80 Years, 80 Movies: The Project

How eclectic are you in your movie-watching?

How familiar are you with the distinctive styles of each respective decade that characterized the movie-making of the times?

What’s *really* your favorite movie-making period? Do you have one?

You can answer these question for yourself by considering all the movies you can remember ever seeing and when they were made. And, from there, list one movie per year, and you will begin to discern just how historical your viewing habits are.

NOTE: Because there are so few Silent-era films available for viewing, start your list at 1930—-the first year of all “talkies”.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN THE 80 years, 80 movies PROJECT:

1. Make a list numbered from 1 to 80 (and from 1930 to 2010)

2. See which years are missing movies, watch movies for those and fill-in-the-blanks.

3. Once your list is full, share it with your friends,

3a post trivia about one film a day, starting from 1930 onward. You can post on Facebook, your blog, anywhere!

3b To get the trivia, visit IMDb or other movie sites, like TCM.

4. Once you reach 2010 again, you will have taught yourself and others a wonderful lesson in cinema, covering 80 years in less than 2 months!

So, let’s get started! Re-blog this, to inspire your friends to get started too!

[Look for my own posts for the project, beginning later this week.]

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gracie-bird:

miramax:

First photos of Nicole Kidman as Grace Kelly, in Grace of Monaco. Click here for more. 

oh my god, what a deception, we send you all our apologizes for this mistake dear princess Grace, wherever you are now…

It’s true that Nicole Kidman is no Grace Kelly, but I am looking forward  to seeing this, nonetheless! Always fascinated by a good biopic!

Lauren Bacall crtisizes contemporary Hollywood and gets tongue's wagging about what makes a true star

(one indicator that Bacall holds tight to the past is that her style hasn’t really changed throughout the decades. But, when you originate from an era of style as classy as hers, I’d say that’s a good thing.)

Ms. Bacall has a good point when referring to old Hollywood. She’s not so much saying that current Hollywood isn’t as good as her era, she’s saying that current Hollywood doesn’t present or portray itself as well as in her era. Hollywood was all about fantasy, dreams, escape. You didn’t see the scars, scabs, and dirt because there was little. And when there was any, you had publicity people that cleaned you up fast. Your career depended on it.

Ms. Bacall has a good point in that respect. Current Hollywood wears their scandals and improprieties like a badge of honor. It’s become the norm to assume that any “trash” can become a star and surely everyone is finally getting their 15 minutes. You can get out of your car with no underwear, flash your cuter and it’s become the norm. You can father 10 kids from 10 different women and as long as you pay your child support, you’re a great guy. Stars are no longer people we look up to and aspire to be. They’re us now. They’re no different than you and I except they assume they exude glamour because some whoring designer dresses them for an award show. They get to be crappy people publicly and feel no backlash.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000002/board/nest/66876164?p=4

And, I would also add that there was something iconic about all the big actresses of Bacall’s day. Now, it seems that the only way to be iconic is to be a pop-star, and the badder, the better. Oh, I know that there are a few iconic folks in the movies today, like Julia Roberts, who’s 1,000 watt smile is known the world over. But, there is a definite reason why during Julia’s episode of INSIDE THE ACTOR’S STUDIO (in 1997?), she was introduced by professor/host, James Lipton, as a real movie star, following his statement that the era of *movie-star* had ended somewhere in the 1950s (though I think it ended in the 1960s). Why? Because the real movie star, with that special *star quality* is so hard to come by today, that when one is found (like Julia) who possess that certain something, we just know.

Back in Lauren’s time, they took it for granted that if you weren’t a starlet or character-actor/actress, then you were a star, and that was that. But, today, we unfortunately see that that isn’t the case. Not anymore.

If there is any good to come from our modern understanding, it is the recognition that true stars are now farther and fewer between than ever before. By knowing what a true star is, we can hopefully rebel against what a star isn’t. And, that’s the point.

If anyone wishes to contest this point, just look at reality TV, and the “stars” it churns out! That’s proof of the problem, of not just showbiz, but of societal taste. For, after-all, Hollywood is but a micronism of society as a whole and a reflection of its virtues (or lack-thereof), for the most part. So, I propose charm-school and style-lessons for everyone!

What we really lost when we lost the Hayes Code

When people complain of one-denominational Chick flicks, I can’t help but rationalize that most fans of this type of film have become so based on the process of elimination. In other words, for those of us who don’t like blatant displays of violence, those of us who consider full-blown love-scenes much less impactful than romantic scenarios, those of us who would rather leave some things to the imagination…it is this audience who is left with nothing but fluff.

However, there was a time not so very long ago, when this same audience would have enjoyed horror, crime, thrillers, and romance. But, not now that everything is so brash and spelled out. It’s a pity that we’ve gone this unfortunate direction, thanks to the abolition of the Hayes code in 1968. The very move that was meant to increase our options has inadvertently decreased them, by reducing our opportunity and ability to read between-the-lines, a consequence that is irrefutably connected to what is commonly referred to as the “dumbing down of society”. Yes, in a very curious way, when we uncensored the movies, we censored our minds.

The Graduate (1967)

What a landmark year 1967 was for films! Was just watching The Graduatefor the very first time tonight, and believe you me, you can definitely tell the Hayes Code had just been abolished! (*_*)

Bonnie & Clyde (1967)

Well, I liked Warren Beatty’s good looks and Fay Dunaway’s voice, but that’s about all I liked! No offense to all the movie buffs out there who love Bonnie & Clyde. But, I never, and I mean NEVER! want to see it again! I mean… all that violence—-and blood! And, made in 1967, no less! (*_*)