Classic Pick O' the Day: September 3

VON RYAN’S EXPRESS (1966)
In an Italian POW camp during World War II, an American captain leads English prisoners on a daring train escape.
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Trevor Howard, Sergio Fantoni, Brad Dexter, Raffaela Carra, James Brolin, John Leyton, Edward Mulhare, John Van Dreelan, Vito Scotti, Robert Henry. Director: Mark Robson. 6:00 PM EDT. Fox Movie [...]

The Summer of George

Fans of the TV show Seinfeld might remember the episode called, “The Summer of George” where reoccurring character George Costanza spends the severance money he received from his former employer, the New York Yankees on shall we say questionable things, with his summer ultimately ending with him in the hospital.

James Taranto in a column for [...]

Classic Pick O' the Day: September 2

High Plains Drifter (1973)
A mysterious gunman signs on to protect a small town from bandits.
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Verna Bloom, Marianna Hill, Mitch Ryan Dir: Clint Eastwood C-105 mins, TV-14. 11:00 PM. EDT. TCM.

Eastwood’s been a great director for a long time and these early films give a good glimpse into the genius inside. [...]

Classic Pick O' the Day: September 1

THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS (1989)
A feisty sexy singer joins a brother twin-piano act and sparks changes in the brothers’ act and relationship.
Cast: Jeff Bridges, Michelle Pfeiffer, Beau Bridges, Jennifer Tilly. Director: Steve Kloves. 8:00 PM EDT. Fox Movie Channel.

It’s a light day tomorrow so “classic” is a bit of a stretch for this one, [...]

Classic Pick O’ the Day: August 31

The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
A peaceful farmer turns vigilante when soldiers murder his family.
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Chief Dan George, Sondra Locke, Bill McKinney Dir: Clint Eastwood C-136 mins, TV-MA. 5:45 PM EDT. TCM.

Tomorrow is Clint Eastwood’s day on TCM. TCM is showing all three Sergio Leone/Eastwood films, but this is my favorite [...]

An Appreciation: Max Perlich

Coincidental reminder with recent viewings of Drugstore Cowboy and Cliffhanger how I haven’t seen Max Perlich, one of my favorite younger character actors from the late 80s/early 90s (read, my age at the time), too much in recent years, at least since Blow. Always loved his nervous, hyper-kinetic/wired and/or high performances (or all three in [...]

Classic Pick O’ the Day: August 30

Horse Feathers (1932)
In an effort to beef up his school’s football team, a college president mistakenly recruits two loonies.
Cast: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Zeppo Marx Dir: Norman McLeod BW-67 mins, TV-G. 9:30 PM EDT. TCM.

Tomorrow is Thelma Todd day and in a stroke of inspiration they are showing Thelma Todd comedy shorts most [...]

Classic Pick O' the Day: August 29

GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (1953)
Two fortune hunting friends venture all the way to Paris in search of millionaire husbands. Features signature musical number “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend”. Cast: Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, George Winslow, Tommy Noonan, Marcel Dalio, Charles Coburn. Director: Howard Hawks. 10:45 AM EDT. Fox Movie Channel.

Nobody did these pictures [...]

Classic Pick O’ the Day: August 28

My Favorite Year (1982)
A flamboyant star throws a TV comedy show into chaos.
Cast: Peter O’Toole, Mark Linn-Baker, Jessica Harper, Joseph Bologna Dir: Richard Benjamin C-92 mins, TV-14. 10:00 AM EDT. TCM

This is one of my favorites — hilarious and a great job by O’Toole whose day it is tomorrow. ON before this at [...]

Burn It Up Baby

Burn Notice season finale tonight – I can’t wait!

Proving that there is an exception to prove each and every rule, I an enamored with Fiona. Her’s is not usually my preferred body type – nothing against the Victoria’s Secret model archetype, it’s just not my personal favorite cup of tea. But who doesn’t love Fi? [...]

Classic Pick O’ the Day: August 27

The Charge Of The Light Brigade (1936)
Two brothers love the same woman at a perilous Indian outpost.
Cast: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Patric Knowles, Henry Stephenson Dir: Michael Curtiz BW-116 mins, TV-G. 6:00 AM EDT. TCM.

Tomorrow is Olivia de Havilland day on TCM so I’m going with this one — a great adventure film [...]

Thursday Open Thread

Joseph Montgolfier was born this day in 1740… 43 years before he had a really good washing…

Why, why, why, why???

In another word: idiots!

Christina Hendricks is putting her amazing Monroe-esque curves to work for London Fog. The titian-tressed “Mad Men” looker appears in a new series of ads for the company’s fall 2010 campaign. But before you decide that your life won’t be complete until you own a leopard-print trench coat like [...]

Classic Pick O’ the Day: August 26

Experiment in Terror (1962)
A master criminal tries to force a bank teller to help him pull off a big heist.
Cast: Glenn Ford, Lee Remick, Stefanie Powers, Ross Martin Dir: Blake Edwards BW-123 mins, TV-PG. 12:00 PM. EDT. TCM.

When Blake Edwards was on he was really on… and this film has him channeling Hitchcock. Tomorrow [...]

Classic Pick O’ the Day: August 25

The Big Sleep (1946)
Private eye Philip Marlowe investigates a society girl’s involvement in the murder of a pornographer.
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely, Martha Vickers Dir: Howard Hawks BW-114 mins, TV-PG. 11:00 PM PDT. TCM

Tomorrow is Lauren Bacall’s day on the TCM schedule. This is one of my favorites movie of all [...]

Tuesday Open Thread

Classic Pick O' the Day: August 24

Flesh And The Devil (1926)
In this silent film, a femme fatale comes between childhood friends.
Cast: John Gilbert, Greta Garbo, Lars Hanson, Barbara Kent Dir: Clarence Brown BW-113 mins, TV-PG. 12:00 AM EDT. TCM.

Great silent film from TCM on John Garfield Gilbert day. This move made Garbo’s career as a femme fatale, continued Gilbert’s [...]

Classic Pick O’ the Day: August 23

Life With Father (1947)
A straitlaced turn-of-the-century father presides over a family of boys and the mother who really rules the roost. Cast: William Powell, Irene Dunne, Elizabeth Taylor, Edmund Gwenn Dir: Michael Curtiz C-118 mins, TV-G. 9:45 AM EDT. TCM

Tomorrow is Elizabeth Taylor day… I’m not a huge fan, but this one [...]

Armstrong? Not Likely…

A new study shows that astronauts that spend 6 months at the International Space Station become as weak as 80 year olds.

Marquette University biologist Robert Fitts, who led the study, stresses that the accelerated space aging is temporary: Astronauts’ muscles recover after a few months back on Earth.

But what if a crew needed to make [...]

Tear The Roof Off The Sucka!

Classic Pick O' the Day: August 22

Monster (2003)
A dark tale based on the true story of Aileen Wuornos, one of America’s first female serial killers. Wuornos had a difficult and cruel childhood plagued by abuse and drug use in Michigan. The film focuses on the nine month period between 1989 and 1990, during which Wuornos had a lesbian relationship with [...]

Classic Pick O’ the Day: August 21

The Sting (1973)
Two con men hit the big time to take on a gangster in ’30s Chicago.
Cast: Paul Newman, Robert Shaw, Eileen Brennan, Robert Redford Dir: George Roy Hill C-129 mins, TV-MA. 8:00 PMm EDT. TCM.

Tomorrow is Paul Newman day. After this classic is prior CPOD Cool Hand Luke at 10:15 PM. [...]

A South Pacific Worth Revisiting

This week, PBS’ Live from Lincoln Center has reunited the cast from the 2008 multiple-Tony-award-winning production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific. Never my favorite of the duo’s, but I love the music; even if the “Small Town American Girl Overcomes Prejudice To Marry Rich Old French Dude” main plot always left me rolling my [...]

Classic Pick O’ the Day: August 20

Woman Of The Year (1942)
Opposites distract when a sophisticated political columnist falls for a sportswriter.
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Fay Bainter, Reginald Owen Dir: George Stevens BW-114 mins, TV-PG. 8:00 PM. EDT TCM.

Tomorrow is Katherine Hepburn day on TCM. Color me definitely unimpressed when it comes to the “tragic romance” bullshit of Hepburn/Tracy, [...]

Extreme

Classic Pick O’ the Day: August 19

Man Hunt (1941)
An Englishman goes behind enemy lines to assassinate Hitler.
Cast: Walter Pidgeon, Joan Bennett, George Sanders, John Carradine Dir: Fritz Lang BW-102 mins, TV-PG. 8:00 PM EDT. TCM.

Well-done and taught WW2 fantasy by the great Fritz Lang. It’s Walter Pidgeon day on TCM so there are a lot fo great films including prior [...]

Nice Touch Ensign Crusher

From a blog called Letters of Note comes this story about Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: TNG) and a young fan — from 1989…

In 1988, aged just 8 but already a fan of the teen actor due to Stand By Me, Star Trek: The Next Generation and his ‘awesome smile’, an excited Teresa [...]

Classic Pick O’ the Day: August 18

Army of Shadows (1969)
Jean-Pierre Melville, France’s grandmaster of the policier, turns his lens from underworld to underground in this gripping psychological thriller set in occupied Paris. Lino Ventura stars as a Resistance leader arrested by the Vichy police who must later deal with the reality of a traitor. In this recently rediscovered masterpiece, Melville, himself [...]

Classic Pick O’ the Day: August 17

The Quiet Man (1952)
An Irish ex-boxer retires to Ireland and searches for the proper wife.
Cast: John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, Ward Bond Dir: John Ford C-129 mins, TV-PG. 8:00 PM EDT. TCM.

Tomorrow is Maureen O’Hara day on TCM tomorrow. And finally… we get The Quiet Man. This is one of my [...]

...Buy me some peanuts and crackerjacks,

and don’t expect me to watch your back.

You might remember THIS POST about a hipster douchebag with a pierced lip and a passion for taking a dive when a foul ball heads his way. I don’t know, after watching this interview he may have done it on purpose.

Classic Pick O’ the Day: August 16

The Mortal Storm (1940)
The Third Reich’s rise tears apart a German family.
Cast: Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Robert Young, Frank Morgan, Robert Stack Dir: Frank Borzage BW-100 mins, TV-PG. 8:00 PM EDT. TCM

Tomorrow is Robert Stack day on TCM and this is an under known gem. This is one of the best anti-Nazi films — [...]

From The Trailer Park

You can go to the theater and watch people pretend to be hard-asses or watch a TV show about real hard-asses (or do both I guess)…it’s up to you. The series starts this Wednesday, 18 AUG 2010 on the Discovery Channel.

Classic Pick O’ the Day: August 15

The Man From Snowy River (1982)
Jim Craig has lived his first 18 years in the mountains of Australia on his father’s farm. The death of his father forces him to go to the low lands to earn enough money to get the farm back on its feet. A 20 year old feud re-erupts, catching [...]

Classic Pick O' the Day: August 14

Leave Her to Heaven (1945)
A beautiful neurotic will stop at nothing to hold onto her husband’s love.
Cast: Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, Vincent Price Dir: John M. Stahl C-110 mins, TV-PG. 8:00 PM EDT. TCM.

Tomorrow is Gene Tierney day on TCM and this is a gem of hers and one twisted movie. Glenn [...]

HaHaHaHaHaHaHa! Wipeout!

I’ve been meaning to blog this since summer began. I want to sing the praises of ABC’s show Wipeout. Is it inane? Yes. Stupid? Sure. Annoying contestants? You betcha. But here’s the catch. Most of the annoying contestant “wipeout” on the ridiculous obstacle course in horribly embarrassing [...]

Classic Pick O’ the Day: August 13

The Wild Bunch (1969)
A group of aging cowboys look for one last score in a corrupt border town.
Cast: William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O’Brien Dir: Sam Peckinpah C-144 mins, TV-MA. 10:15 PM PDT. TCM

Tomorrow is Robert Ryan day on TCM. Look at that face… Ryan was a great actor and by [...]

WNBA. The W = Why Does Anyone Watch?

As the old saying goes… you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him watch the WNBA. Why feminists don’t get the American indifference with professional women’s sports — even by wimmins — is beyond ludicrous. Say this with me now feminist sociologists… WOMENS PRO SPORTS… SUCK. (except for [...]

Either the end of Palin or the end of politics

Sarah Palin has a new television series, set to debut this fall. The series, titled Sarah Palin: Alaska, will feature a prominent guest. Make that nine.

The latest news out of TCA proves that worlds will be colliding this fall: TLC president Eileen O’Neill confirmed that Kate Gosselin and her brood will make a [...]

Classic Pick O’ the Day: August 12

The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927)
In this silent film, a young prince attending college falls for a barmaid below his station.
Cast: Ramon Novarro, Norma Shearer, Jean Hersholt, Gustav von Seyffertitz Dir: Ernst Lubitsch BW-106 mins, TV-G. 8:00 PM EDT. TCM.

It’s Norma Shearer day on TCM tomorrow. This one is Wanks recommendation (only because I [...]

It's A Hard Hit Line Drive Headed Towards....

…a douchbag.

Watch the whole thing HERE. I watched it live, a jerk such as this should have his butt kicked, the announcers call him “the bailer”. I just call him douchebag.

Classic Pick O’ the Day: August 11

The Odd Couple (1968)
A divorced neat freak moves in with his sloppy best friend.
Cast: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, John Fiedler, Herbert Edelman Dir: Gene Saks C-105 mins, TV-PG. 10:00 PM EDT. TCM.

Tomorrow is Walter Matthau day on TCM. I’m not a huge Neil Simon fan though he can be very funny at times [...]

Classic Pick O’ the Day: August 10

Anchors Aweigh (1945)
A pair of sailors on leave try to help a movie extra become a singing star.
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson, Gene Kelly, José Iturbi Dir: George Sidney C-139 mins, TV-G. 12:00 PM EDT. TCM.

Yet another old musical I love. Sinatra, Gene Kelly, and the beautiful Kathryn Grayson — what’s not to [...]

Classic Pick O' the Day: August 9

Ishtar (1987)
Two bad singers booked by a Moroccan hotel get mixed up in international politics.
Cast: Nadim Sawalha, Warren Beatty, Dustin Hoffman, Isabelle Adjani, Charles Grodin. Dir: Michael D. Moore (or Elaine May). C-108 mins, TV-MA. 1:00 AM PDT (on 8/10). TCM.

Tomorrow is Warren Beatty day on TCM (and the other channels are light tomorrow)… [...]

PArKoUr!

and to think there are people who think that The Office isn’t funny.

Classic Pick O’ the Day: August 8

Speed (1994)
A young cop must save the passengers of a bus that has a bomb set to explode if the bus goes below 50 MPH.
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Daniels, Dennis Hopper. Director: Jan Debont. 8:00 PM EDT. Fox Movie Channel.

I saw this the other day for the first time in at least [...]