Gone With the Wind on Whose Line Is It Anyway

I'm a big fan of improv. In fact, I'm in an improv troupe here at USC. So, it makes sense that in my free time I watch YouTube clips of old "Whose Line Is It Anyway" episodes. While perusing said clips, I stumbled upon this one which is completely based on Gone With the Wind. Colin plays Scarlett O'Hara and Ryan plays Rhett Butler and they have to incorporate lines that are on strips of paper in their pockets, but mostly they're doing a parody of Gone with the Wind. I decided to post this though because I think Ryan does an amazing Clark Gable impression. And, it's a wonderful example of something in pop culture I can now appreciate more because I've seen the movie. Here's the clip. Enjoy!

Adam's Rib

I hadn't heard of this movie very many places other than from my film class with good ol' Drew Casper last year (it was one of the movies on a list of options we could writer a paper on... I did not write my paper on this one), and from my mom. I think I mentioned it to her (perhaps in reference to the paper) and she said "Oh, I didn't like that one so much. It rubbed me the wrong way."

This intrigued me. My mom loves watching romantic comedies and it was a common to find a partly watched old favorite in the DVD player when I would go to put in a Friends episode or something. Sabrina, The Philadelphia Story, Pat and Mike are the first that come to mind. So, when she said that she didn't like Adam's Rib, it tipped me off to the fact that this romantic comedy was different. So, I was extremely curious to find out why.

And the difference was clear from minute one of the film. Most romantic comedies are based around two people (usually a man and a woman), who hate each other and then after being thrown together in a lot of unavoidable and ridiculous scenarios, they eventually realize they're perfect for each other and fall in love. This is the basic story plot of my favorite romantic comedy of all time (and possibly favorite film of all time) It Happened One Night (and it is shocking how few people have heard of, let alone seen this movie and it is amazing, so if you're one of those people stop reading this and go out and watch it... don't worry I won't be insulted if you stop reading). 

However, Adam (Spencer Tracy) and Amanda (Katherine Hepburn) loved each other from the very beginning! Not only do they love each other, they are the cutest, happiest, most perfect couple portrayed in movies! The sweetest scene is when they're cooking dinner together and talking about their new cases (which end up being cleverly the two sides of the same case). It just melted my heart and made me miss my boyfriend ten million times more (since I watched this over the summer when he was still across the country). And when they look back at the old movies documenting when they bought their house? I could literally watch that for days. But, where were they supposed to go from there? Nowhere but down, apparently! This movie was incredibly frustrating and depressing because it's more about their separation than any kissing and making up. And, even at the very end... well, I won't give it away. 

For this reason, I must put Adam's Rib as one of my less favorite romantic comedies. I loved the idea: a lawyer couple are pitted against each other in the same court case and I loved that it was a court case that also had to do with a battle of the sexes. I also loved the way it was shot. There's one shot in particular that I just adored and may steal in one of my future movies that just framed the room in between the two rooms where Adam and Amanda are getting dressed, respectively. Throughout their conversation, they just poke their heads in occasionally, but remain at the far edges of the screen. It's absolutely amazing and adds to the cuteness of their relationship superbly. I also enjoyed Katherine Hepburn; not because she was doing a great job at being Amanda, but because she was great at being Katherine Hepburn (I realized watching this movie that she's really not a very good actress, she's just gorgeous and has a wonderful voice for talking... but I can go into detail about that on a different post). But, I couldn't stand seeing their relationship being torn apart: specifically by Amanda (I'm sorry, she was a bitch and incredibly stupid).

However, this conclusion goes into another aspect of this blog that I have not addressed as much: how much someone else's opinion on a film influences what you see in a film when you watch it. If my mother had not said that Adam's Rib was not one of her favorites, would I have looked for or even noticed the aforementioned problems I had with the film? This reminds me of when my parents rented the film Wanted and for some reason under the impression that Ang Lee had directed the film (my Dad mixed up which box he had read Ang Lee's name on in the video rental store) and found whole new meaning in the shots and the decisions made in the film and found it much more masterful than it was. I've tried to be objective when watching these films, and really determine if they're worthy of being classics in this day and age... but, I'm just a lowly film student! How can I say that a film isn't a classic anymore? I'm still learning what it means to make a good film! If anything, I should watch the films and find the goodness in them rather than cynically judging them and determining whether they're worthy of pressing the Like button on Facebook (yes! I just made a Facebook reference! I truly am an internet savvy blogger!)! I will have to examine this more in future posts.

COMING SOON: Baby Doll- Tennessee William's dark... comedy?

Dial M for Murder

I haven't seen Psycho. I haven't seen Vertigo. I haven't seen North by Northwest. So, for some reason I decided to watch Dial M for Murder, which is a movie I hadn't heard much about until I put it on the list (so much for the pop culture theme). 

But, I have to say that Dial M for Murder is highly relevant today. It was made in the 1954, when 3D was all the rage... sound familiar? Warner Bros. told Alfred Hitchcock that he could either make the movie in 3D, or not make the movie at all. So, he made it in 3D. However, by the time the picture got released, the 3D craze was over, and it wasn't really shown in 3D anywhere.

But, the movie still holds up! It was intriguing and full of twists and turns and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. The story was great! The performances were great! It all came together beautifully to make a film that didn't rely on a gimmick.

Now, I'm not saying that seeing the movie on a big screen in 3D wouldn't have enhanced my film-going experience for this movie. However, Dial M for Murder did not rely on the special effects to make the movie worth watching... unlike some recent 3D flicks (*cough* Avatar *cough*).

That's right, I said Avatar between coughs! You may not give a damn about my opinion, but this is my blog, so I am allowing my paragraph to rant about this so called "revolutionary film". Ever since I saw previews for the film, I decided to boycott it. To this day I have not seen it... despite the $2,767,691,607 box office (according to good ol' Box Office Mojo), the Oscar nomination for Best Picture. Why? Because even before the movie came out, everyone saying Avatar was going to finally cause the movie industry to completely convert to 3D and I desperately do not want 3D to be my future. Now just watch... my first big break will be a 3D movie. My family and I always joked my first project I would be hired to direct would be the live action "My Little Pony" adaptation... I'm just that much more excited to have it be in 3D.

Now, enough of my ranting. I'll go on to say that I really liked Dial M for Murder and that I can't wait to sneak into a ton of screenings of Alfred Hitchcock's films on the big screen for the Alfred Hitchcock class Drew Casper does here at USC. He is most certainly a director I need to catch up on because he is obviously hailed for a reason if this less famous movie of his is so awesome.

COMING SOON: An unusual classic romantic comedy- Adam's Rib.