OMG, You Have GOT To See...

 

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Our guest blog and discussion of Gothics yesterday made me think of DARK SHADOWS, the Tim Burton remake of the classic low-budget gothic soap opera of the sixties. I was really hoping, when the remake was announced, that the new version would be an homage to the spooky sudser I remember from my childhood. Imagine the waves crashing below Collinswood in full color and Dolby Sensuround! Imagine the witches, vampires and werewolves in the age of seamless CGI! Alas, Burton went with a comical parody. Ross and Youngest are all hepped up to go, but I'm reluctant.

But this is the season of movies. Wave after wave of cinematic would-be-blockbusters are about to hit (or have already landed) in the theaters. Lots of explosion-heavy special effects flicks, several of what I'm calling geezer films, the usual horror movies and a few (of what appears to me to be) lackluster rom-coms.

What have you seen lately at the local Roxie, Reds? What are you looking forward to catching during the summer movie season? And can anything between now and Labor Day equal the glory that is THE AVENGERS?

RHYS BOWEN: I really don't go to see blockbusters. For one thing the sounds is always too loud and I just get sensory overload. I'm looking forward to seeing the new Exotic Marigold Hotel about India with Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and a stellar British cast. As soon as I can sit in a movie seat for long enough without having to move around every few minutes.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: We don't tend to get out to the movies very often.  We have a big flat screen TV in our living room with surround sound, along with every techno-gadget imaginable (my hubby used to install professional audio systems.) So most of the time we wait until things come out on DVD or are available streaming. The last three weekends we've seen, Hugo, MI Ghost Protocol, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and War Horse, all of which I loved for completely different reasons.

The last two movies I actually went to see in the theater were the second Sherlock Holmes, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.I love Johnny Depp but think I can wait to see Dark Shadows on DVD. On the big screen, like Rhys, I want to see Marigold Hotel, but I really, really want to see The Avengers. I'm a big action movie/blow out/blow up junkie.  There. I've admitted it.

 

JULIA: Don't be ashamed, Deb. My English-major Smithie told me the next movie she was dying to see was BATTLESHIP. "Liam Neeson, Rihanna, and explosions as far as the eye can see! What's not to love?"

 

ROSEMARY HARRIS: I'm making a conscious effort to get hubby to the movies. I love to go but we never seem to have the time. I haven't seen the Poe movie or Dark Shadows yet but plan to. I have seen the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - great cast and lots of lovely moments. also saw Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. Charming...reminded me of Local Hero.

I have just wrested control of the Netflix queue from my husband after he left me - alone - with Rise of the Planet of the Apes when he went to walk the dog. I suppose it's possible that it got better but I prefer to see Helena Bonham Carter in a corset, not a monkey suit.

 

 HALLIE EPHRON: The last movie I saw in a movie theater was The Muppets. Which I LOVED. So sweet and sappy, really a delight for anyone who loves Miss Piggy and the tropes (Let's put on a show!) of old movies; and I missed "The Pirates! Band of Misfits" from the folks who bring us "Wallace and Gromit." I do want to see Dark Shadows. Not The Avengers. Otherwise, like fellow Reds, I watch movies at home.

JULIA: Hallie, I'm going to show you the most significant reason you should see THE AVENGERS:

 How about you, dear readers? What's on your must-see list this summer? What are going to avoid at all cost? And what have you seen that we all should see?

Classic Cop Shows..or are they?

ROSEMARY HARRIS: I had every intention of making this post about classic cop shows on television, those no-nonsense ancestors of Law and Order and CSI when people wore hats and didn't look slightly frivolous like Maria Bello in the Prime Suspect.

With few exceptions - mostly sports - everything I watch on tv is old. Reruns, if they are still called that (Help me, Hank...?) One day I may get a TIVO but I'm not there yet. I take my chances. It's inevitable PBS will rebroadcast the Bill Nighy film.

So I was THRILLED when in a recent charity goody bag, in addition to the new biography of Steve Jobs, a tiny book on fashion by Christian Dior, and a wall calendar with pictures of France, there was a DVD called Crime and Punishment, premieres of, among others Dexter, the original Hawaii Five-O and one of my faves - The Streets of San Francisco.

It was on television Thursday nights. I know this because I can count on one hand the number of tv shows I've cared enough about to check the tv listings for (The Walking Dead, The Sopranos, Streets of San Francisco, Family and Dark Shadows in case anyone cares.)

I couldn't wait to pop in the DVD. Michael Douglas was beautiful - that hair, those ties. A Quinn Martin Production! (No idea who Quinn Martin was.) Even Karl Malden, who'd been so brilliant in Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront (I still don't get Baby Doll, though..) And the guest stars on this episode were Edmond O'Brien and Eileen Heckert, two fine actors from the 50's.

You know where this is going. It was awful. A lot of running, shouting and shooting (at people they just wanted to question!) ridiculous dialog including this classic from a hospital scene when a doctor says, not once but twice "he's got a hole in him."

I was crushed. It was almost as bad as the time I told a friend he had to read Narcissus and Goldmund and then I re-read it with, let's just say a less worshipful reaction than I'd had to it in my teens.

Anyway, Michael Douglas still looked great. (I wonder how Jonathan Frid has held up - probably doesn't look as good as Johnny Depp who is playing barnabas in the new movie.)

RHYS: I'm always amazed at how corny and bad the dialog of some old shows was and how brilliant other shows were. The Streets of San Francisco I'd probably watch again because the husband of one of my best friends was an ex-cop who was used as an extra and then became a regular on the show with a few lines every now and then. My favorite of the old shows--Get Smart, I think.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: If we're going for old cop shows, I think I have to cast my vote for Miami Vice. (Not the horrible remake!) Shallow of me, I know, but I love Michael Mann. And oh, those colors! Those suits (on the guys)! The stubble (on the guys)! The big hair (on the girls)! The shoulder pads (on the girls)! When have men ever looked so good, women so bad, and Miami so glam? And you can forget CSI Miami. Absolutely no comparison.

HALLIE EPHRON: Car 54 Where Are You? 77 Sunset Strip? Starsky and Hutch? They were all dreadful, but I was in the teeny bopper generation the hunky guys were aimed at. So nice when Honey West came along.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I have to admit--I had no idea who Honey West was. But! How about Hart to Hart? And The Prisoner! (Does that count? Or is that too new?) OH! I SPY. Terrific. And--what was it? Kolchak, the Night Stalker. And The Untouchables. Wasn't there a..like a series of detective shows, different from each other? Oh, my poor brain. Too much TV, I guess.

ROSEMARY: Oh, The Prisoner, I loved it..but wouldn't even watch the remake on Sc-Fi Channel. Not a Jim Cavaziel fan.Honey West, yikes. how cute was she? All time fave has to be Hill Street Blues.

I wonder what Pizza-man and what was her name..Joyce..are doing now?