#CurateMyLife: Classic Film

After reading Aurora's post for the #CurateMyLife #ClassicMovies project I decided to attempt to tackle it as well.  I was also motivated because I had to do a major apartment clean-up for a small Oscar Party this weekend.  Anyway, be sure to check out Aurora's post and check out the #CurateMyLife blogathon which was created by Margaret Perry.

The deadline for the blogathon has extended through February 29th (Happy Leap Day!), which means I can partake.

While working on this post I kind of realized that my life and most definitely my classic movie life is split between my apartment in LA and my parent's house in NY, so my collection is a bit bi-coastal.  But, I'm going to try to just focus on the things I have in my apartment currently since those are the items I have chosen to have here in LA with me.  Here we go!


1. DVD/Blu ray Collection
My current collection covers a number of different shelves in my apartment and are organized in a few different ways.  The majority of the DVDs and Blu rays are simply alphabetized, yet separated one area for DVDs another for Blu ray in the tower shelves, however I recently attempted some categorizing.  This came about mostly because I had purchased more bookshelves.  The current categories include: Musicals, Hitchcock, My Top 30, Criterion, Disney, TCM releases, Holiday Films, Box Sets, and Film Franchises.

I honestly get a lot of flack about my collection from some of my friends and peers.  They are flabbergasted that anyone would, in this day and age, be actively building a physical media collection while so many movies are available digitally.  I get their point of view, but I'm a physical/tangible media kind of gal.  I like knowing that I have that access to a particular film without having to rely on the internet, a thumb drive or a cloud.  There are also so many titles that come and go from streaming services that I really appreciate the perceived permanency of DVDs and Blu rays.

2.  VHS Collection
I don't currently have any VHS titles in my apartment, I do still have a bit of a VHS collection in NY though.  I do have a VCR here though for VHS rentals.

3.  Favorite DVD/Blu ray
I am terrible when it comes to favorites, which is evidenced by my shelf of top 30 films, but those don't even include movies from my other categories, so with that preface, I guess if I had to pick my favorite DVD or Blu ray, I guess I would go with the Criterion edition of Charade because I love that movie so much and it was nice that it got a proper home video release, even though it's in public domain.  My other favorite is the Beatles movie Help! partially because I love it so much, but also because it was such a treat when it came out on DVD/Blu ray.

4. Favorite VHS
My most sentimental VHS tapes are the old clam shell Disney movies, they're not here with me, but I would say they're my faves.

5.  Classic Film Related Wall Art
This was one of the categories that got me super excited to do this project.  I love being able to display my Classic Film wall art and it makes me feel better when I see it.  I feel like Charlie Chaplin is greeting me when I come home from work.  I'll start with the amazing pieces from Dorothy, their stuff is so creative and really beautiful:

It's hard to tell from my not so great pictures, but they are a Film Map, a Hollywood Star Chart and a Love Star Chart.  The map is a street map of an area that could be LA which is made up of over 900 film titles including Sunset Blvd, Valley of the Dolls, Chinatown, and Gosford Park.  The Hollywood Star Chart is based on the sky over LA on October 6, 1927 and includes constellations of 62 films (chosen from the films selected for preservation by the National Film Preservation Registry) and their 'stars.'  The Love Star Chart is made up of 74 romantic films (from the BFI Love season) and is based on the sky over NY on November 26, 1942.  That ended up being long winded, but I love these prints!

Here are some other items all around my apartment, movie posters, cooking shots from classic films in the kitchen, and TCM-ness.

6.  Classic Film related household product (i.e. mug, dishtowel, picture frame, etc.

I don't have that many household classic film related products, so this may be a stretch, but I have some magnetics and mugs!

7. Classic Film Movie Ticket

I decided to go with my TCM Classic Film Festival Pass because those are essentially tickets to many wonderful Classic Films.

TCMFF passes from 2010-2014

2015 TCMFF Pass

8.  Picture of you and friends/family enjoying a classic movie experience
While looking for pictures for this section I noticed that I don't really take too many selfies or pictures of myself or the people with me at or before events.  I typically take pictures of the event, which in hindsight is a bit of a bummer.  I should be better about including pictures of the people with me at that time.

I also noticed that all of these pictures are from TCM events, I'm not surprised, just an interesting observation.  The top row is a picture of me and my dad is from last year's TCM Film Festival and a snapshot of my mom on the red carpet for the opening night screening of Cabaret.  The next row is a picture of me with my friend Tracy who stopped by Hollywood to talk to me while I waited in line for Singin' in the Rain at the first TCM Film Festival and me and my cousin at I can't remember what screening that was but it was at a TCM Film Fest and the final picture is me and my brother during the NYC TCM Classic Film Bus Tour.

9.  Picture of Fan Art
This is by far my favorite set of fan art, the drawings were done by the amazing artist Kate Gabrielle, you can check out here work here: Kate Gabrielle

What I like most is the difference in the style, yet each one is amazing (just a note: the 2 center-ish pictures are actual photos, not drawings by Kate).

10.  Classic Movie Related Souvenir
I don't think I have anything that fits this category.
11.  Object that once belonged to a Classic Film Star
Another category that I don't have anything for, but that would be awesome.

12.  Picture of yourself with a Classic Film Star
All of these are thanks in large part to TCM:

13.  Selfie from TCM Film Festival
Not big on selfies in general

14.  Selfie with Robert Osborne
Haven't been lucky to snag a selfie with Mr. Osborne, but I have spoken to him on a couple of occasions at the film festival.

15.  Classic Film Book Collection

16.  Favorite movie star biography/autobiography
I don't currently have a favorite biography or autobiography here in LA.  In fact, a large majority of my book collection is currently in NY.  I was always partial to biographies written by Charlotte Chandler and I think Ginger Roger's autobiography is my favorite.

17.  Misc. anything missing from this list that you feel is part of your classic film life.  Be Creative!
This might not be super creative, but in the last year or so I've started making these little montages, sometimes they're themed and sometimes they're not.  The first one I made was with actual 4X6 photos, which I arranged and fit together and then got laminated.  I then started creating them using different collage/montage programs like Picasa and Fotor.

This project was extremely enjoyable, it was a great opportunity to evaluate the items that I have decided to surround myself with and to think about the reasons why they're a part of my life.  And I think the conclusion, at least for me, is that these classic film items add something special to my life and just genuinely make me happy.

I think Margaret came up with a wonderful blogathon/hashtag and it's been a pleasure to participate.  Be sure to follow her and Curate My Life on Twitter and here is her blog with more information about the project: Margaret Perry

What Good is Sitting Alone in your Room? (Day 1 of the 2012 TCM Classic Film Festival)

So, I feel like every blog entry I write starts with an apology, this post in no different.  I apologize for not updating about the Festival in a timely fashion.  I moved back to Los Angeles in July of 2012 and had a really terrible year at work, which was also a huge time suck.  I'm now at a new job, but still not finding the time to update the blog as often as I should.  I wanted to get these posts done before the 2013 festival, but as you can see I wasn't able to do that, so now the goal is to get these up before the 2014 festival, I'm going to do my best! But enough about me! Let's jump into our time machine and go to the 2012 TCM Classic Film Festival :)

The Thursday of the festival started off with heading over to the Grove with my mother.  We saw Mario Lopez (AC Slater himself) filming outside.

I also ended up getting a rain/trench coat since the weather reports were predicting rain (those reports were accurate).  I also bought some really nice red nail polish from the Gap, that I still use every once in awhile.  After our trip to the Grove we headed over to the Roosevelt and Club TCM to check out what was going on. We watched Ben Mankiewicz interview fans by the pool and caught a glimpse of Robert Osborne interviewing Rick Baker with Bela Lugosi's son, Bela Lugosi Jr. and Boris Karloff's daughter, Sara Karloff.

Robert, Bela Lugosi Jr., Sara Karloff and Rick Baker

It was then time to get ready to walk the red carpet for the screening of Cabaret.  On this trip, my mom and I had discovered a little short-cut from the hotel and the Hollywood and Highland structure.  In the previous years I had either walked around the whole structure or through it, but this year, we discovered a little alleyway that cut down the walk appreciably, I don't recommend using it alone in the middle of the night, but during daylight hours it's a nice option.  Anyway! We took this little shortcut to make our way to Cabaret and to our unbelievable surprise we ended up in this little alleyway with none other than the TCM Film Festival Rock Star: Robert Osborne!  I was in complete shock and fell silent, but my mom being the person that she is immediately said hi to him!  And he said hi back and asked how we were enjoying the festival so far.  I told him that I was really enjoying it and looking forward to the weekend.  We then had a brief conversation and it was so funny, cause he seemed so genuinely interested in being sure that we were enjoying the festival.  It was a really great way to kick off the festival.

When we made it to Grauman's (I still refuse to call it TCL) I realized that I had been traumatized by my last trips on the red carpet.  My mom wanted to stop and take pictures and soak it all in, but I was so worried that we would be reprimanded by the security people, since that's what they did the previous years.  So I became the annoying person who kept telling her we had to keep moving, I feel really guilty about it now, since I should've just enjoyed myself instead of worrying about getting yelled at, now that I'm a little older I realize just how silly it was to not do something for fear of someone telling me to move along, that's not the end of the world.  Anyway, here are some pics of me, my mom, Debbie Reynolds and Robert Osborne from the red carpet.

Also here's the cast of the new TNT Dallas being interviewed on the red carpet and G.W. Bailey who I very much associate with his Police Academy character Lt. Harris:

The opening night movie was Cabaret directed by Bob Fosse, starring Liza Minnelli, Joel Grey and Michael York.  Robert Osborne welcomed us to the festival and pointed out the Liza Minnelli connection between the opening movies of all 3 festivals: 2010- A Star is Born (Starring Judy Garland, her mother), 2011- An American in Paris (Directed by Vincent Minnelli, her father) and now 2012- Cabaret (Starring Liza Minnelli).

 First, Liza came out and discussed how she got the look for her character and how her father helped her.  Liza wanted to use a look from the 30s, but could only think of blondes and then here father suggested Louise Brooks.  She ultimately put the look together using the bob as an inspiration and picked up the eyelashes she wore on La Cienega.

I can see that

Next up was Joel Grey, it turned out that he had taken time out from performing on Broadway to come to the festival and it was his birthday.  He discussed how he was cast in the movie, apparently Bob Fosse didn't want him, eventhough Grey had been in the stage play, according to Grey, Fosse wanted to play the part himself.  He joked that one of his costumes, a coat, had been warn by the entire German population, and was so smelly. Joel and Liza seemed to be very close and really enjoyed being with one another on stage.  Joel said that he had thought of Liza as his little sister.  They seemed to still be incredibly close.

Such a character

holding hands

Last, Michael York came out, which was quite a surprise.  He talked about how he got the role.  He had heard through the grapevine that they were looking for A "Michael York type" for the role and he asked his agent if he thought he could pass as a Michael York type.  It was really great to hear the three leads talk about their experiences and what they went through to create the movie.

I really enjoyed seeing the movie on the big screen in that theater and even had the added bonus of walking out of the theater next to Michael York, which was a very surreal moment.  The movie was larger than life on the big screen.  The musical numbers were sensational, the performances were nuanced and the whole experience was very exciting.  It's not everyday that you get to see a movie like that.

After the movie, my mother and I made our way over to the Chinese 6 to see Sabrina (one of my all time faves).  It's always a pleasure to see Audrey Hepburn on the big screen, and William Holden (yum!).  The movie was introduced by Janie Bryant who is/was the costume designer for Mad Men.  She talked about the fact that the role of Linus was meant to be played by Cary Grant, but Humphrey Bogart got the role instead and was perhaps a better casting choice.  She told us that Bogart really wanted Lauren Bacall in the Audrey Hepburn role and that he was supposed to have script control, but neither of those things came to pass, I can't really imagine Bacall in that kind of role.  As a costume designer Bryant also talked about the work of Edith Head, which is always fabulous.  She discussed how Ms. Head was able to create a character through costume.  It was a great screening and a great way to close out the night.

pretty!

That does it for Day One of the festival, tune in next time for Day Two, which includes: Covergirl, introduced by Gene Kelly's widow, Patricia Kelly and Robert Osborne, Funny Face with Stanely Donen interview, Vertigo with Kim Novak interview, Nothing Sacred introduced by Deborah Nadoolman Landis and evening screening of Young Frankenstein with Mel Brooks interview.
 

Day 2 of 2011 TCM Film Festival

I had a wonderful first day of the festival and the second day got off to an early start.  I decided to see the 9am screening of A Streetcar Named Desire at Grauman's Chinese Theater.  It was introduced by Leonard Maltin, who I had as a film professor at USC and who I saw interview Peter Bogdanovich at the 2010 TCM Film Festival.  He talked about the original Broadway cast and that it was all essentially intact for the film, except for Jessica Tandy.  It was said the reason for this was because Vivien Leigh would be a bigger box office draw.  I hate hearing things like that, while I do love Vivien Leigh in the role of Blanche, how awesome would it be to capture Jessica Tandy's portrayal of Blanche on screen? I guess that's just how things go sometimes and definitely the way things work in Hollywood, most of the time.  He also mentioned an interesting turn of events regarding the profits from the movie.  He said that the producer, Charles K. Feldman had bequeathed the earnings of the film to the Motion Picture and Television Fund.  I definitely hadn't heard that before and thing that's an amazingly generous thing that Charles K. Feldman did.  He spoke about Mr. Feldman, said that he was an agent who became a producer and that he made sure that the proceeds from the film always go to help members of the Motion Picture and Television Fund.  I thought that was an amazing and generous arrangements and interesting to think about when watching the film.  Now!  let's move on to the actual film...seeing Marlon Brando on the screen at Grauman's Chinese Theater is unbelievable!  He is an awe-inspiring physical specimen, my stars, I was not prepared for that so early in the morning, but what a way to start the day.

The rest of my day kind of happened by accident I wasn't sure which films or events to check out, but eventually I decided to stop by Club TCM and stuck around for the Debbie Reynolds Meet and Greet.  Before lining up I decided to check out Club TCM.  It seemed to be a bit larger than last year.  The boutique also had some very desirable items, so desirable that they sold out!  So here's my tip, if you see something you like at the boutique, don't wait, buy it!  TCM did a really fun thing at the 2011 Festival, they were giving out these little clips to put on your pass lanyard.  Each clip was for a certain type of social media, you could get one for Facebook, Twitter, GetGlue annnnd I can't think of the 4th one.  Oh! I just remembered, I think it was for having the Film Festival app on your iPhone or android phone.  Here's a picture, pretty cool right?!  It was nice to get the likeness of the other passes and beautiful artwork.  And the women who were giving them out were pretty much the nicest people (speaking of, almost all of the volunteers/workers/really anyone I encountered at the festival was so very kind).  When I was trying to show my facebook message to them I couldn't get reception and it wouldn't load, but they believed me and still gave me the clippy thing.  So kind.  Anyway! those are some of the fun things to do at Club TCM.  There were interesting displays of LA Times articles with pictures,  a beautiful photography display, and the original footprints done by Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and Sid Grauman.  Here are some pictures that I took around Club TCM:

The Boutique

Douglas Fairbanks

Mary Pickford

Sid Grauman

After exploring Club TCM, I decided to get in line for the Debbie Reynolds Meet and Greet/Signing.  Since I got there kind of early I was very close to the front of the line and ended up chatting with a lot of very friendly festival goers.  To our surprise, while we were chatting away, Debbie Reynolds herself made an appearance and started posing for pictures, talking to everyone and signing autographs.  She asked if we had watched the royal wedding and asked if we were enjoying the festival.  So friendly!  So lovely!  Here are some of the pictures I was able to get, I also got her autograph!

 I decided to stick around and wait to go in for the meet and greet.  It was nice to continue to chat with other attendees.  There was a couple who had been at the Vanity Fair party and shared some wonderful stories.  The wait wasn't too long and I got to take a look around the other room of Club TCM.  I got another picture with Ms. Reynolds and she signed my festival booklet.  All in all a wonderful experience, similar to getting to meet and greet Tony Curtis last year.

After getting the wonderful opportunity to see Debbie Reynolds I hung around the Roosevelt Hotel for a little while and overheard that they had to turn people away.  I think that's the first time that I heard of any people not being admitted to any screening, event or anything.  I decided to take a little break for some lunch and used the time to try to decide between To Kill a Mockingbird or Now, Voyager.  I hadn't quite decided if I wanted to cry in Grauman's Theater or one of the smaller Chinese multiplex theaters.  I ultimately decided to go with crying in Grauman's Chinese Theater.  I figured it'd be less noticeable with a large crowd. :)  Plus I also wanted to see/hear both Gregory Peck's family and Mary Badham speak about the movie. I ended up sitting next to a very lovely couple who kept offering me their binoculars to look through.  I had never thought of bringing binoculars, that might be added to the packing list this year.  Gregory Peck's family spoke first and they talked about his recent stamp  and the unveiling ceremony that they had been to.  They shared that they selected the picture, which is a still from the movie, because they felt like he was playing himself in the movie and therefore it made a good picture for the stamp.  They also talked about Atticus Finch styled glasses that helps support the LA Public Library  I ended up checking out the Atticus Finch rimmed glasses and they're pretty cool, a bit pricey though and I don't think they're available anymore.  The movie itself was amazing.  It was so beautiful and moving.  I remember reading the book for the first time in High School and how engaging the story was.  It also reminds you that it's difficult for good books to made into good movies, I feel like like is one of the best movie adaptations.  After the film Mary Badham spoke, I had no idea that she was John Badham's sister!  I believe she's 14 or 15 years younger than him.  I had heard John Badham speak about Saturday Night Fever last year, what a talented family.  She talked about the fact that it was very hard for her to convince her parents to let her be an actress.  She had been living in Alabama and the idea of going to Hollywood was completely foreign to them.  Even though her brother and somewhat paved the way for her, by the time she wanted to go her parents were older and she was so young.  I'm glad they ultimately let her go!  She also talked about being only in 3 films and 2 TV shows.  Which is so crazy to wrap your head around, but she had decided to go to school and when she was finished with school she didn't want to go back into the movie business. She spoke very fondly of Gregory Peck and the whole movie making experience.  It ended up being a wonderful event.  And I'm glad I decided to attend.

I found this picture of Mary Badham, Gregory Peck's daughter and wife from movieline.com

On Friday evening I decided to see Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, with Jane Powell in attendance.  Yes, I probably should've picked a different movie, since I had just seen Seven Brides for Seven Brothers at Lincoln Center but I just couldn't pass up an opportunity to see this film on the big screen, it's so beautiful and I wanted to see Jane Powell.  It ended up being a good choice, Jane Powell was interviewed by Leonard Maltin and shared some wonderful stories and seeing the movie again was so wonderful.  I think just the barn raising dance scene is worth seeing the movie on the big screen.  Jane Powell talked about how much she loved the studio system, which you don't always hear.  But, she said that it was perfect for her, she felt like an employee and has an employee/employer relationship with the studio and she loved it.  She talked about being cast in Royal Wedding with Fred Astaire, after June Allyson and Judy Garland had both dropped out.  She said that she had known that the movie was kind of a biopic of Fred and his sister, so when she first met Fred Astaire she asked him when he last danced with his sister.  He said, 1929 and she said, "Oh!  That's the year I was born!"  And he responded, "They keep getting younger and younger."

So that was my 2nd day of the 2011 Film Festival.  Lots of amazing events, wonderful experiences and many pictures.  :)  I'm going to try to get all of these updates up before the 2012 Film Festival, because that seems like a realistic goal.  I apologize again for my inability to post in a timely manner.  I'm working on it!