Announcing THE “MOVIES THAT HAVEN’T AGED WELL” BLOGATHON!

So you’re finished with another hot summer day. You’re cool and refreshed, you have your snacks at hand, and you’ve turned on Turner Classic Movies to watch that favorite film of yours that you haven’t had the chance to see in decades. And then, as the minutes roll on…

Your nostalgia melts like a Sno-Cone in the summer sun, as the memories of that movie you treasured for ages suddenly devolve into, “What did I ever see in this thing?”

It’s happened to all of us. Some movies only get better with age, while others remain frozen in time, their once-vibrant charms faded like a reel of nitrate film left in an outhouse in the 1930’s.

Only by writing about this wrenching event can you regain power over your movie-watching experience. Hence…THE “MOVIES THAT HAVEN’T AGED WELL” BLOGATHON!!

We don’t want you to postpone this personal growth experience — there’s no time like the present! Right this wrong by writing about the movie that’s done you wrong. Then follow these steps:

* Post the writing at your blog.

* Go to the “Comments” section below, and post the name and URL of both your blog and the movie you’ve written about.

* Grab the banner shown at the top and bottom of this blog entry, and link it back to this URL. (Be sure to link it back to the URL that references this blogathon, not just our blog’s general URL!)

* As soon as we see your listing in the “Comments” section, we’ll link back to your blog for all the world to read your movie memoir!

Again, this blogathon is running right now, through Aug. 31, 2015. You don’t have to wait for some far-off date in the future — share your cathartic movie experience with our blog’s readers ASAP. If global warming is going to keep us trapped in our homes for the entire summer, let us at least make it count for our fellow film buffs!

Here are the blogathon entries thus far:

Movie Movie Blog Blog – His Girl Friday (1940)

BNoirDetour – A Clockwork Orange (1971 – WARNING: Review includes NSFW images)

Old Hollywood Films – Doctor Zhivago (1965)

Serendipitous Anachronisms – Rent (2005)

Almost Ginger – The Carry On film series  (1958-1978)

The Three Stooges in HOLD THAT LION! (1947) – With guest appearances by Curly & the M-G-M lion

The following is my entry in The 1947 Blogathon, co-hosted by the blogs Shadows & Satin and Speakeasy on July 13-15, 2015. Click on the above banner, and read bloggers’ critiques of a variety of movies released in that year!

So this is a 1947 Blogathon? Eh, forty-seven, shmorty-seven! Everybody else can blog about all the prestige Hollywood productions of the year! I’m going to take a little jaunt down Poverty Row and visit…

Hold That Lion! is the 100th of 190 short subjects made by the comedy team The Three Stooges from 1934 to 1959. This short consisted of the second incarnation of the group: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Moe’s real-life brother Shemp (who had replaced their other brother Curly [real name Jerry] after he retired due to an incapacitating stroke). This was Shemp’s third of 76 film appearances as a Stooge. Shemp had originally worked with his brothers on-stage but had bowed out of the act 17 years earlier, returning this time only because Moe felt that The Three Stooges would be finished as an act if he hadn’t.

The movie’s main claim to fame is that it features Curly in a cameo appearance as a snoring passenger on a train. Curly had happened to drop by the set, and director Jules White thought it would be funny to use him for a short bit in the film. Thus, the movie features the only film appearance of (a) Curly with a full head of hair, (b) all three Howard brothers, and (c) all four of The Three Stooges.

As Stooges shorts go, this one isn’t bad. It’s not an all-out laugh riot, but it’s funny enough and has good pacing and production values. It was made just before Columbia started to get all-out cheap with the Stooges shorts by shortening the running times, and using and re-using stock footage as much as possible. (In fact, Hold That Lion! was mined for stock footage for three later Stooges shorts.)

The movie’s plot, such as it is, begins with the Stooges at the office of their attorney (long-time Stooge supporting player Emil Sitka), trying to obtain a huge inheritance to which they are entitled. Unfortunately, the money is in the hands of an underhanded broker named Ichabod Slipp (Kenneth MacDonald). The attorney gives each Stooge a subpoena which they are to serve to Slipp in order to resolve the legal issue. Brilliant attorney, eh?

The Stooges go to Slipp’s office, but he catches on to them fast, knocks them out cold, and absconds with the money. When the Stooges come to, they discover that Slipp is escaping on a train and go after him. Most of the remainder of the film involves a lot of major (fake) fright regarding a caged lion aboard the train that the Stooges accidentally let loose.

If you’re willing to cut the movie some “oh, brother”-type slack, its only real debits are a supposed comic bit where a black porter does a stereotypical eyes-a’-poppin’-’cause-I’m-a-skeered routine when he sees the lion, and a belabored slapstick closing gag involving some eggs. (Eggs and a lion on a passenger train??) Other than that, the short is fairly funny, even if you’re not a die-hard Stooge buff.

“Enough of this popsicle stand! I’m going over to Columbia!”

Of far greater interest in some of the behind-the-scenes trivia. The lion was played by Tanner (above), who served as the on-screen mascot for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from 1934 to 1956. Reportedly, Shemp Howard was so terrified of Tanner that, in the scene where the Stooges first encounter Tanner in a crate, Howard insisted on a glass plate being placed between the trio and the lion. (If you look closely, you can see the Stooges’ reflection in the glass as they rush out of the crate.) However, Shemp had little to worry about; according to Emil Sitka, Tanner had gotten so sickly in his elder years that he would fall asleep in the middle of a take.

 

Only one week until the BEATLES FILM BLOGATHON – Is there anybody going to listen to my story?

It’s only one week away from our Beatles Film Blogathon, and I’m…well, if not embarrassed, than certainly humbled to say that we have only three blogger entrants thus far.

Only THREE? One less member than The Beatles themselves??

I hope that this blogathon — besides honoring both Ringo Starr’s 75th birthday and his recent induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — will reflect the spirit of fun that The Beatles at their best provided us.

Although entries for the movies A Hard Day’s Night, Help!, and Let It Be are spoken for, there are still plenty of Beatles-related movies and music videos to blog about. Click on the blogathon’s banner (above) for more information about the ‘thon, and if you’re interested in blogging for it, please leave your blog’s name and URL, and the movie or video you want to blog about, in the “Comments” section below. Show your love of The Beatles by sharing it in our blogathon!

SEX! BLOGATHON – The big finish!

It’s been a hot little weekend here at Movie Movie Blog Blog. But all good things must come to an end, so gather ’round for…

Not counting yours truly, we had one dozen delicious entries on the topic of movies that suggested sexuality rather than overtly depicting it. Our last two bloggers gave it everything they had and made it to the finish line with these entries today:

Reel Distracted held up The Thomas Crown Affair as a shining example of the games lovers play (especially chess) when they’re afraid to let down their guard with each other,

and thestopbutton.com discussed Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O’Sullivan doing their best to satisfy both themselves and the Production Code in Tarzan and His Mate.

If you missed these or any of the other participating blogs, click here to go to our original blogathon announcement, which provides links to all of the blog entries.

My thanks to all of the wonderful and gifted bloggers who took the time to write and post their thoughtful entries. Further thanks goes to all of the readers who visited both this blog and the participating blogs to get a wide range of viewpoints about the depiction of sex in cinema.

Lastly, if you are a fan of The Beatles and/or their movies and music videos, I encourage you to participate in this blog’s upcoming Beatles Film Blogathon, being held July 5-7, 2005 in honor of Ringo Starr’s 75th (!) birthday and his recent induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Click on the banner below to read more about the blogathon and how to participate in it.

Thanks once more to everyone who joined in this blogathon, and try to stay cool this summer!

Announcing THE BEATLES FILM BLOGATHON!

(INTRODUCTORY DISCLAIMER: This blogathon is in no way connected to or endorsed by any of the Beatles or by Apple Corps Ltd.)

As a celebration of both Ringo Starr’s 75th birthday and his recent induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Beatles buff otherwise known as Movie Movie Blog Blog would like to announce…

THE BEATLES FILM BLOGATHON!

Following are the rules.

Primary rule: Please note that I will not accept duplicate entries about the same movie. There is a wide range given below from which to choose, so it’s first come, first served.

Do’s

Feel free to submit a blog about one of your favorite “official” Beatles movies: A Hard Day’s Night, Help!, Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine, Let It Be, or The Beatles Anthology.

Since this is obviously a limited menu from which to choose, I will also accept blogs about any of the following:

* Beatles-related documentaries, such as the Maysles Bros.’ Beatles documentary, 1982’s The Compleat Beatles, or 1988’s Imagine: John Lennon.

* Movies in which a Beatle appeared solo, either in a starring or co-starring role — anything from John Lennon’s starring turn in How I Won the War, to George Harrison’s cameo in The Rutles.

* Music videos featuring any of The Beatles, either as a group or separately.

* If you can provide a detailed critique about how their music adds to the film in question, I will also accept blogs about movies for which The Beatles contributed only a musical score, such as The Family Way (Paul McCartney) or Wonderwall (George Harrison). (Again, be sure to note how the music relates to the film as a whole, rather than just critiquing the score itself.)

* Fictional movies whose main source of plot is The Beatles’ music, such as I Am Sam (2001), the musical Across the Universe (2007),  or Nowhere Boy (2009).

Don’ts – Please do not blog about any of the following:

* Movies for which any of The Beatles served only as behind-the-scenes personnel (such as George Harrison’s Handmade Films productions).

* The 1966-1969 Beatles TV cartoon, since The Beatles themselves really had nothing to do with it other than the use of their songs.

* TV appearances, such as The Beatles guesting on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” or John and Yoko co-hosting “The Mike Douglas Show.”

How Do I Join the Blogathon?

In the “Comments” section at the bottom of this blog, please leave your name, the URL of your blog, and the movie you are choosing to blog about. At the end of this blog entry are banners for the ‘thon. Grab a banner, display it on your blog, and link it back to this blog.

The blogathon will take place from Sunday, July 5, through Tuesday, July 7 (Ringo Starr’s birthday). When the opening date of the blogathon arrives, leave a comment here with a link to your post, and I will display it in the list of entries (which I will continually update up to the beginning of the ‘thon, so keep checking back!).

I will not be assigning particular dates to any blog posts. As long as you get your entry in by the end of the day on July 7, I will be satisfied. (That said, the earlier the better!)

Again, be sure to leave me a comment and grab a banner, and have fun with your blog entry. Yeah, yeah, yeah!

Here is the list of participants thus far:

Critica Retro – A Hard Day’s Night

Phyllis Loves Classic Movies – Help!

Moon in Gemini – Yellow Submarine

Back to Golden Days – Let It Be

Movie Movie Blog Blog – Music videos for George Harrison’s “This Song” and “Crackerbox Palace”;  music video for The Beatles’ “Free as a Bird”

Summer Reeves – I Wanna Hold Your Hand

Love Letters to Old Hollywood – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

A Shroud of Thoughts – Across the Universe

In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood – How I Won the War

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