A Blurb About Paris Blues (1961)

 Paris Blues (1961)

    I love this period of jazz and film just prior to when I was born in 1963. The end of Camelot was nearing. Hope sprang eternal.

     Paris Blues is very evocative of a certain time and place. Anything was possible. Ram (Paul Newman) is the self absorbed musician trying to make a name for himself in the music world. Eddie (Sidney Poiter) is the soulful musician who is just happy where he is. Connie (Diahann Carroll) and Lillian (Joanne Woodward) turn both of their lives upside down when they come to visit Paris as tourists.

     I know the word bromance didn't exist back then but there was a certain chemistry between Newman and Poitier on screen. I wish there could have been more back story about their collaboration.

A blurb about 'My Policeman'

It Was an Awful Time to be Gay 

     Having survived two world wide pandemics so far all I have to say is that I lived to see this movie. 'My Policeman' is what it is.

     Tom (Harry Styles) is a get in, get out quick kind of guy. Patrick (David Dawson) is more of a lingering kind of guy.

     Who are we to judge? Put yourself in their shoes. Yes, this is a period drama. It's like Merchant Ivory and soft porn had a baby.

     I get it.

A blurb about 'Don't Worry Darling'

No Worries...

HIM: Don't worry darling.

ME:  Be worried. Be very worried.

     May I just say that I liked this movie? I am a big sucker for mid-century modern. The whole 'Thelma and Louise' thing at the end. I really get it.

 I would actually like to wear one of those 'Clock Work Orange' eye thingies to live in that house.

     The sound track was beautiful and cloying.

     The cars were very cool.

     The costumes were impeccable.

     Chris Pine is so sexy. Wait, did I say that out loud?

     That said, I like Harry Styles. The problem is that he is trying way too hard to get me to like him, and that is kind of a turn off.

        I know that some people thought it was dumb. It is what it is. I enjoyed it.

A blurb about Scotty Bowers

Full Service

That's Scotty throwing the left hook punch.

I watched this documentary on Hulu. 

Fascinating. Honest. No bullshit. 

I always suspected but I never knew until now. 

      I got my copy of 'Full Service' in the mail today. Can't wait to read it.

 

 

 

 

Reminiscence: A Blurb

 Reminiscence

   I remember one time...but I digress.

  This film is both moody and beautiful, kind of like me.

     Nick Bannister (Hugh Jackman) is the quintessential wonky, charming, naive mark.

   Cyrus Boothe (Cliff Curtass) is a potent, menacing adversary. 

  Mae (Rebecca Ferguson)lends the perfect film noir, Jessica Rabbit, mood to the movie. She's not bad... They just draw her that way.

     Emily (Thandiwe Newton) kicks ass and takes names later while she deals with her own demons.

     Saint Joe (Daniel Wu) is sexy and disturbing at the same time.

   What was I saying?

   I forget.

A Blurb About Elizabeth and Monty: The Untold Story Of Their Intimate Friendship

It's Always About The Drama... 

     I read Charles Casillo's Elizabeth And Monty: The Untold Story Of Their Intimate Friendship like a bedtime story. Curled up in bed after a nightcap, anxiously awaiting the next tidbit of juicy gossip.

     One wonders. Hasn't this story been told before? Of course it has, in anecdotes and piecemeal biographies. Yet no one has bothered to connect the dots...until now. Somehow, it all makes sense and none of it makes sense at the same time.  That is what I like about this story.

     The author has a great gift of gab when it comes to talking about movies and how they get made. It's like you are sitting in a diner eating pie and sharing stories about film.

     Some of my favorite movies are 'A Place In The Sun', 'Suddenly Last Summer', 'The Misfits', 'Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf'. The list goes on and on. This brings to mind the quote, "Oh what a tangled web we weave" by Walter Scott. No. It wasn't Shakespeare, but I digress.

     Run. Don't walk to pick up your copy of 'Elizabeth and Monty: The Untold Story of Their Intimate Friendship' by Charles Casillo.

“Failure and its accompanying misery is for the artist his most vital source of creative energy.”

Montgomery Clift

“Pour yourself a drink, put on some lipstick and pull yourself together.”

Elizabeth Taylor

Amazon- Elizabeth and Monty: The Untold Story Of Their Intimate Friendship

It's A Sin: A blurb

It's A Sin

     It was the best of times, it was the worst of times....to be gay. 

WOW! I love the Pet Shop Boys.

   No spoilers here, but just to be clear this show is not for the feint of heart.

    I watched 'It's A Sin' with my best friend. We both came of age during the AIDS crisis. We shared memories and stories about friends and acquaintances. Some of them are still here with us. Some of them we have lost.

     I grew up on the other side of the pond from where this story was told. I went to college at Cornell in 1981. I moved to Los Angeles briefly in 1985. Then I lived in Washington DC from 1986 until 1991.  At some point in my life I ran into, lived with or had sex with all of the characters portrayed here. Somehow, I managed to survive.

     It's A Sin is an evocative, thoughtful and timely reminder of what people went through then, and are going through now.

                   Colin

 

Henry