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Andrew D. over at 1001 Movies I (Apparently) Must See Before I Die has passed along to me the "Versatile Blogger Award." Thanks Andrew! We here at the Monkey like to receive awards whether we've earned them or not!
Said award comes with three provisos, which I will address forthwith (or Fort Worth, depending on where you live):
1. Thank your nominator and provide a link to their blog. (See above)
2. Make your own fifteen nominations and tell them they've been nominated.
3. Offer up seven interesting facts about yourself.
Let me tell you, I spent a good part of the afternoon jotting down notes on that last one and I came up with a single fact that covers it all: I am just not that interesting. As I once told a very good friend of mine, the reason I try so hard to be interesting is that I am at heart so very, very boring.
Fifteen fellow bloggers: The Mouth O' The Mule, Pondering Life, Who Am Us Anyway, News From the Boston Becks, Classic Movies, If Charlie Parker Was A Gunslinger There's Be A Whole Lot of Dead Copycats, Movies Silently, Plain Chicken, Film Noir Photos, Cool Beveridge, The Frame, Journeys in Classic Film, Carole & Co., Pretty Clever Films, in so many words, Laura's Miscellaneous Musings, Silver Scenes, A Shroud of Thoughts, Out of the Past, Splendid Labyrinths, A Person in the Dark, Time Machine to the Twenties, The Girl With The White Parasol, Gingerology, Thrilling Days of Yesteryear, ithankyou, She Blogged By Night, Another Old Movie Blog, Rosalind Russell Dazzling Star, Pictures, All Good Things, Silent Volume, Pickled Cinema, Films of Yesterday ...
How many is that? Nine? Okay, six more. All Things Kevyn, Blogdanovich by Peter Bogdanovitch, Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule, Self-Styled Siren and Sunset Gun.
Okay, so math is not my strong suit.
To all you winners, congratulations. And to everyone else, oops! I catch you next time.
I've been meaning to mention that Andrew D. of "1001 Movies I (Apparently) Must See Before I Die" has bestowed upon the Monkey the "Sunshine" Award. An appropriately-themed accolade, don't you think, considering the prevalence of Seasonal Affective Disorder at this time of year.
These are the award's rules:
1. Include the Sunshine Award in a post or on your blog
2. Link to the person who nominated you.
3. Answer 10 questions about yourself (you may use these or come up with your own)
4. Nominate 10 bloggers.
5. Link your nominees on your blog and comment on their blog to let them know they are nominated.
Andrew D. selected the Monkey for this award for the most refreshing reason ever: "I literally don't know ANY other bloggers." If only everyone were as honest.
Okay, so parts one and two, taken care of. But parts three and four—"10 questions ... 10 bloggers." Ten? Jeepers. Screw ten. I'm too old for ten. How about three? And not three questions, but three of my favorite musical moments from the movies. Maybe not the three favorites, but three of them.
(1) "Cheek to Cheek" (Top Hat). I've said it before, but I'll say it again: When I watch Astaire and Rogers dance, I reconsider the possibility that maybe there is a heaven after all.
(2) "I Should Have Known Better" (A Hard Day's Night). The Beatles and Richard Lester invent the music video.
(3) "Kindle My Heart" (A Little Princess). More a reimagining of the Shirley Temple movie than an adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's beloved children's book, A Little Princess is the story of a rich girl suddenly thrown into poverty, but what it's about is the power of storytelling to transmute despair into hope. In this scene, director Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity) ups the ante, showing how filmmaking can bypass the frontal lobes and tell stories directly to the heart.
And who gets the Monkey's Sunshine shout-out? Olivia de Havilland, the pig from Babe and Nick Charles's beleaguered liver.
Have at it, boys and girls.
(Subsequent to posting this earlier today, I decided to tie in my movie recommendations below with the Oscar-winning film The Artist which Thingy was watching when she gave me the Thingster Award.)
My blog pal Thingy over at Pondering Life has bestowed upon me the coveted Thingster Award. She was watching The Artist—the silent movie that won the Oscar for best picture in 2011—the other day and thought of yours truly.
"Mythical Monkey. The go to guy for great insight on the classics, and not so classic movies."
Thingy created the "Thingster Award" back in April. After winning the Liebster Blog Award, she wrote, "I came up with a scathingly brilliant idea. I shall give out my own awards at the end of each week to blogs I find especially appealing to me. You get no trophy, although, you can take the special banner I have made. I also assume many of you will never know of your special prize, for I shall not tell you. (I'm lazy that way)."
And she's been handing out the Thingster Award ever since.
Just not to me.
Now, I don't usually brood about this sort of thing, but every time she handed one out I thought, "Gee, I wish I had me one of those Thingster Awards." And now I do! To quote Mister Roberts, "I'd rather have it than the Congressional Medal of Honor" (you know, in my case because the Medal of Honor would require an act of extraordinary bravery and heroism, a hard thing to accomplish while sitting in front of a computer in the suburbs of Baltimore).
To return the favor, and since Thingy is apparently in a silent movie mood, here are five suggestions to follow up The Artist:
The Black Pirate—Jean Dujardin, the Oscar-winning star of The Artist, cheerfully acknowledged that he was channeling silent film legend Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., during his performance. So why not cut out the middle man and see Fairbanks for yourself. The Black Pirate is a swashbuckling classic, and if you have a Blu-Ray player, you can see the original color version.
Stella Maris—Remember the scene in The Artist where Peppy Miller fondles the jacket and imagines herself with the hero? That's a direct quote of a scene from the classic Mary Pickford melodrama, Stella Maris, my favorite of all of Pickford's films. There she plays two roles, and so convincingly that if you didn't know better, you'd swear it was two different actresses.
Show People—The story of an unknown girl from the country who makes it big in Hollywood was a staple of the silent era (see, e.g., A Girl's Folly, Souls for Sale, The Extra Girl and Ella Cinders), so much so that Marion Davies (with King Vidor directing) spoofed the genre with this 1928 classic comedy. Look for cameos from just about everybody who was anybody including Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin, John Gilbert and even Marion Davies and King Vidor as themselves.
Flesh and the Devil—Speaking of John Gilbert, was his fall from box office grace with the coming of the sound age the inspiration for The Artist? Well, actually it could be any number of silent film greats, but if it was Gilbert, here's one of his best, a noirish romance pairing him with off-screen lover Greta Garbo.
Behind the Screen—And finally, a very funny behind-the-scenes look at the making of a Hollywood movie from the silent era's most popular comedy star, the legendary Charlie Chaplin.
Hope that's of use to you, Thingy, and once again, thank you very much for the award!
While my brother and I were on the road from Seattle to Baltimore last week, Andrew D. of 1001 Movies I (Apparently) MUST See Before I Die blessed me with the Liebster Blog Award.
Thank you, Andrew!
I've been following Andrew's blog for quite a while now—since 2009, he's been watching his way through Stephen Jay Schneider's bossy tome 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, and writing his own reviews of these don't-expire-without-having-seen-them classics. Quite a project.
Anyway, the Liebster Blog Award has over the years become something of a project in and of itself—now requiring the recipient to divulge eleven random facts about him- or herself, answer eleven questions, make up eleven more questions and choose eleven more worthy winners. Jeepers! Somebody must have been a fan of This is Spinal Tap—everything goes up to eleven.
It's too much, really, and three is a much more pleasant number anyway, I think. So I hereby decree that from now on thou shall count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out!
Three random facts gleaned from my trip across America:
1. I meticulously researched every aspect of the drive from Seattle to Baltimore—routes, hotels, restaurants, sites of interest—yet somehow forgot to note the departure time of my flight out, arriving at the airport only minutes before the plane took off.
2. Mt. Rushmore is even more spectacular than advertised. Also, if George Washington's nose is twenty-one feet long, can you imagine how much Martha Washington must have enjoyed the rest of him—the father of our country indeed!
3. Wall Drug—which, if you've ever driven through that part of the country you have no doubt heard of—is so chock full floor to ceiling with cheap souvenirs, it is, as my brother put it, like being trapped in the bottom of an arcade claw machine.
And now to answer three of the eleven questions from Andrew D.:
6. You're going to be stranded on a deserted island and can take along five movies...what are they?
Dvds on boat building, survival skills, basic first aid, edible wild plants, and Casablanca (on Blu-Ray, of course).
8. Why do you blog about movies?
Mister Muleboy made me do it.
10. How big is your DVD collection?
Bigger than George Washington's, that's for sure! Around 800, I think.
(To read all eleven questions, click here.)
And now for three questions of my own—and in lieu of choosing three Liebster Award winners, I'll just direct them to specific people (but anyone may answer):
1.(For Erik Beck, Jerry Dean Roberts, Little Golden Guy, Jon Mullich, Louis Morgan, Stinky Lulu, Matt, Oscar Nerd, Boudu, Sage Slowdive, Fritz, Danny Perry, and anybody else in the alternate Oscar biz) Which Oscar first made you realize the Academy didn't know what it was doing?
2. (For my brother Tom, Mister Muleboy, Who Am Us Anyway, Infinite Fool, the Happy Goat Band, Mister Pleasant, Power Pop, Bobby Bare Jr., and everybody else who listens to music) What one song best expresses who you are as a music fan?
3. (For Carole & Co., Rosalind Russell: Dazzling Star, the Louise Brooks Society, VKMfanHuey, Molly Brown, and everybody else who has devoted him- or herself to a classic film actress) What made you fall in love with the actress you blog about?
That's it. Have at it.
If you've been reading this blog for a while, you've stumbled across more than one mention of Brandy Dean over at Pretty Clever Films. If you haven't checked it out, you really should.
Brandy has started a new feature, "Film sites," which promotes the work of her fellow film fanatics. Today she features none other than the Mythical Monkey himself, that hard-working, button-eyed, fluff-stuffed fellow sitting on the desk to my immediate left. He does all the work, I get all the credit—if that's not life in a nutshell, I don't know what is.
Brandy calls the Monkey "one my most fav movie blogs of ALL TIME ya’ll," which is very flattering considering the source, and warns "If you’re not reading the Mythical Monkey then you might not really exist!"—coincidentally enough, since I often feel that if I'm not writing the Monkey, I might not exist.
If you're visiting from Pretty Clever Films for the first time, here are a couple of posts to guide your way: here and here.
And again, thanks Brandy!
As I mentioned earlier in the week, the author of The Entertainer: Movies, Magic and My Father's Twentieth Century, Margaret Talbot, was at the AFI-Silver Saturday to introduce the pre-Code film Three on a Match, starring Joan Blondell, Ann Dvorak, Bette Davis, and Margaret's own father, Lyle.
The film is a terrific little example of a Warner Brothers-style pre-Code film, 63 lightning-quick minutes of gangsters, booze, drugs, fast women and actresses in their skivvies (here, Bette Davis rather than Joan Blondell, who must have been grateful to keep her clothes on for once). (By the way, it occurred to me, after watching Davis rolling on a pair of stockings on a screen thirty feet high, to do a Pre-Code Stocking Stuffers piece in a few days. I guarantee you, if you want to make Junior happy for the holidays, give him a couple of pre-Code movies—that'll keep him busy.)
Afterwards, Margaret Talbot talked about her book, her father and the history of entertainment from the 1910s to the 1960s. She's just as interesting in person as she is on paper—how rare is that?
Normally, I wouldn't pester someone at a public appearance, but since she actually dropped by the comment section and made me swear I would, well, what was I going to do? I'm as compulsively honest as Abe Lincoln and the only promise I've ever willingly broken is the one to finish writing this blog.
Not only was Margaret Talbot kind and gracious—not surprising, if you've read the book—but it also turns out she's a faithful reader of the Mythical Monkey!
Which did take me by surprise. I confess that, Katie-Bar-The-Door notwithstanding, I think of myself as writing this blog for an audience of one—my dog, Angie, off whom I bounce ideas as we walk two miles in the morning and another two in the evening. She never comments, but I'll bet she knows more about silent movies than any other canine on the east coast.
I guess this means I need to start paying a bit more attention, huh. (Looking for a quick entree into the Mythical Monkey? Click here and here.)
For my part, you'll be glad to know that upon meeting Margaret, the Monkey was as smooth as a schoolboy who's just turned a corner and run headlong into the homecoming queen. "English second language my is! Also only language!"
Did I really used to litigate in federal court? No, you must mean two other Monkeys.
Of course we didn't have a camera, and my cellphone is so old, you have to crank a handle and ask for Sara at the switchboard, so I have photo-shopped the encounter for you. That's me on the left.
It was nice to meet you yesterday, Margaret (do you mind if I call you "Ms. Talbot"?)—and let's do get together for that drink. I'll take a refresher course in English by then, I promise.
(Read the latest from Margaret Talbot, a piece for the Wall Street Journal, here.)
Art at Classic Cinema Gold has bestowed the 7x7 Award on the Mythical Monkey. Classic Cinema Gold is devoted to the Golden Age of Hollywood movies and if you aren't familiar with Art's blog, this post might be a good point of entry. Check it out!
Now, on to the Award. You know the drill—answer a set number of questions then bestow the award on the same number of blogs. In this case, seven.
1. Tell everyone something that no one else knows about you.
I have no hidden depths. Beneath the inane chatter about the Beatles, baseball and Buster Keaton is a man who thinks about the Beatles, baseball and Buster Keaton.
2. Link to one of the posts that I think best fits the following categories:
a. Most beautiful piece: Let's face it: they're all beautiful. On history's list of blog-writing sock monkeys, I am the greatest. But this review of My Man Godfrey (with a Paul Robeson chaser) is sheer poetry.
b. Most helpful piece: I had hoped this piece advocating the preservation of Pickfair Studios might do some good, but considering that they bulldozed the joint the very next day, I have my doubts.
c. Most popular piece: This pair of posts (here and here) for the Great Recasting Blogathon proved popular—especially with me.
d. Most controversial piece: Giving Shirley Temple a Katie Award for acting made some heads explode. And Shirley didn't even stop by to thank me for the effort!
e. Surprisingly successful piece: I confess I never have any preconceived notions about what you'll like, but I am a bit surprised that I wound up writing this post about Chaplin The Musical at all.
f. Most underrated piece: Although Jandy at Pretty Clever Films specifically recommended my pick for the Top Ten Films of All-Time to her readers, the fact that Sight & Sound didn't immediately dump their own list for mine was a disappointment.
g. Most pride-worthy piece: Pride like a banana peel goeth before a fall, but this review of D.W. Griffith's Broken Blossoms is a pretty good measure of how much I've learned about movies in the last three years.
3. Pass this award on to seven other blogs/bloggers:
Here are seven bloggers (and twitter-ers) who never seem to respond to this sort of thing and thus whose answers might prove interesting:
Mister Muleboy
Erik Beck of the Boston Becks
Peter Bogdanovich
Roger Ebert
Barack Obama
Kim Morgan
Plain Chicken
Why the picture of Lady Gaga in a lobster hat? Aside from the obvious reason (that it's Lady Gaga in a lobster hat), because the Monkey has won another of the coveted Liebster Blog Awards. Liebster being German for "one who loves lobsters."
Natalie of In The Mood explains: "Well, too bad you already got [The Liebster Blog Award]. But I wanted to award you too."
And I'm glad she did. You think when Jack Nicholson won his third Oscar he said, "Oh, I already have two." Heck, no, he said, "Amen and Hallelujah!" Or something to that effect. I like awards.
I won't tell you eleven more things about myself—although if there's something you particularly want to know, feel free to ask (I'll feel free to answer or not as the mood strikes me)—but I will answer the eleven questions Natalie asks on her blog. You should feel free to answer as well:
1. In film do you prefer black&white or color? It depends, actually. I'd never want to see Citizen Kane in color, but I can't imagine Singin' in the Rain in black and white.
2. In photographs do you prefer black&white or color? with some notable exceptions, B&W
3. Your favorite era in music? Each decade is special in its own way and I love them all, I love the Beatles, I love Sinatra, I love the Who and Liz Phair, but I went to college in the '80s so that era is more likely to evoke particular moods and memories.
4. Do you have a tumblr? I confess, I don't even know how to have a tumblr, but I do have a pair of Baltimore & Ohio Railroad dining car tumblers.
5. Your second favorite actress? Can't say I've ranked them in my head. I have a copy of practically everything Jane Greer ever made, but I can't honestly say she's my favorite—she only made two good movies after all. Actresses I'm most likely to stop and watch if they're on: Myrna Loy, Irene Dunne, Audrey Hepburn, Deborah Kerr, Mary Pickford, Barbara Stanwyck, Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn, in roughly that order.
6. Your favorite movie starring your second favorite actress? If it's Irene Dunne, it must be Theodora Goes Wild, with The Awful Truth and My Favorite Wife running second and third.
7. Your second favorite actor? If Cary Grant is my favorite, then either Humphrey Bogart, John Wayne or James Stewart is my second favorite. Lately, I'm much more likely to be watching John Wayne, so I'll say the Duke.
8. Your favorite movie starring your second favorite actor? Rio Bravo first, The Quiet Man second, The Searchers third.
9. Favorite foreign film? There are so many good ones, but Akira Kurosawa's Ikiru is probably my favorite. If you ask me tomorrow, I'll tell you something different.
10. Ice cream or French fries? Don't get much of either lately, but I'd have to say ice cream. As much as I like French fries, I can often eat them as mere filler, whereas ice cream is always a treat.
11. If you could see your favorite actress in any movie role [real or imagined] what would it be? Hollywood doesn't really make Irene Dunne movies anymore, i.e., musicals, sophisticated comedies and/or straight romances starring smart girls-next-door in their mid-to-late 30s.
Well, screw it, I'll just go with Irene Dunne and a gaggle of Golden Age actresses in Bridesmaids. I actually saw that one in a theater!
Oh, wait, I just re-read the question and saw that it says favorite actress not second favorite actress—why did I have that in my head? Oh, so that's a different question entirely. What would I like to see Myrna Loy in? How about a crime comedy where she solves the mystery for once?
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