Casting call in heaven - Ernest Borgnine deceased

7/8/2012

We'll we lost another famous actor today , Ernest Bognine.

He ws great in " Marty."





Cheers..Joe

I'm not sure what the future will bring in acting with so much technology and themes of fantasy and vampires being treated as nearly real - the greats are leaving us - those who really knew the art of acting, those who could merely stand on a stage and be in the middle of a performance.

7/16/2012

DK...

We just lost another one from Hollywood

tonight , Celeste Holm , she was 95..





Cheers..Joe..

I miss Ernest Borngine. He was great.

One thing - their movies are still here as a legacy. I still prefer old movies; they make me laugh and cry and love and hate all in the same move...and with no interference from the techie geniuses.

7/16/2012

Another one just died , KItty Wells, the country singer.

I too grew up on the old Hollywood and love it.

Cheers..Joe...

I think that's why the black and white "The Artist" silent movie received so many awards - nostalgia. Imagine the acting it took in the silent movies. They are certainly all gone. Charlie Chaplain - amazing.

He was a terrific actor and, I think, a gentle, very intelligent man unlike most of his on-screen personas. I will miss him.

Hollywood could learn learn much from those classic films produced most often in a meat-grinder environment and for very little money. Special effects, overpaid actors (athletes/public servants), and a year or more to make a film don't translate into better quality. Good scripts with good actors whose acting ability don't require them to wring their hands and be schooled by the director on their motivation for ringing a doorbell and delivering a pizza do.

How many of today's blockbusters will be considered "classics" three generations hence? There were many bad films back then too, but these were mostly bad by design--B films to supplement the A films, shorts and other goodies that came for the price of less than two bits. Theater goers got their money's worth (as did those who attended sporting events with the entire family without the need to take out a second mortgage to do so). Can we say the same today?

7/17/2012

Victor..

I remember as a kid in 1960 Brooklyn, I used to go

to the Kinema Theater on Pitkin Avenue, I paid 75 cents and

watched two films, cartoons, the news, I stayed all day. In the

old days of Hollywood they had great actors, directors, writers.

I wouldn't call Lindsay Lohan an actress....



Cheers..Joe..

Joe,

There are good actors today, even a few great ones, but how many of them could hold our attention and create work that will endure the test of time if you took out the special effects and limited directors to a sum that would equate to something in the neighborhood of $250,000 per film that would have to be made in, say, two weeks? Perhaps a better question is how many of these excellent actors would be willing to work for the equivalent of what the studio system used to pay for what amounted to little more than indentured servitude? What people do simply for the love of their craft matters. And it shows.

I'm not trying to take away anything from today's excellent actors. But I would watch Kate Hepburn read the phone book all day or Jimmy Stewart the obituary section of the paper of your choice and be moved by their performance. Not so with the average $10,000,000-per-movie-star of today.

When I was in my early teens living in Woodside, Queens in the early 70s I shared a similar experience to yours. I remember going to the long-defunct Deluxe Theater and for little more than a dollar (I forget the exact amount) I could watch a current feature film and a second fairly recent film. Sodas, popcorn and other goodies were affordable as well--no need to sneak in treats. To boot, there were no kids running amock while parents and all manner of other fools talk amongst themselves during the film as though they were in their living rooms watching a rerun of their favorite Bravo reality show.

The old, grand palaces were a place where common people like me could escape for a few hours--half a day at the Deluxe if I wanted to stay and watch the first-run movie again. Their pleasant, palacial facades transported us for a brief time to a better world in air-conditioned comfort, courtesy of a gigantic, single screen gracing 30-plus foot ceilings and honest to goodness balconies. Today, I can project a larger screen at home than that offered by my local multiplex. And a couple of sodas and large tub of popcorn with God-awful fake butter costs more than ten trips to the old Deluxe.

Progress? No thanks.

7/24/2012





Another acting legend has died Sherman Hemsley.

He was great as George Jefferson..

Joe

I agree. Loved that show.

Oh Phooey, I liked him and that show too.

We are really losing ground.

7/24/2012

I'm almost afraid to look at the news on the computer,

someone's photo pops up and they say passed away .



Cheers..Joe..

When we were in our 30's, we were shocked by those our age who passed. However, part of the shock was the youth of the celebrity and the wasted futures.

Now, they have lived a full life and we are all the same age. Therefore, our lives are as fragile as theirs - and friends, relatives, and yes, celebrities leave us in greater numbers. Our own mortality is clear and we feel the losses more.

7/25/2012

We'll here we go again, we lost another great one

Chad Everette , he was 75..

Joe