “nails on a chalkboard voice” Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen), who made Number One.

 

Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Connor star in one of the greatest musicals ever filmed. Musician Don Lockwood (Kelly) rises to stardom during Hollywood’s silent-movie era–paired with the beautiful, jealous and dumb Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen).

 

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Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Gene Kelly

 

When Lockwood becomes attracted to young studio singer Kathy Selden (Reynolds), Lamont has her fired. But with the introduction of talking pictures, audiences laugh when they hear Lockwood speak for the first time–and the studio uses Selden to dub her voice.

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Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds

 

This special 65th Anniversary Screening is a heartfelt dedication to Debbie Reynolds and in sympathy to the tragic loss of her daughter, actress, and writer Carrie Fisher.

Debbie was only 19 when she was cast in this classic but deftly held her own with the likes of legendary hoofers, Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor!

 

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Mary Frances “Debbie” Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016)

 

In 2002, on the film’s 50th Anniversary, Debbie Reynolds shares her memories on the history and movie magic of “Singin’ in the Rain”.

 

Don’t miss this incredible opportunity to see “Singin’ in the Rain” on the big screen as it was originally shown.

“I’ll walk down the lane with a happy refrain…and singin’ just singin’ in the rain.”       Gene Kelly

 

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R.I.P. Debbie and Carrie

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