Movie Night!

First of all, if you're into that sort of thing, there's Sharktopus on Syfy tonight. They've been pushing this movie for several months and I gather it's awesome. Me? I may briefly have a gander, but there are other movies airing tonight that are more my sort of thing.

TCM is having a Tennessee Williams' fest. It all starts with A Streetcar Named Desire, moves on to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, then Suddenly Last Summer, Sweet Bird of Youth, and Period of Adjustment. So from 7 PM until 5:30 AM CDT, it's a Tennessee Williams film festival extraordinaire. I've seen all of these films save the last and I'm not sure I want to watch it. Of course, it's to be followed by a Carole Lombard movie, Nothing Sacred, and that I really want to see. I love her! Also it's a brilliant movie that has been remade several times, most recently in a version with Queen Latifah. No. Really. I wouldn't lie about that.

There are plenty of other movies around the old digital cable channels tonight too.

AMC is obsessing over Mad Max but I've never been interested in those films, even before Mel Gibson lost his damn mind.

Comedy has a couple of the American Pie movies. I've seen a couple of those and was underwhelmed. I think if one is high or drunk it helps to appreciate those films, but since I'm the posterchild for being straitlaced, that ain't likely.

As mentioned above, Syfy has Sharktopus. Dinocroc vs. Supergator too. Yeah, um, NO. I love Syfy and all their writerfolk and actors, but no thanks. Really. It's okay. ETA: I did watch part of Sharktopus and I frelling LOVED it. I was wrong. I actually clapped my hands and whooped when Sharktopus leapt out of the water and snatched that irksome bungeewoman right off her tether. That was brilliant. So yeah, I'm going to be looking at the TV schedule for another airing, kids. Really. I want that bit on a .gif.

Lordy.

BBC America is showing Diehard With a Vengeance. If it were the original Die Hard with Alan Rickman I'd be willing to put up with the commercials, but even though I like Jeremy Irons, he isn't beating Paul Newman or Montgomery Clift in Tennessee Williams' flix.

There are beaucoups of movies on the other movie channels in my digital package tonight, but none of them come close to the Tennessee Williams extravaganza on TCM. So you know where I'll be right?

Y'all have a good evening. I've got to get supper done now. Ta!

TV Tonight

Since Eureka's on hiatus, it looks like I'll be watching movies tonight. Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is having a stellar night. The Moon is Blue, 1953, is a rather talky film, but features one of the first, if not the first, uncensored mentions of the word "virgin" in a non-religious usage since the onset of the Motion Picture Production Code. It stars William Holden and David Niven and was directed by Otto Preminger. I first saw this film when I was a teenager and found it fascinating. I've seen it a few times since, but it's been years. The themes may be a bit dated to modern viewers, but really, men and women haven't changed all that much.

The Moon is Blue will be followed by The Man With the Golden Arm, 1955, also directed by Preminger and starring Frank Sinatra in his Academy Award nominated role as a junkie drummer in thrall to various unsavory characters after a stint in jail. It also stars Kim Novak, Eleanor Parker, and the original Night Stalker himself, Darren McGavin. The Man With the Golden Arm is in black and white, which gives it a definite noirish aspect. It's a brutal, difficult film to watch in some ways, but it's worth the effort. If you think Sinatra is only a singer, this film will change your mind. The man could act. I can't remember when I last watched this film, but I well remember its impact.

Baby Doll, starring Karl Malden, Carroll Baker, and Eli Wallach, is next in the line-up. It's sure to be a trippy flick as Baby Doll is based, more or less, on Tennessee Williams' play, 27 Wagons Full of Cotton, which is pretty much on the bizarre end of Williams' repetoire. I've never seen this film, but have wanted to since the mid-80s when I first became aware of the play. I used a monologue from the one-act for auditions when I was still working as a regional theatre actor, and once I was at the U of Mississippi earning a degree in Southern Studies, my understanding of the story was greatly enhanced. I'm not thrilled with the idea of non-Southern actors playing the Southern roles, but the actors are ones I respect. And really, Malden was brilliant in A Streetcar Named Desire, wasn't he?

I figure I'll be done in by the end of the evening. Honestly, I haven't looked forward to a night of movies so much in a long time.