Thursday, August 29, 2013

Reader's Choice: What Should I Review?


I think there is an old blogging rule, no doubt inscribed on a tablet by our ancestors and buried somewhere in the desert that says, "Never start a blog post with a reference to how long it's been since you've blogged." So I won't start this one that way. But I do feel like the blog has been collecting a layer of dust since my last blogathon. My movie-watching time has been intercepted lately by TV shows and re-watches of old favorites (My mother had never seen Roman Holiday--imagine!). This is nice, but I really want to get back to a proper schedule of movie reviewing. Thus, I've decided to try something a little different, to give the blog a good shot of adrenaline. I'm going to let my readers decide what I should review next.

Basically, what movies would you like to see me review in the month of September? What genres have I been avoiding, which stars have been ignored? Send me your movie requests and I will promise to randomly pick 3 movies to review here on the blog. Three movies chosen by you guys. No matter what they may be.

(And yes, I did steal this idea from the Siren.)

The Rules of the Game (for requesting movies)

1. The movie must have been released between 1930 and 1965. I love movies of all eras but when it comes to my blog, I like to stick to my mission statement. So any requests for The Matrix or Shoah will be politely but firmly ignored.

2. You can submit a movie from any genre, any country, any style. Horror, exploitation, documentary, foreign, animated, comedy, crime, science fiction, musical, surreal, anything goes.

3. You can submit up to 3 movie requests. That's 3 per person. It will all go in the hat and a trusted third party who doesn't know Scarlet Street from Scarlett O'Hara will get to choose the winners.

4. Please try to keep it to movies that are readily available, by Amazon, Netflix, Warner Archive, ClassicFlix, or on Youtube. I will do all in my power to obtain the movie in question but if it eludes my grasp, I will choose another movie in its place.

5. Repeats are okay. So if someone's requested a movie you'd like to see reviewed here, you can ask for the same movie.

6. Don't request a movie that's already been reviewed on this site.

7. With all that in mind, I promise to review the winning 3 movies, without question or complaint. So if one of you decides to request Casablanca, I will grit my teeth and move heaven and earth to find something new to say about Casablanca. The movie can be the highest of the high, the lowest of the low, and everything in between. That's the fun of it after all.

8. You can send me your movie requests either here in the comments section or at adams.are@gmail.com. You can also reach me on Twitter (link is on my sidebar).

9. I'm accepting requests until midnight, September 6th, Pacific Standard Time. That's so I'll have time to acquire the movies and get the reviews out in a timely fashion. I may extend the deadline if I don't get enough requests and if you send me a message say, a day or so late, I might sneak you in anyway.

So hit me with your best shot, guys! You've been the best readership a girl could ever want and I look forward to seeing what you come up with. Cheers!


(Top picture credited to the ever-awesome Dsata, at Pictures)

21 comments:

  1. My three picks:

    The Sons of Katie Elder (1965)

    Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962)

    We're No Angels (1955)

    As far as I can tell, you haven't reviewed these. And they're all favorites of mine. One western and two very different comedies.

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  2. I'm a fairly new follower of your blog, so I'm not sure which movies you have/haven't reviewed, but here are three random picks:

    Boys Town 1938
    Flying Down to Rio 1933
    Bachelor Mother 1939

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  3. I, too, am not sure which films you have already reviewed, but here goes:

    Trouble in Paradise (1932)
    The More the Merrier (1943)
    Journey to Italy (1953)

    Hope you get lots of choices to review!

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  4. Hamlette, Silverscreenings, and callmemadam: Those are all fantastic choices, thanks, guys! I would be totally happy to review any of those movies. As to what films I've already reviewed, basically everything goes under the "film reviews" tag on my sidebar.

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  5. Just three! Tough to winnow down all the titles that come to mind down to that but here goes with thought processes included:

    I'm a huge Linda Darnell fan, she's my favorite golden age star bar none and terribly under appreciated. I know you've done a fashion review of her best film A Letter to Three Wives so instead I chose Summer Storm which was the first time she got a chance to show how talented she was in a worthy part.

    I noticed that Susan Hayward is rather sparse on the site and I was about to suggest With a Song in My Heart, which is about to be scrutinized in depth on The Film Experience thanks to Thelma Ritter when they do their Supporting Actress Smackdown of 1952 starting tomorrow so that will be covered extensively, then I remembered the tough little noir Deadline at Dawn that she made just as she was breaking through.

    Lastly I was leaning towards I Married a Witch with Veronica Lake, a wonderful film but as far as I can tell not easy to find and This Gun For Hire and Sullivan's Travels while great have been heavily reviewed elsewhere so Veronica will have to wait and my list was on the heavy side anyway so why not a Doris Day movie! I picked one of my favs, one of her earliest My Dream Is Yours.

    So my final three:
    Summer Storm-1944
    Deadline at Dawn-1946
    My Dream is Yours-1949

    I double checked and all three are readily available from Netflix.

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  6. An interesting challenge ( for yourself that is! ). I tend to see the same films being reviewed at alot of different sites so I'll go the obscure here :

    1. Sunday Dinner with a Soldier ( 1944 )
    2. Junior Miss ( 1945 )
    3. Town on Trial ( 1956 )

    They all provide some very good screen moments that I would love to hear your interpretation of.

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  7. Joel65913: Joel, you are so awesome and thoughtful, I hardly know what to say. You've put so much thought into this, it's great. You're right that I haven't gotten around to much Susan Hayward so that would be a fun choice. And I almost did review I Married a Witch here because I adore that film and Veronica Lake in it. But Doris Day is a welcome substitute. *rubbing hands with glee*

    The Metzinger Sisters: Obscure films, cool! I haven't seen any of these and I love reviewing lesser known films.

    Thanks for all the requests, guys!

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  8. I'd love to hear your views on THE RAINS CAME, THE TRAIN ROBBERS, COME NEXT SPRING.

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  9. THE SEVENTH VICTIM (Val Lewton!)
    LA BETE HUMAINE and HUMAN DESIRE (Renior and Lang!)
    THE NAKED JUNGLE (Charlton Heston! Eleanor Parker! Ants!)

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  10. My three suggestions/requests:

    Rocco and His Brothers (1960, Luchino Visconti)
    Les Yeux Sans Visage (Eyes Without a Face, 1960, Georges Franju)
    Rififi (1955, Jules Dassin).

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  11. Aw, dang. Why'd I have to be at work when I saw this?! I'll have to wait till I get home to verify which movies are on Netflix or YouTube or TCM...oh yeah, and it will give me time to brainstorm about which movies to even look up.

    So why am I posting here yet, anyhow?! Yeesh.

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  12. ....I'm too impatient.

    Last I checked, these were on Netflix! If not, disregard and I'll try again (I'll double-check when I get home, too):

    Leave Her To Heaven (1945, Gene Tierney and Thornton Wilder)
    Fallen Angel (1945, Linda Darnell--popular gal!--and Dana Andrews)
    Carrie (1952, Jennifer Jones and Laurence Olivier)

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    Replies
    1. Oh man, I cannot believe I put THORNTON WILDER as the co-star of Leave Her To Heaven. Yeesh. CORNEL WILDE. THE MAN IS CORNEL WILDE. CARRY ON.

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    2. Well, if you ask me, it's a lot easier to imagine Thornton Wilder acting than it is to imagine Cornel Wilde sitting down to pen "Our Town."

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  13. Here's my suggestions:

    1: BLUES IN THE NIGHT (1941)
    2: BLUES IN THE NIGHT (1941)
    3: BLUES IN THE NIGHT (1941)

    Seriously. If you've ever wanted to see a movie that was part Fritz Lang nightmare noir, part Busby Berkeley musical, part Preston Sturges road movie, and part live-action Bob Clampett phantasmagorical Looney Toon, have I got a movie for you! To say much more would spoil the soup, but, my god the demented montages (credited to Don Siegel) and music in this thing. Last check it was streaming on YouTube, serialized in about 10 parts. Search '"Blues in the Night" 1941' should get you there. You won't regret it.

    And if you need two other, other suggestions:

    DAY OF THE NIGHTMARE (1965). Bizarre, cheap, but oddly intriguing PSYCHO cash in, currently streaming for free on Netflix.

    SO YOUNG, SO BAD (1950): Fascinating Paul Heinreid-fueled social screed on the entrenched abuse perpetrated on the young ladies incarcerated inside a reformatory. Currently streaming on Netflix.


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    Replies
    1. Blues in the Night is a really good film, great music, some very trippy interludes as well as Priscilla Lane, always a plus. It's available to rent on Netflix too.

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    2. You make such a wonderful case for Blues in the Night that I am strongly tempted to let you stuff the ballot box. But no, I will resist. You've managed to pick three films I haven't seen, so kudos.

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  14. Hello! I'm a longtime lurker, but I would love to see you review any of the following:

    Wild River (Elia Kazan, 1960)
    The Reckless Moment (Max Ophuls, 1949 - currently on YouTube, though in separate parts)
    I Know Where I'm Going! (Powell and Pressburger, 1945)

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  15. Hi Aubyn, Just wondering if you're going to announce the three winners or surprise us as you post reviews. Looking forward to seeing the selections one way or the other, my curiosity has gotten the better of me and I had to ask. Thanks!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Joel,

      I thought about making an announcement with the winning names, but figured it would be better to just surprise you with them one by one. Rest assured that the reviews are coming :).

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  16. Faster Pussycat Kill Kill! (1965), The Heiress (1949) and Mandalay (1934)

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