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| BrendanMcKillip.com brendan mckillip's daily journal |
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daily journal
My Dad, Ranse Stoddard As part of their 31 Days of Oscar, Turner Classic Movies will be airing The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance this evening. The film, directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart, is one of my particular favorites.  However, the film also appeals to me on another, more personal level. Growing up The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance was one of the movies I always remember my dad talking about. At least, it was one of the films that he was always trying to get me and my brother and sister to watch. He'd sing or hum a few bars of the song. Tell us about John Wayne's character or Jimmy Stewart's character, or the down-right evilness of Liberty Valance. He always seemed so passionate about the film. I could tell he really loved it. I don't remember if he ever got me to watch the film with him or if I came to the film myself years later out of curiosity. Regardless, after I watched the film, and every time I have watched it since (which is a lot), I can't help but see my dad in the character of Ranse Stoddard. Like Stoddard, my dad was/is a lawyer (he's currently a judge) who has always held the letter and spirit of the law in the highest regard. You don't solve your problems by hitting the other guy. You fight back by following and using the law of the civilized society in which we live. It doesn't matter how bad things may get, there is always a civil, rationale way to resolve the problems that descend upon us. When I see Stewart up there on the screen arguing with Wayne that he doesn't want to kill Valance, despite all of the horrible things Valance has done to him, but he wants to put him in jail; I see my dad. I don't know if The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance influenced my father to pursue a career in law. Not sure if he even knows. But I see the resemblance and influence, so watching the film is a little like understand the man behind my dad Labels: classic movies, Family posted by Brendan | 6:32 PM | permanent link
Road to Fun I've been waiting for this for quite some time.  I watch a bunch of them and thought they were just the greatest. Hope and Crosby were such fantastic entertainers and so genuinely liked performing together, that these "Road to" movies are like a guilty pleasure to watch. The two of them seem to be having so much fun in the film that it becomes contagious. Plus, all the little cameos read like a Who's Who of Hollywood from the 1940's. TCM is doing it again. They've lined up all 5 "Road to" movies and will be airing them tonight starting at 7pm (CST). It starts with Road to Singapore and finishes with Road to Bali. Not sure if I will make it through all of them (I'd be up until 3am), but I'm going to try to see most of them. Labels: classic movies posted by Brendan | 10:02 AM | permanent link
Follow the Thin Man into the New Year You could spend the evening watching cheesy pre-recorded concerts and lots of screaming drunks in New York City or be crammed into a crowded party setting the foundation for your first hangover of the new year. I'd rather spend the evening with Nick and Nora on TCM.  Labels: classic movies posted by Brendan | 10:24 AM | permanent link
Thursdays Are Christmas Movie Night If your looking for some movies to get you into the Christmas spirit this month, Turner Classic Movies has you covered. Every Thursday night (and all day on Christmas) TCM will be showcasing some of the best holiday pictures ever made.  I'm particularly interested in seeing the Christmas films starring Barbara Stanwyck: Christmas in Connecticut where she teams with Dennis Morgan and Remember the Night which is the first film she and Fred MacMurray starred in together. Labels: Christmas, classic movies posted by Brendan | 12:50 PM | permanent link
Top Fifteen Movies A friend sent this to me via tagging me in a Facebook Note. I thought it was fun exercise, but I couldn't bring myself to participate in the spammy element of the note and re-sending it out. So I'm posting it here. Rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen movies you've seen that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes. (Here's the spammy part I won't participate in:) Tag fifteen friends, including me because I'm interested in seeing what movies my friends choose. The Godfather The Empire Strikes Back Raiders of the Lost Ark Bringing Up Baby The Usual Suspects Bugsy Malone LOTR: Return of the King It's A Wonderful Life The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence Pulp Fiction On The Town Viva Las Vegas White Christmas It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World Spirited Away Labels: classic movies, movies posted by Brendan | 12:32 PM | permanent link
Ghost Busters I love the original from the 1980's, but this version might have been pretty fun too. Labels: 80's, classic movies, Fun posted by Brendan | 10:25 PM | permanent link
5 Things I Think I can take a little more time in the morning. Sleep in a little more. Have a less annoying drive. It's the little things.  The Cupola will be part of the Tranquility node that will be installed in early 2010 and will provide astronauts a unique view outside of the space station. Let�s get over it. I agree that in hindsight the trade is looking bad right now, but I grow tired of the fawning over DeRosa that still goes on in this town. The film was certainly big in a DeMille sort of way, and fun to watch � especially the parts where the film dealt with the real ins and outs of running a circus. But I can�t understand how the Academy handed the award to The Greatest Show with all its camp and non-existent plot when it had High Noon or The Quiet Man to also choose from that year. Labels: 5 Things I Think, Chicago Cubs, classic movies posted by Brendan | 12:57 PM | permanent link
When Entertainers Entertained Sure would be nice if we had entertainers like this today. Thanks to my Aunt Kathy for sending me a link to this clip. The scene is from The Seven Little Foys where Bob Hope portrays Eddie Foy and James Cagney reprising his role as George M. Cohan, and it has moved up to the top of my list of classic movies I want to see next. Hopefully TCM will help me out. Labels: classic movies posted by Brendan | 5:56 PM | permanent link
What You Should Be Watching I first encounter Myrna Loy through the movies that made her a household name - The Thin Man series. As Nora Charles her quick wit and cool demeanor was the perfect match to William Powell's impeccably suave Nick Charles. I've since enjoyed her in performances along side Cary Grant in The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer and Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House.  This evening Turner Classic Movies is featuring some of the Myrna Loy's films in their prime time programming. There aren't any Thin Man films, but the ones that have been selected look great. I'm particularly interested in When Ladies Meet, a romantic comedy starring Loy, Robert Montgomery, and Frank Morgan, and Too Hot to Handle, where Loy teams up with Clark Gable in the Amazon jungle. Labels: classic movies posted by Brendan | 9:29 AM | permanent link
5 Things I Think And if none of them are named McKillip, why don't they explain the origin of the name on their website? I'm curious. That�s just not right. Aaaaah!  Trop50, the 50% less sugar orange juice "beverage" from Tropicana, may be the worst tasting liquid I have ever ingested that wasn�t intended for medicinal purposes.I'm not sure if I'll be able to forgive Heather for bringing that into our house. I think she received this sorry excuse for a drink for free from the store. Who is this product for? The sugar and calories from your orange juice isn't going to kill you. Cut the sugar and calories out from someplace else. Ugh. My tongue hurts just thinking about Trop50. Starting this May, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will be screening each of the 10 Best Picture nominees from 1939 to celebrate the 70th anniversary of what is probably Hollywood�s greatest year. Ten great pieces of film making, plus animated shorts from 1939 and chapters of Universal�s Buck Rogers serial from that year as well, all up on the big screen. And the series ticket is only $25 � that�s $2.50 per movie! That would be a fantastic ten weeks. But then I realize that�s only one reason for being in California and I can always come up with five or ten reasons to stay in the Midwest. Labels: 5 Things I Think, Chicago, classic movies, Family, oddities, Rant posted by Brendan | 1:08 PM | permanent link
5 Things I Think  Is it possible to have a favorite kind of potato? I think it is.Red potatoes, quartered up, boiled, and then served with lots of melted butter and a touch of salt & pepper. It�s like candy. I could eat them with every meal. Considering the size of the bag of reds Heather brought home the other day, eating them for every meal might be the case for a while. As for how the rest of the season goes? I don�t care right now. But at least I have that first game to look forward to.  I think I�m actually looking forward to driving to Florida with the wife and kids. This summer, to celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary, Heather parents are taking all of their kids, kids-in-law, and grandchildren on a 5-day/4-night Disney Cruise. (generous, I know)Heather and I have foregone flying from Chicago to Florida because of the cost of the airline tickets. Even with prices coming down, it would still be very expensive for all five us to fly. So we�re driving. Google Maps says the trip 18 hours of driving. While I know it will probably become unbearably frustrating at times to be trapped inside our van with four other people, I think overall driving will be sort of exciting. It will be an opportunity to see a bunch of stuff that we don�t normally see and to hopefully be concerned less with the destination and more about enjoying the journey. Then again, maybe you should check back with my in August, after all this has happened. Warner Brothers does have all their titles available yet, but www.warnerarchive.com is always growing. Labels: 5 Things I Think, Chicago Bears, classic movies, Rant, Sports posted by Brendan | 1:06 PM | permanent link
Tribute to Chuck Jones I just might manage to convince the kids to watch the Turner Classic Movies channel with me tonight.  TCM is honoring legendary animator/director Chuck Jones by programming a night of his most famous and noteworthy animated shorts. Of all the animators who helped shape and bring Warner Brother's Looney Tunes to life, Fritz Freleng was probably my favorite. But I can�t deny the creative power and striking visual style that Chuck Jones brought to his work. I think his designs were particularly well suited for the Coyote/Road Runners shorts, or more esoteric pieces like "Duck Amuck". I�ll enjoy sitting down and watching these with the kids tonight. Labels: Animation, classic movies posted by Brendan | 8:48 AM | permanent link
31 Days of Oscar It's not mystery that I am a fan of classic movies - particularly films from the height of the studio days of the 1940s and 1950s. It's why TCM is probably my favorite cable channel (much to the chagrin of my children). To advertise their annual 31 Days of Oscar film celebration, TCM pulled together this promo that's been running on between movies for the last few weeks. I absolutely love this promo. Every time I watch the segment it reminds me how much I love watching and discovering old films. What I wish I knew was the name of the movie that the scene with Jack Nicholson as sailor out in the snow that pops in at the 1:58 mark. I want to see that movie. Labels: classic movies posted by Brendan | 10:48 PM | permanent link
December on Turner Classic Movies Besides the classic movie and the great original programming, what I enjoy about Turner Classic Movies is how they rarely do the same thing twice. TCM will always celebrate the Oscars in February or have a Summer Under the Stars event in August, but how these film festivals are organized and programmed are always different. I think it helps keep the channel fresh. I mention this because over the last few years I have been disappointed in TCM�s December programming. I expected that with all of the great classic Christmas films available in their library � both popular and obscure, TCM would run them for all they�re worth between the first of the month and New Year�s Eve. But over the last few years even trying to find a film as popular The Bishop�s Wife on TCM during the month of December was like trying to find a smiling salesperson at Toys-R-us. But not this year.  This year TCM appears to have embraced their library of holiday films. For the first three Fridays in December, plus Christmas Eve, TCM will be all about the Christmas movie. Meet Me in St. Louis, Christmas in Connecticut, and yes, The Bishop�s Wife, are all represented, plus many other films. So TCM has already got me hooked for most of the month with their Christmas programming, then they go along and dropped these other special programming events on me.  How can you not love a Bing Crosby film? And TCM is giving us a whole night of them. On 12/11 TCM features the films of Bing Crosby, including High Society (personal favorite), Road to Bali, and The Bells of St. Mary (Christmas again!)  Frank Miller is the Guest Programmer for the month. How cool is that. I am a huge fan of Frank�s comic book work � Batman, Daredevil, 300, Sin City, etc.; and find his movie selections interesting. I am curious to hear Robert Osborne�s and Miller�s discussions before each film. I might not watch all of the movies, but I will certainly tune in to hear what they have to say.  TCM unveils a huge amount of films when they roll out their Sunday Family Classic festivals. Over 25 live-action Disney movies will be featured. The Parent Trap, Freaky Friday, The Absent-Minded Professor, Herbie Goes Bananas, the list goes on and on. I see plenty of movies that Ian, Emma, and Zoe would really enjoy. In addition to all of the Disney films, TCM also debuts a new documentary called �The Age of Believing: The Disney Live-Action Classics�. Narrated by Angela Lansbury, the documentary chronicles Disney�s expansion from just an animation house and into non-animated movies. I think it sounds fascinating and I hope to catch one of the three screenings that are scheduled for December. So much good programming and so little time. And such a huge turn-around from what I�ve experienced in past Decembers. Labels: Christmas, classic movies posted by Brendan | 12:39 PM | permanent link
I Consider It My Duty Before we launch into tonight's story, remember one thing: my favorite cable network is Turner Classic Movies. Now read on. I take a fair amount of ribbing from Heather for how long the kids' baths take on the nights that I supervise. And while I admit that I tend to goof around and create a fair amount of distractions for the kids, in the end I think we all have a fun time and everyone ends up clean and in pajamas. Part of my shtick is to sing - either make up ridiculous songs or sing songs from old movies. My musical interludes are always halted by pleas for silence from the children, but not before I steal a laugh or smile from the horribly embarrassed child. For the last two nights that I was helping Emma with her bath I had been singing "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off." Instead of demanding that I stop singing, Emma seemed interested in the tune and started asking me about it. I told her it was from a movie, Shall We Dance, and that it was sung by a man and a woman right before they did some really neat dancing on roller skates. My explanation seemed to bolster her interest, so I showed her this clip from the movie. Emma's first question upon seeing Ginger and Fred dancing was, "Are those people real?" Yes, I told her, those are real people singing and doing those amazing dance moves while perched up on roller skates. She agreed with me that Ginger Rodger and Fred Astaire were not only good dancers, but good roller skaters as well. Overall she seemed very impressed with Astaire's and Rodger's performance. Before bed that night Emma told Heather about the song and about the video clip I had showed her from the movie. Heather could see how the five minute clip had captured Emma's imagination. Heather turned to me and said, "You're bound and determined to convert one of them (one of our three kids) into a fan, aren't you?" "I consider it my duty," was my reply. Labels: classic movies, Family posted by Brendan | 11:15 PM | permanent link
TCM's Next Two Tuesdays I like what TCM has in store for the next two Tuesday nights. I'll need to swing my schedule around to catch some of the programming. Gangster Classics 10/21 - "TCM presents a night of crime dramas including James Cagney in The Public Enemy (1931) and the original documentary, Public Enemies: The Golden Age of the Gangster Film (2008)"  Billy Wilder in the '50s 10/28 - "The brilliant and acerbic writer-director is honored with a 5-movie retrospective and the original documentary Billy Wilder Speaks (2006)"  Trust me. It's good stuff. Labels: classic movies posted by Brendan | 11:28 PM | permanent link
Cyd Charisse Cyd Charisse passed away on Tuesday at the age of 86. Over the past two days I've read plenty of stories reflecting on the life and work of this fantastic dancer who made a name for herself in the MGM musicals of the 1950's. And thanks to the wonders of the Internet, I can also watch clips of her dance numbers to understand what made Cyd such a dancing superstar. Here is a number from "Meet me in Las Vegas" that I enjoyed watching. Yowza. Turner Classic Movies will be honoring the memory of Cyd on June 27th by airing a number of her movies. Labels: classic movies posted by Brendan | 8:29 AM | permanent link
Celebrate Jimmy Stewart Today would have been Jimmy Stewart's 100th birthday. To celebrate, TCM has pulled together a few of this great actor's most enduring and powerful performances.  Check them out. TCM will be airing Jimmy Stewart movies almost all day long. Just pick one at random, you can't go wrong. Personally, I'm going to try and take in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance - it's a personal favorite. Labels: classic movies posted by Brendan | 7:38 AM | permanent link
Frank Sinatra on TCM  Every Wednesday and Sunday through-out the month of May Turner Classic Movies will be showcasing the movies of The Chairman of the Board, Frank Sinatra.Sinatra is TCM�s Star of the Month for May; and when you have a star as big and bold as Sinatra, you can�t get away with a few films and maybe a short special. That won�t cut it for highlighting the career of Ol� Blue Eyes. So TCM had to go big. TCM will be treating us to over 40 movies and some rarely seen music specials. The list is so long that they put together a special schedule download from their website. In fact, they even created a small site that built around Frank Sinatra. The site has photos, video, and lots more on Frank. It�s also where I found this fun little video widget that will cycle through some classic Sinatra film moments. I haven�t had a chance to review the full Sinatra movie schedule, but I plan to spend some time figuring out which Sinatra films I can sit down and watch. Labels: classic movies posted by Brendan | 5:13 PM | permanent link
Arthur Hornblow, Jr. After reading the short profile that TCM put together for Arthur Hornblow, Jr., I find him to be a fasinating fellow - at least as far as his skill for producing great films and fostering exceptional talent during the golden age of movies is concerned.  I'm going to make my best effort to catch at least parts of the films TCM will be airing tonight to honor this legend in film making.Labels: classic movies posted by Brendan | 8:49 AM | permanent link
That�s �Hedy�! Turner Classic Movies� Star of the Month for April is Hedy Lamarr.  For as much as I love classic films and through all the time I�ve spent watching TCM, I still know very little about this famous actress. In fact, when I hear Ms. Lamarr�s name I think of Harvey Korman�s character from Blazing Saddles, Hedley Lamarr, not anything related to the golden age of movie making.While reading through the Star of the Month profile, I thought I had never seen a film featuring Ms. Lamarr until I was reviewing the list of films TCM will be using to showcase the actress this month. I recalled that about a year ago I caught most of Boom Town starring Spencer Tracy, Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. Lamarr�s role is very small, so it�s probably why I didn�t immediately remember her role in the movie. Loved the film though. I also learned that Ms. Lamarr wasn�t all about looking fantastic on the silver screen; she co-invented a form of frequency hoping that was too mechanically advanced to implement when she and composer George Antheil submitted the idea as a patent in 1941, but which was used in the 1960s by the U.S. Military. Fasinating.  Anyway, I think I owe it to Ms. Lamarr and her film legacy to acquaint myself better with her filmography. Though I don�t think I will ever be able to purge from my head the Pavlovian response in the form of Korman�s voice whenever her name is mentioned. Labels: classic movies posted by Brendan | 10:17 PM | permanent link
Spongebob Does The Classics Funniest thing I've seen so far this year. Tom Kenney, Rodger Bumpass, Carolyn Lawrence and Bill Fagerbakke, the voices behind Spongebob Squarepants, Squidward, Sandy, and Patrick, do a spot-on job overdubbing scenes from some classic movies. My favorite is hearing Patrick's voice coming out of Leena's mouth in the Singing In The Rain segment. Labels: Animation, classic movies, Fun posted by Brendan | 10:04 PM | permanent link
TCM's 31 Days of Oscar Turner Classic Movies kicks off their annual 31 Days of Oscar movie marathon today. It's always a great time to see some of the finest films that ever graced the silver screen. In the past TCM would group the films by categories. Usually something like a night of Best Picture nominees and winners followed by a night of Best Actress nominees and winners, and so on. This year they switched things up, and I really like it. They have decided to dedicate the primetime programming for each day of the week to a different decade (or in some cases multiple decades). Being a fan of films from the 40's and 50's I know Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the days I want to check in on TCM's lineup.  They have themes for the daytime programming (adventure, sci fi, etc.) that mix movies from different decades, but I'll be at work during the day so that really doesn't matter too much to me. Visit the TCM website to find out when some great movies will be showing. While you are there, make sure you give the Day O Ram a try. It's a lot of fun and full of great movie clips. Labels: classic movies posted by Brendan | 10:53 AM | permanent link
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House I've been trying to catch this one on Turner Classic Movies for a long time.  Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House stars the incomparable Cary Grant and the always enjoyable Myrna Loy as Jim and Muriel Blandings. They're New York City dwellers fed up with their cramped living quarters. Jim (Cary Grant) buys a home in Connecticut from a shady real estate agent and then realizes he's bought a dud. The Blandings go about trying to turn what they've bought into their dream home, but everything that could go wrong does with hilarious results.If the plot sounds familiar, it's because the The Money Pit, starring Tom Hanks and Shelley Long, is essentially a remake of this movie. The Money Pit is one of my all time favorite comedies, but I've really wanted to see the source material - as it were - for quite some time. Plus, Blandings stars Cary Grant, one of my all time favorite actors. Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House will air tonight on the Turner Classic Movie channel at 7pm (central). Labels: classic movies posted by Brendan | 8:30 AM | permanent link
Tony Curtis To Screen Some Like It Hot  How cool is this?September 21-23 Tony Curtis will host special screenings of Some Like It Hot at the Hollywood Blvd Cinema in Woodridge, Illinois. Hollywood Blvd is a theater that not only shows movies, but also provides a large menu of food and beverages that will be delivered right to your where you are sitting. All with stadium seating no less! Some Like It Hot is fun, fun movie. Certainly one of my all time favorites. In fact, I just watched it a couple of weeks ago. But I think the opportunity to enjoy the film on the big screen with Tony Curtis there would be worth another viewing again so soon. Labels: classic movies posted by Brendan | 12:15 PM | permanent link
And Who Doesn't Like an Elvis Movie?  Today is the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death. There will never, ever, be another performer like him.As part of the their annual "Summer Under the Stars" marathon where each day of the month of August showcases the films of one actor or actress, Turner Classic Movies is running all Elvis from 5am to well past midnight. I'll miss most of the films because I'm sitting at the office, but I should be able to catch most of my favorite, and arguably best, Elvis movie - Viva Las Vegas. Not only does the film have the best songs of an Elvis movie, but it's got Ann-Margret. Wowza! If you don't check out an Elvis film tonight - and who doesn't enjoy an Elvis movie - then come back tomorrow for Maureen O'Hara, Saturday for Spencer Tracey, or Sunday for Errol Flynn. There's bound be a classic film to appeal to you from that bunch. Labels: classic movies, Elvis posted by Brendan | 12:34 PM | permanent link
TCM Funday Night at the Movies Back in March I found a book being showcased on TCM.com called The Best Old Movies For Families by Ty Burr. The book provides suggestions for adults looking to introduce classic films to young movie watchers. I thought it was a great idea. I haven't had an opportunity to search the book out yet and possibly sit Ian, Emma, and Zoe down in front of some of the suggested films, but that's okay because this summer TCM is taking care of that for me.  Every Sunday night starting this June 3rd, TCM will be airing classic films perfect for kids. To help bridge the gap between the modern and the classic, TCM has tapped Sponge Bob Square Pants to host the weekly festival (actually it's Tom Kenny, the voice of Sponge Bob, but I love the marketing twist in there). Funday Night starts out strong with grand-daddy of classic kid-friendly movies, The Wizard of Oz and doubles up with a modern fantasy classic by master animator Hayao Miyazaki, Spirited Away, for slightly older kids. In the following weeks we get Bringing Up Baby (one of my personal favorite films), Sounder, and Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein - which I would love to see Ian's reaction to. The films start at 7pm Central, so we should be able to squeeze them in before bedtime. I'm really looking forward to watching some of these films with the kids. I think it will be great fun, and it might cut down on how many times I have to hear, "your watching an old movie again" from the kids. Labels: classic movies, Family posted by Brendan | 9:10 AM | permanent link
Essential Classic Family Films In the last few years, Warner Brothers has been doing a great job of mining their rich archive of films in order to release some fantastic DVD collections. This one popped up in my email today and caught my eye. It's called the Essential Family Classic Films DVD collection and brings together The Wizard of Oz, The Goonies, and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory in one DVD boxed set.  That's a pretty neat collection of films. Certainly family friendly and classics to be sure. There isn't a person alive who doesn't like The Wizard of Oz, Willy Wonka is a treat of a film, and while I might be the only Child of the 80's to have never seen The Goonies, my understanding is it has the staying power to be classic.The Wizard of Oz version is the newly restored version WB put out a few years back, and The Goonies and Willy Wonka films are widescreen, surround-sound theater-quality cuts of the movies. Plus each film comes with its own set of extras like commentary, documentaries, and additional scenes. And it's all under $25. Sounds like a perfect deal to me. Three great family films, plus all sorts of fun extras, boxed together and sold for under $25. As my Mom might say, "You can't beat that with a stick." Labels: classic movies, Family, movies posted by Brendan | 4:26 PM | permanent link
Young Kids and Old Movies Last night during the lull in action while Ian was upstairs getting dressed after taking his bath and the girls were in the bathroom getting ready to jump in the tub, I had the family room to myself. Usually I will sit and enjoy the quiet, but last night I knew that Turner Classic Movies, as part of the Watching the Detectives month-long movie spotlight, were debuting a bunch of Boston Blackie movies.  Before reading about TCM�s movie spotlight I had never heard of Boston Blackie, but the descriptions I found on their site made me think that these one-hour detective flicks from the 1940�s would be a lot of fun to watch, so I turned the TV on. I was about ten minutes into Meet Boston Blackie, the first Columbia Pictures produced Boston Blackie film, when Ian came down stairs and plopped himself in front of the TV to see what I was watching. He watched for a minute or two and then asked what movie I was watching. I explained it was a old movie about a guy named Boston Blackie, a former criminal no reformed who worked as a sort of unofficial private investigator. I then did my best to get Ian up to speed on the plot. He sat silently for a few minutes, intently watching the screen, and then I asked him is still wanted to watch the movie or do something else. Now usually, when the kids (and sometimes Heather) come downstairs to find their Dad watching some old black-and-white film on TCM there�s lots of eye rolling and poo-pooing what�s on the screen. So I fully expected Ian to respond to my inquiry with a �Naw, let�s turn it off and do something else.� But he surprised me. He asked if we could keep watching and that he thought it was interesting.  While I was happy to be able to watch the entire Boston Blackie film to the end, it also made me think about a book I read about on the TCM website a month or so ago. It�s called The Best Old Movies For Families by Ty Burr; and as you would expect from the title, the book tries to provide a guideline for introducing and fostering a love of golden age films to youngsters.Here�s a quick guideline for picking classic films for kids to watch that I found both at TCM and on the book publisher�s website: FOR THE LITTLE ONES (Ages 3�6): Fast-paced movies that are simple without being unsophisticated, plainspoken without being dumbed down. Singin� in the Rain and Bringing Up Baby are perfect.Now I don�t expect my passions and interests to be adopted by my kids, but I would like to see them understand why I like some of the things that I do and appreciate their value. Maybe they will grow to love films from the 40�s, 50�s and 60�s like me. Maybe not. But don�t fault me for trying. Labels: classic movies, Family posted by Brendan | 1:15 PM | permanent link
Kevmc Vachi, Jedi Master Being an actor, my brother gets to do all kinds of cool (and sometimes geeky stuff) that I wish I could do. A year or so ago he and some of his actor friends were playing around with some props backstage and taking photos of each other.  If the dude ever shows up in an authentic Batman costume from one of the films I'll never talk to him again. Labels: Batman, classic movies, Family, Fun, Star Wars posted by Brendan | 8:23 AM | permanent link
Watching The Detectives I know where I'll want to be Tuesday and Wednesday nights this month. Watching the Turner Classic Movie channel. Every Tuesday and Wednesday in March TCM will be showing classic detective films. The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, old Dick Tracy films, Sherlock Holmes (the Basil Rathbone version no less) films, Chinatown, and The Thin Man starring William Powell and Myrna Loy just scratches the surface of the great movies TCM has on tap. TCM will also be debuting a number of Boston Blackie films. Never heard of the character, but the description of the character and his films makes me want to tune in.  Labels: classic movies, movies posted by Brendan | 12:56 PM | permanent link |
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