Summer Films 2010

I adore days where you sit in bed or on the couch and watch movies all day. In my case I was watching to be educated: This Film is Not Yet Rated, Jules et Jim, The Postman Always Rings Twice and The John Garfield Story. The night before I had watched Pretty in Pink and today I watched 'It' with Clara Bow. Did you know that Gary Cooper had a bit role in that film as the reporter, isn't that amazing? Next on my list is some Elizabeth Taylor, Mae West, Film Noir and I am slowly acquainting myself with Westerns. Barbara Streisand will also be making an appearance in my film education this summer. Any suggestions of films that I haven't seen are always appreciated.
This Film is Not Yet Rated, which is a documentary about the MPAA ratings specifically the difference between R and NC-17. The difference is the amount of nudity, sex and surprisingly (or perhaps not) violence. The MPAA is likened to the CIA because of its secretiveness and lack of transparency. After watching the movie one realizes the rating system in the United States is wrong and our media is controlled by a limited number of huge corporations (what's new?!). I think educated, sensible people take ratings as a suggestion or with a grain of salt. We should have harsher ratings for violence and it is deplorable because you have more nudity or sex in a film, or homosexual subject matter you should not be given funding for advertisement. That was not very surprising, but the rating board is picked because they are "ordinary parents" when in fact they represent a very limited part of the American society. It's a shame because I think there are some great films out there-independent and international-that don't get distributed in the states as they should because of language and sexuality. Controversial film...so perhaps it is critical to watch it even if you fast forward through a lot of it like I did :)

Jules et Jim- Un film de François Truffaut with Jeanne Moreau, Oskar Werner and Henri Serre. I loved this 1962 black and white film. The ending was horrific, but there is something so pleasant about French films and the way that they weave a story with images, song, dialogue... it's just so French.

Pretty in Pink-I'm pretty sure this is the first movie that I have seen of the "Brat Pack" films. I've seen clips of the Breakfast Club, but that's about it. I liked the story and Duck Man was hilarious. What I loved about it is it really plunged you into the year 1986 (at least I think it did, I wasn't born then so I really don't know). The clothes, the hair, the make-up, the music...hysterical. Why don't we wear clothes like that anymore? Our wardrobe these past couple years it to say the least, boring.

The Postman Always Rings Twice-Lana Turner and John Garfield in classic film noir. The famous scene where Lana Turner enter in all white and looks disdainfully down her nose. Note that Ms. Turner wears white for half the film and then switches to black once her mother dies and she becomes more "evilly" driven.