Fascinating discourse above with Dorothy, Pierre and Miranda.

Yeah, AD’S new tagline comes from our good friend RYAN ADAMS. (I know you know that.) It’s also (as I’m sure you’re well aware) a line of dialogue from LAWRENCE OF ARABIA.

I think I understand what you’re saying about VIVIEN’S performance, Pierre. I’m certain I heard this. Unless I’ve got my wires crossed somewhere.

Even though Cukor was sacked and they brought Victor Fleming on board, VIVIEN and OLIVIA De HAVILLAND were deeply attached to George. They not only considered him a good friend but they thought he was an extraordinary director where female actors were concerned.

(That’s definitely true. He possessed a genuine understanding of women and he helped a lot of them to a level where they gave extremely striking performances.)

Emotionally VIV and OLIVIA were quite devastated. They wanted to continue the film with George. But it just wasn’t going to be possible. I’ve read a variety of biographies of VIVIEN (a bunch are still in my possession) and apparently she and OLIVIA continued to rehearse with George and discuss things like character motivation with him long after he was fired.

So it seems that he remained a very positive influence on the girls and they continued to lean on him for support, encouragement and brainstorming on ideas concerning character portrayal. From what I was given to understand Fleming was a no nonsense guys’ guy whose insensitivity offended both women.

I think they knew that they had a better chance of flying to the moon than having a successful artistic collaboration with Fleming.

I have heard about the outtakes that you describe and what I’ve read (described above) certainly makes it sound like George would have brought out different dimensions and aspects of SCARLETT that didn’t readily come to light in the nearly four hours that we see her on screen.

Always cool to talk acting with you, Pierre. Your knowledge is profound and deep – and you have a lot of experience.

If I were ever to absorb anything new, I’d like it to be from someone like you….

I’m onboard for Christopher Guest. Although his work is a little one-note, that one note hits the mark and is quite entertaining.

Greetings and felicitations, Miranda — my attitude about the Oscars, developed years ago, coincides with the tagline that Sasha Stone features on her Awards Daily masthead: “The trick is not minding.”

I’ve adored her since I was a girl. She was always a big favourite of mine. Broke my heart completely when I realized that she left this world long before I was born. So there was never a chance of meeting her.

I wish she had devoted a little less time to the theatre and that she had done more films. But she certainly made up for that with the superlative classic motion pictures that she appeared in.

I held out for a theatrical screening of GONE WITH THE WIND until I was a teenager. I REFUSED TO SEE IT FOR THE FIRST TIME ON TELEVISION. I worshipped that book. It just meant too much.

I wouldn’t crack. It just about killed me. But I finally got to go…and it SURPASSED all of my expectations.

(And how often can we say that about…well, anything???)

VIVIEN was unbelievably beautiful, fiery, passionate, spectacular. She WAS SCARLETT in all of her amazing glory. GWTW IS THE BEST FILM I’VE EVER SEEN. Only thing that can possibly compare is LAWRENCE OF ARABIA.

But GWTW is largely great because of VIVIEN’S exceptional performance.

So…as you said, when the ACADEMY gets it right, it really goes to town. Thank God they recognized this lovely woman’s sheer genius for BOTH performances. Though I don’t adore her acting in STREETCAR at that particular level, it is still a sublime achievement in any respect.

VIVIEN LEIGH was a remarkable woman and a brilliant actor. As film fans, we’re all forever grateful.

Sam, I am a great admirer of WIlde’s “Sunset Boulevard” and Swanson is indeed unforgettable. I need to re-visit it again as my focus whenever I see it is on William Holden, who is another unsung hero of mine.

But I can offer this: goldfish funeral

I own DAYS OF HEAVEN.

Best film of 1978 for my money – and with films like THE DEER HUNTER and AN UNMARRIED WOMAN in release that year, that’s genuinely saying something….

Dorothy, I’m totally with Danny. I wish that you wrote more reviews. You’re a fabulous writer. Too bad you don’t have more free time.

Ah, the VIVIEN LEIGH thing. I’d forgotten about that.

IMO VIVIEN is not only one of the foremost talents of the silver screen but one of the great beauties as well. I think she was FANTASTIC in STREETCAR. Truly is a performance for the ages.

But I personally think that her SCARLETT O’HARA in GWTW is the best lead female performance EVER.

So we’re definitely on the same page, D. Just different paragraphs.

MICHAEL DOUGLAS, unfortunately, won the Oscar because (as with so many of them…) the industry thought that it was his time. He also did Fatal Attraction that year and it was an enormous BLOCKBUSTER hit. Certainly NOT because it was any bloody good. (Except for a totally brilliant performance by the great GLENN CLOSE.) But largely because it played into everybody’s fears about relationships, intimacy and infidelity.

So you take that huge one two punch, the fact that MD was well liked, popular, handsome and had been around forever. Plus (though I didn’t care for Wall Street myself) it was looked upon as a “serious” lead role and he had the “Greed is good” speech.

Those are the main reasons why he won. As our beloved Pierre so often states, we have to keep reminding ourselves that the Oscars are NOT about the best. If we remember that, then we won’t be upset at the outcome.

Well, MAYBE. Ha ha.

But MD is actually a fairly decent actor. He’s good in any film that he’s done with Kathleen Turner. Also TRAFFIC and THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT.

He just has to be cast correctly.

And you are spot on about Charlie Sheen. Absolutely horrible. I think the only thing he was ever half decent in was the scene in FERRIS BUELLER where he played that hoodlum that JENNIFER GREY meets in the cop shop. He was fine in Platoon. That’s pretty much it.

Otherwise, holy hell…

Women keep marrying that…man…and having children with him. Have you seen him lately…?

It boggles the mind.

What was that speech that FRANCES McDORMAND gave in FARGO? About what people would do for a little bit of money?

Um, yeah…..

Of those seen, I really did not enjoy I’m Not There. at the level the community at large did, as it felt more like a vanity project for the stars to me than a fully developed piece of work. There were great performances and moments of greatness, but they felt scattered across what I thought was an uneven plain.

The other two, Ratatouille and No Country.., are about where I’ve ranked them on my own lists.

Here in the next few days I think I’ll make an effort to catch up on a lot of my failed 2007 viewings.

i’m happy the blindness and whatever that eastwood directed film with jolie (no i really don’t care) aren’t getting wowish reveiws.has me thinking that if something i like comes out/maybe it has a chance of getting some play…let’s see ‘the usua’l oscar bait stuff/hyped as potential oscar bait stuff fail/fall. *please*

*ha ha*

and will there be a funnier film this year than ‘ghost town’ ???

On the other hand, I’m not a fan of Meirelles, so here’s hoping that when I see Blindness he turns it around instead of driving it in deeper.

I’m still excited about BLINDNESS…the accusations of it being unpleasant to watch actually bode well for it for me. I’m a big fan of Merellies and have great faith in his ability here.

Michael W., if you haven’t already, I recommend you check out the Living in Cinema Readers’ Top 10 List at the top of the page. It’s as good a top 10 movies-to-see checklist as any out there, with mini-commentaries by some of us reg’lars. Even so, there are a good many comparably excellent movies that didn’t make it onto the list. 2007 was a great film year, much better than this one’s shaping up to be so far. 2008 is just a more ordinary film year– there’s some great stuff in it, but not in unparalleled quantities.

I just scrambled for the SNL synchronized swimming sketch with Martin Short, but I couldn’t find it :(

Alexander, it might take me additional viewings of Hiroshima before I can fully grasp it. I’m not embarrassed to admit that it went over my head.

Michael, this afternoon definitely counts. I like to think of the Watercooler as being an ongoing thing throughout the week. And you picked a great film to bring up. Devil has grown on me more and more as time has gone by.

Jennybee, there wasn’t much humanity (in a good sense) in Blindness the movie so I’m going to go ahead and suggest your instinct to stay away is probably a good one. Eventually it kind of comes through, but it almost feels tacked on.

Hmmmmm Dorothy. Inspired by current events much? What’s crazy is that what’s going on right now makes Wall Street and Bonfire of the Vanities seem like child’s play.

And don’t get it twisted, I totally have “Waiting for Guffman” ready for some re-visiting as well. K and I have been going back and forth about how underrated Guest is. Anyone want to join our Christopher Guest Appreciation Society? I already have Daniel and Evan down :-)

Daniel, I’m actually hoping to have a chance to interview the director of Up the Yangtze in a few weeks, but we’ll see if the distributor follows through on their promise. It’s a smaller film, so they’ll probably eat up whatever press they can get, but I’m not exactly prime press pickins.

Also, Dan, I don’t see how loving Guffman should preclude you from ALSO loving Best In Show. Gosh, I need to check that one out again, Dorothy. Thanks for the reminder.

lol

Dorothy, what happened to the occasional ItG movie reviews? With gold like that you ought to be writing more of them.

I could give Best in Show another viewing, but I’m such a Guffman fanatic that my standards are unfairly high.

Jennybee, I might be a little nervous about flooding the interwebs with promotion for Yangtze if my recommendation wasn’t backed up by reputable sources, including most of the LiC readership. I’ve set a couple email reminders myself because I want to see how it translates to TV and if it’s actually as powerful as I remember.

Regarding Blindness, well your thoughts on it are pretty much all I heard before it came out. Why this was adapted, nobody knows. Thanks for your compliment, Alexander, but it would be worth reading a review from somebody who’s actually read the book. All I saw was a story with amazing potential go almost completely wasted.

I’m embarrassed to admit that I only saw two films over the weekend. One being “Wall Street” and the other a British indie called “Dangerous Parking.” As to the former…it has its moments. I was incredibly annoyed by the Bud Fox character. The lack of ethics, the corruption, the flat out fraud; I was ready to punch the screen at one point. Thank God people in Wall Street nowadays are thoughtful, kind, non-greedy folk who know the difference between right and wrong. I was not as impressed by Douglas as I thought I would be. He’s always seemed so puny to me (for lack of a better word), and I spent half the movie wondering who would have been a fantastic Gordon Gecko (still not sure). Must have been a slow year at the Oscars for him to win. And Charlie Sheen…Charlie, Charlie…is it me or is this guy a horrendous actor? The scene between him and Martin Sheen in the elevator made me cringe with embarrassment. Sheen, Sr. was great, though. The saving grace of the picture, methinks. B/B+

“Dangerous Parking” also had it moments, though the protagonist’s ways of dealing with his affliction (alcoholism) and his selfish ways irked me quite a bit. He does redeem himself, especially when Saffron Burrows enters the picture. What a fantastically underrated actress she is (and I really hope she stops working in crappy American tv shows right now). In the end, it is the convincing and imaginative story-telling that rescue the whole endeavor. A-/B+

And Sam, hear hear about “Streetcar.” As I never tire of saying, Leigh gives the single greatest performance I’ve ever seen; male or female.

Finally, I re-visited a couple of films, but I must highlight “Best in Show.” Simply perfection and it gets funnier and funnier every time I see it.

Michael W., I personally consider 2007 the best year, at least for American film, in quite a few. I thought 2006 was rather weak. Some of that is just the luck of the draw, as Zodiac and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, just for starters, were both originally scheduled to be released in ‘06, but were pushed back.

I’d like to take another crack at Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, having seen it twice in two theatres.

Jennybee, there is certainly nothing wrong with being a Hawks woman from where I sit! Thank you for further relating your relationship with your husband, and the ties of writing. I wish I could say to not follow your instincts with regards to Blindness but honestly, it’s not a movie I can even suggest, “You may get something out of it that I didn’t.”