Category: Birthdays

Five Things I Like About Today (Right Now)

Hello world. As you may know, I am in the middle of a blogging marathon. Or maybe you don’t. In that case you should read some of the posts. They’re quite good but I also know the author so I wouldn’t take my opinion too seriously. Anyways, watching and blogging about 24 movies before my birthday hasn’t gone according to plan thanks to a bitch named Irene.  I still have eight movies to write about and today is my actual day of birth. But c’est la vie.

So in honor of me turning the very old age of 23 – Yes, 23 is old. I’m almost in my mid-twenties, which is almost 30, which is old. I know this because Jessica Simpson told me so on an episode of Newlyweds – these are five things I am enjoying today.

1. This clip from (500) Days of Summer that my friend Ally keeps posting on every form of social media we interact on.

2. This picture of Katharine Hepburn.

3. These two Kate Nash songs.

 

4. Ferris Wheels. I always end up riding a ferris wheel around my birthday. It will happen again this week. (No, it won’t be this ferris wheel.)

5. This version of “Ta ra ta ta” that I almost start dancing to on NJ Transit and then I remember that I’m on the subway

 

Okay, that is enough of this self-promotional blog post.

If I haven’t said it enough, thanks for reading my blog and thanks for coming back if you do. Now go enjoy your day. And maybe watch a Katharine Hepburn movie, ride a ferris wheel and eat a damn good cannoli.

:)

On Alfred Hitchcock’s Birthday

It occurred to me that today would be Alfred Hitchcock’s birthday. His 112th.

Something I always think about when it comes to Hitchcock’s films is that he couldn’t be successful in today’s society. With Psycho (especially Psycho) Hitchcock instituted strict guidelines for seeing the movie.

There were no private screenings for critics. No clip-filled trailer. No interviews with Anthony Perkins or Janet Leigh the week before it opened. And if you showed up late to the theater, too bad. All of this worked to preserve the plot and the now infamous shower scene.

I don’t see a director getting away with this kind of secrecy surrounding their film today. Not with the social media happy culture we live in today. If who wins prom queen on Glee can’t be kept under wraps today, then how Hitchcock operated really is a thing of the past.

Or maybe he would. If how Hitchcock promoted Psycho was unique for the film culture of the 1960s, today he would have to be twice as creative. If any director could pull that off, it would be Hitchcock.

Happy 100th Birthday, Lucy!

I’m not funny. What I am is brave. – Lucille Ball

Today is Lucille Ball’s 100th birthday. The internet is in heath with a Lucy lovefest right now. The Loving Lucy blogathon going on over at True Classics is definitely worth checking out. I don’t have time to participate; instead here are really brief thoughts on what everyone’s favorite red head.

I was introduced to Lucille Ball at a young age the way I imagine many people discover her: through “I Love Lucy” marathons. I remember loving this show as a child and being thrilled any time it was on television, just wishing I could be more like Lucy.

What I love more than anything now is discovering early Lucille Ball performances, before she became Lucy and the icon we know her as today. Films like Stage Door. Ball is overshadowed by Katharine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers but her character’s (I think her name is Judy) story line is so critical in an ensemble film very much about the place of women in 1930s American society. Judy gives up her acting career in favor of marriage and children.

My absolute favorite clip of Lucy of late though is this one, when she and Ginger Rogers dance the Charleston. It’s an absolute gem.

Those are just some of my favorite Lucille Ball memories. What are yours? Sound off below.

Well, Happy Blog-a-versary To Me

I forgot that today is the sixth anniversary of my blog. (Typical.)

If you have just started reading For Cinephiles by a Cinefille, here is my very first slightly mortifying post. Okay, it isn’t that bad. I just cringe reading it; I always will. I’ve changed a lot since I was 16, when I would furiously type away about my love for TCM and Katharine Hepburn while sitting at my parents desktop computer. Well, I’ve really only moved from that computer to the couch a few feet away. Except now now furiously type away on my laptop.

I feel like I should do something to celebrate this momentous occasion in my blogging life. Maybe I should watch Bringing Up Baby?

Nah. I watched The White Sister with Lillian Gish this morning, so I definitely got my classic movies kick out earlier. Though as I type this post I am watching the end of The Prisoner of Zenda before A Tale of Two Cities followed by Random Harvest start on TCM. Who am I kidding? I can never get enough TCM.

This post is probably a good time to announce that I am branching out a bit. Starting tomorrow, my friend Ally and I are entering the realm of pop culture podcasters. Why produce a pop culture podcast when there are so many other podcasts out there? Because none of those people are myself and Ally; we like to think that our blend of pop culture fawning, Alexander McQueen ogling, TCM fangirling, Degrassi loving, celebrity bashing, and snark (lots of snark) is unique to the podcasting world. We recorded the first podcast on Tuesday and will have it posted tomorrow. Be sure to follow our podcasting adventures on Tumblr and Twitter.

As for this blog, I will keep doing what I do: writing about movies. I am currently working on my birthday blitz movie marathon. Slowly. Very slowly. I am making my way through the 24 movies I intend to start blogging about on August 22.

You can follow me on Twitter and you can like For Cinephiles by a Cinefille on Facebook. Or do both! Please do both! But if you have to choose one, go with Facebook. All of my Twitter followers are making me egotistical.

In the meantime, thanks for reading whether you just started or have been for years. Even if you are my sister who totally denied the other day that she used to comment on my posts before anyone else would.

(P.S. I settled on watching Jersey Shore tonight. Because deep down I am a terrible person who is completely fascinated by these buffoons. Sorry Ronald Colman.)

What To Watch? Your Suggestions Wanted

Now that I am done with the 30 Day Film Challenge – and thank goodness because I was terribly bored with it by day 25 – I want to do something different.

Back in the day, I used to be incredibly diligent when it came to watching movies. I would watch something like 15 movies a weekend in high school. (Proof that TCM keeps kids from doing dumb stuff.) I had a ridiculously fast Netflix turn around; I would rent and watch as many as five movies any given week. I had movie watching down to a science. Since then, my over eager teenage self who wanted to watch every movie ever made has died. Now I’ve just gotten lazy in my post-college days. I’ve had one Netflix rental out since April. Since I seem to be endlessly bored and incapable of watching any new-to-me movies unless they are in theaters, I need to challenge myself.

So here’s my idea.

Continue reading “What To Watch? Your Suggestions Wanted”