POLA NEGRI - A woman of the world

A Woman of the World (1925)

Well I tried but woefully fell short on the word count for Nanowrimo. Then finals. Then moving...omigosh christmas is tomorrow...

SO...what better time to review a movie that I saw at the end of summer?! Eh?!Eh!!!

 Thanks to FilmRadar,  I was able to attend a silent movie screening of "A Woman of the World" at Paramount Ranch in Agoura Hills. Much gratitude to a very even-tempered boyfriend, we were made the loooooooooooong trek into the mountains to catch the movie. The windy roads and isolated areas were a little freaky at first but after we parked and walked up, it was worth it! Paramount Ranch is a restored and protected landmark of a western set that was owned by Paramount. This is the same location that Dr.Quinn Medicine Woman was filmed. In the few minutes we had before the screening, I had alot of fun darting around the sets taking pictures.If I ever had to do a Firefly photoshoot...

Anyhoo, the atmosphere was great for a silent movie.An old projector was used and everybody sat outside under the brilliant stars. Comfortable in out chairs and a fresh bag of popcorn, we settled in.

Before the movie, we were treated to a cartoon short of bees. Something about bees being in love. I was too busy munching on popcorn. It was so delicious...



"A Woman of the World" involves a heartbroken European Countess who decides to nurse her feelings at the small American home of her cousin. Her "flashy" attitude and ways spurns the attention and wrath of the District Attorney who makes it his personal mission to run her out of town.The more he interacts with the Countess, the more it becomes apparent that there are some passionate feelings hiding under his crusading facade.

I've only seen a couple of silent movies so I am  pretty ignorant of this era. So I was pleased as punch to find that I really loved this movie. There was some excellent comedy bits especially between the male cousin and the Countess. Typical miscommunication antics.

Even thought this was a product of the twenties, the themes are still strong today. No matter what decade, people will view visitors differently: with welcome, scorn, or happiness. It's how the movie handled sexuality that amused me. The Countess came from an environment of sexual freedom and power. The town is unsettled by her charismas but it's not until her TATTOO that it all comes to surface. Yes. Her smoking, makeup, dress caused raised eyebrows but oh holy smokes, the tattoo just confirmed it. She was a "woman of the world"! I guess the slimmest connection could be that she's a prostitute but I don't see any negative connotation of being a "woman of the world". I must be misunderstanding some cinematic slang. All I saw was just rampant jealousy. The Countess just oozed bad ass charm.


How bad ass was she? Angered by the actions of the DA, she grabs a WHIP and runs to hall where she WHIPS him in front of the board. A WHIP. Holy hell. I hated that they kissed right after that and the movie ended. I would have rather she threw the whip at his face then drove off in a shiny carriage or something. A good solid middle finger would have worked. Eh. I guess all the 1920s movies had to end on a good note.

I was fascinated by the actress who played the Countess. She was played by the famed femme fatale, Pola Negri (what a cool name...). With some digging, I found that Negri was freakin' famous.Mega famous. She was gorgeous and a great actress. She was loved in Europe and coveted in US. Long story short: she ran in high societal circles. Her last appearance was in the "The Moon-Spinners" (which I just added and shall watch soon).

Unfortunately this movie isn't available on DVD. I would suggest keeping an eye out for it at restorative theaters such as the Egyptian theater or Silent Movie theater or Silent Movie festivals. 

NanoWrimo 2012

I have relunctantly put this blog on hiatus due to school and more importantly: NANOWRIMO!!! If you would like to become my writing buddy, my writing name is : dragonprincess. toodle-loo!

Evil Dead 2 : Dead by Dawn Original Theatrical Trailer

Evil Dead II (1987)

Yikes! Life has once more taken thrall of me and sucked into its mediocre hustle! Busy Busy Busy.. That is the life of a person.

Well it's October!!! Whooo!!!!! Scary season time!! Costumes!! Excuses to buy costume accessories! I love Halloween and I am one of the biggest weenies in the world. I am terrified of anything scary. Yet being the hypocrite that I am, I am fascinated by the genre. I squeal, shriek, my heart pumping out of my eyeballs but I still go back for more. Weird? Oh yeah

Lets start off October with one of the most referenced movie in Geekdom. A movie that I long believed to be gory beyond humanity. A movie that has spawned a HUGE cult following. And it stars one of the best ham actors of all: Bruce Campbell.


You must know that I am referring to "Evil Dead 2" (I'm assuming you read in the title. As for "Army of Darkness"? I will watch that soon enough. Relax).

I've known about "Evil Dead 2" for a very long while now. A memory pops up: walking through a VHS rental store that my mother's friend managed, I always challenged myself to walk through the horror section. As my mom chatted up in the fast talking gossip cloud, I would wander away from the saccharine covers of children's movies to the dark aisle filled with terrifying covers. I would muster enough courage to pick up maybe 1 or 2 VHS covers before jerking my fingers back, I always felt this overwhelming sense of doom emanating from the boxes. As if by touching them, I was slowly corrupting myself (Eh, it wasn't that far from the truth). I remember almost touching the "Hellraiser" box before freaking out and accidentally knocking over other covers. One of the covers I picked up was "Evil Dead 2". I remember staring at the cover. A smirking skull with eyes peering at me. I remember wondering why it looked so funny yet scary. Then my mother yanked the cover away from my hands and placed it back on the shelf. In an instant, another "Land Before Time" movie was in my hand.


It took many, many, many years to be convinced to watch this movie. It took a stubborn horror buff boyfriend and a food coma induced by his delicious cooking to plunk me down into the futon and pop in the DVD.

WHAT THE HELL WAS I AFRAID OF?!?!? THIS WAS THE FUNNIEST HORROR MOVIE I HAVE EVER HAD THE COURAGE TO WATCH!!!

Ok lemme back up and explain the movie. "Evil Dead 2" is a sort-of-but-not-really re-make of "Evil Dead". Which I haven't seen nor am I interested in watching it. As far as I'm concerned, this is a stand alone movie.
We are following the horrific adventures of Ash, played by Bruc Campbell. Who is hot beyond compare!!! Chiseled jaw and everything!! Ash and girlfriend are about to have a romantic outing in a lone cabin when they accidentally invoke demon that possesses everything and some zombies.

That is all I'm gonna say on the plot. This movie is something that has to be experienced. It uses very clever camera angles, techniques, gimmicks, and gadgetry to create this amazing horror atmosphere. I am really impressed with how complicated and crazy these puppets were. Growing up in a time where 3D manipulation is touted as evolutionary, it was with bittersweet feelings that I wish more movies like this existed. Everything about the production spoke of passion and appreciation for genre. You have to be a huge fanatic to spend that much time and energy to obsess over a detail like a how head being flung over a log should look. Sam Raimi is just an absolute genius.Bravo!!

Bruce Campbell. What can I say that hasn't been said? Watch this movie and you'll see why he's so loved in the geek community. He's such a great facial actor and an unbelievable stuntman. There is this amazing scene where he is fighting his possessed hand. He is thrashing himself all over the kitchen smashing his body in such a way that you truly believe he is possessed. And to top it off, he manages to flip himself over. No mat, no wires, no nothing. He just grabs himself and flips him over. And the flight through the car? Wowza!

There are definitely some good scary moments. I jumped so many damn times. I was genuinely terrfied of the evil mists. I can tell it's fake but the atmosphere was so well done that  my heart was pumping everytime Ash tried to run or fight the evil. For an evil that wasn't throughly established other than being summoned from the book of the dead and possessing people, it was freakin' scary!!! And the zombies??! Or vampire zombies? Or whatever they were?!?! Scary!!!! It's amazing how many people die in this movie....

The movie ends kinda odd involving some time travel that was foretold earlier in the movie. This ultimately leads to "Army of Darkness" which I will get around to watching.

How much more can I gush about this movie without making you vomit? All I can end with is : Watch this movie if you haven't already!! And it's October so if your available to catch it at a midnight showing, do so! I will definitely be keeping my eyes out for a showing!!

 
Ok folks, The countdown for LONG BEACH COMIC CON has begun! This is a great comic convention to go to! It's manageable, the area is awesome, and it has great atmosphere! Plus a very special artist that is important to me is exhibiting that everyone should check out!

Dorian Gray (2009)

Word that best describes this summer : UGH.
 I have been the gauntlet of pain, surgery, heat, and anxiety. And I don't seen an end in sight. So I will take the words of my favorite inspirational speaker: Andrew W.K.: You Gotta Keep Up...You Gotta Keep Going.

But damn, it's hard to focus on anything when you live in the freakin' valley.It's HOT.

So I guess it would make sense for me to watch a movie with a really HOT actor. Ahh...ah....see what I did there...

I almost passed this movie up. I couldn't remember why I added this movie. At all. Thank goodness I was in my marathon of sewing. Actually this movie wasn't good for my sewing. I didn't get that far in it.

What comes to your mind when you see "Dorian Gray"? Is it:
1. The classic story written by Oscar Wilde
2.  That guy in League of Extraordinary Men
3. Something about a picture...

Guess what? That's as much as I know  of it too! I will embarrassingly admit that I completely gave up on the novel after about 10 pages. I gave up after the twentieth time that Dorian Gray was beautiful. Sheesh. This movie adaptation was much more entertaining to swallow. I truly apologize Mr. Wilde. I am not as sophisticated as I would like to  be in classic literature.

The story (as explained by the movie):
    A young, impressionable man named Dorian Gray (played by the delectable Ben Barnes) arrives in England to take over his deceased fathers estate. He is befriended by an artist and a corrupted aristocrat. As the beauty of Gray becomes established thanks to the art of his friend., Gray finds a dark way to retain his youth. The consequences of a satanic bargain bleeds through Gray and everyone around him.

I had no idea that the story was a compelling, horror story. This may be in large part to the movie but daaaaaaamn. I was hooked. On top of that, COLIN FIRTH is in it!!! I was so happy to see him play the corrupted friend. Firth is sexy when he's being manipulated.

Ben Barnes really sealed the movie for me. Dorian Gray was able to do all his immoral deeds because of his immortal beauty. It wasn't hard for me to believe that Gray could do all this because Barnes just did it so damn well. I believed his innocent eyes, his grin at his new power, and his SEXINESS.

Oh there is ALOT of sex in this movie. Immoral, threesomes, multi-partners, same sex partners, and dancing. Omigosh my jaw dropped. I could not tear my eyes away. It's hard to sew a straight stitch when your seeing some hardcore action.....hoorah for the stitch ripper.






Oh...um...Ben Barnes is PRINCE CASPIAN. From Narnia.....Yeah...the religious subtext series. The one with the lion and the streetlight. It didn't even hit me because he was so....dimmed in Narnia. All that sexy hiding underneath chain mail. How dare you Aslan. How dare you.

Not only was this movie great eye candy but it was just damn compelling to watch. Easily has become one of my favorite adaptions of a classic novel. That I haven't read....

Every year, it gets a little bit harder. Every year I lose a strength and I gain a weakness. I just have to keep finding what makes me step away and just relax. Thank goodness for books and movies.

Enjoy everyone!

Monkey Business (1952)

Sorry for the long delay. I've just had surgery and I finally feel well enough to just sit down and write. 

One of my pet peeves right now is seeing classic movies being packaged with huge pictures of Marilyn Monroe and she really doesn't carry that much weight in the movie. Sigh. This was the victim of such packaging. The main force and comedy power is Cary Grant and Ginger Rodgers.

Yeah, Cary Grant was pretty funny in this one. He did some great comedy stunts and was pretty likable. I will credit all that to the amazing Ginger Rodgers. Not only can she keep up the dancing guru Fred Astaire but she has amazing charisma and comedic timing.

"Monkey Business" is a simple,comedy movie. Grant plays an absent-minded scientist intent on finding the solution for youth. Rodgers plays his loving wife  who puts up with him. Monroe just plays a secretary...

Anyhoo, a monkey mixes some chemicals together that actually becomes the tonic for youth. First Grant drinks it and becomes this crazy youthful guy and then it wears out.Rodgers then drinks it for good measure and then they both drink. The movie follows their silly regression into youth and what they learn from it.

It's such a romantic movie. The antics that this married couple endured should have broke them apart once they come into their senses. But they still find reason and come to love each other even more. That's a huge comparison between "Youth and Old Age" that the movie makes. Youth does stupid things, adults are more reasonable. That's too simplistic and definitely begs alot of arguments but sometimes it's true. Sometimes.





This movie is littered with wonderful lines and scenes.The regression begins slowly and then wham! They're crazy teenagers! Grant is driving like a maniac and dressing stupidly. Rodgers is jealous and overly emotional.Combined,they chase each like little kids all over the board room.


This movie was just so much fun to watch. A simple, comedy between two great stars.


I would write more, but i'm starting to feel some more pain coming on. Toodles!