A Movie "Year" in Review

Month with the most watched movies:
July (13)

Month with the least watched movies:
September (5)

Month with the least rewatches:
July (0)

Month with the most rewatches:
December (4)

Most watched actress:
Minnie/Myrna Loy (3), Deanna Durbin (3)

Most watched actor:
Cary Grant (5)

Favorite new actress:
Gene Tierney

Favorite new actor:
Donald O'Connor

Oldest film:
The Hands of Orlac (1924, September)

Newest film:
Lincoln (2012, November)

Funniest film:
Revenge of the Bridesmaids (2010, October)

Saddest film:
The Lost Weekend (1945, November)

Favorite film overall:
The Lost Weekend

Least favorite film overall:
Bringing Up Baby (1938, July)

Ratings:
0/5..................................0
0.5/5...............................0
1/5..................................0
1.5/5...............................0
2/5..................................2
2.5/5...............................0
3/5................................10
3.5/5...............................3
4/5................................15
4.5/5...............................7
5/5................................14

The Grand Master Plan

With age comes responsibility, and with responsibility comes...wise and obvious ideas?  Yes, it's true.  You all know I'm obsessed with Rosemary Clooney.  (Wait, you don't?  ...)  However, it has only just recently dawned on me that I'm doing everything wrong.  She may be gone (and may she rest in peace), but that doesn't mean I can't get closer to her in some way.  "Bailey, you've gone off your rocker."  Thanks for finally catching on, but let me further explain: George Clooney.
Yes, that George Clooney.
"Okay, you've totally lost me."  Yeah, not many people seem to be able to follow my thought process.  George Clooney, the ultimate bachelor, just so happens to be Rosemary Clooney's nephew.  Seeing as I can't posthumously marry Rosie (yeah, that would be really weird...), I've decided to turn my sights onto someone else.  Sorry, Cary.
Of course, some people might view me as a gold digger for this decision.  I assure you, I am not.  More like a...relative digger.  I'm in it for the relation and the relation only.
"But, Bailey, you're not even 16."  Shut up.
"He's the ultimate bachelor for a reason..."
"Isn't that called a football marriage or something?"  Not one for football...
"He's old enough to be your father."  Stop rubbing it in.
"He's famous and you're...when was the last time you ever even went outside?"  I understand you are fluent in Tumblr problems.
"Good luck.  Not."
Thank you.  I have taken all of your comments into consideration.  The back-up plan?  Yahoo! is a very nice area to read about stuff I don't even need to know about.  And that, my dear reader(s?), is how I came across a certain key point in my back-up plan: Adelia Clooney, George's (yes, now we're on a first name basis) sister.  George's unfamous sister.  George's unfamous sister with children.
Oh, this just keeps getting better and better!
If George refuses to marry me, there are two other Clooney children I can marry.  And if they're already married?  Well, they should have some kids.  Of course, I might be removed a generation, but that's totally fine with me.  So long as I marry a Clooney somewhere down the line.
As I was telling my two best friends my Grand Master Plan yesterday (They both have boyfriends, and I wanted to change up my boyfriend jokes.  You know, the ones about how my boyfriend doesn't celebrate Christmas, doesn't live near me, doesn't give me presents?  He's a little...stiff.  Interpret that how you will.), pointed out the one problem in my Grand Master Plan: I'm a fangirl.
Never have I been so cursed.
Picture it: George and I are sitting in the living room around the Christmas tree with the rest of the family, and everyone's telling old stories about Rosie while her records play.  And then it'd be my turn to talk.  "Did you know Rosemary Clooney started singing with Tony Pastor's Big Band with her sister Betty?  When Betty decided to give up singing, Rosie went solo.  I have some of the coolest pictures of her on my laptop!"  *awkward silence*
So there's the only thing that will bring me down.  It's really not my fault that I absorb (*cough cough* obsessively wiki-stalk *cough cough*) my favorites!  "Yes, it is."  Shh...
But it will work.  I assure you.  He'll go from this:

To this:

Mrs. Clooney OUT!

"The Howards of Virginia" (1940): Reviewed

I’m trying a new style of reviews with this movie…We’ll see how it goes!

Happy 4^th to you all!  This (extremely hot) morning I woke up at 6:15 AM (CST) to watch The Howards of Virginia (1940) starring Cary Grant as Matt Howard and Martha Scott as his wife, Jane Peyton Howard.  Directed by Frank Lloyd and lasting a grand total of one hour and fifty-four minutes (according to IMDb) here’s the synopsis:

Against the backdrop of the events leading up to the American Revolution, Matt Howard builds a fine plantation, Albemarle, in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia out of love for his wife, only to see it crumble under the strain of events and differences in their upbringing.

 This cute fictional story about America’s founding brings in a few important historical figures to, perhaps, make it more believable.  The cast of historical characters include: a young Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Walker, and Patrick Henry.  Matt Howard, a form of “white trash,” as Jane first refers to him as, slowly climbs up the ladder of respect within the movie, first by destroying social boundaries by marrying Ms. Peyton, a high-class lady.

Though not the best movie I’ve ever seen, it was still enjoyable to watch.  Gowns were designed by Irene Saltern.  Though I thought sometimes the skirt of the more formal gowns looked a little flat, here are some pictures of the costumes:

Matt and Jane Howard

Young Thomas Jefferson

High social class vs. "white trash"

I read that Grant believed he was miscast in the part, and I can almost whole-heartedly agree.  Seeing him first walk in wearing buckskins did not fit anything I’ve ever seen him in, or ever imagined him wearing.  He almost made the movie awkward; everyone else seemed to fit in, for the most part.  Another thing that got under my skin was the fact that Matt Howard yelled almost all of his lines.  I get it’s part of his character, but several times I found myself telling him to quiet down because he was being a disturbance.

However, every place the story was set looked completely genuine.  The Howards go out to Albemarle and end up creating and building a beautiful plantation, starting from a measly log cabin.  Strangely enough, thinking back this reminds me of The Unsinkable Molly Brown and how they went from a shabby cabin with plans to expand and renovate to an expansive mansion.  On top of that, both men (in these two movies) seem to have trouble accepting their new social status, while their wives are born with said status (The Howards…) or have eagerly accepted it (Molly Brown).

But beyond production details, this story also focuses on the…hardships and stubbornness of the family.  Being thrust into a lower social class put Jane into an entirely different situation and Matt was not always the best at making her feel more at home.  While probably trying to do what he thought was best, Matt was almost always too stubborn to change his ways and this resulted in several disputes.  The need to fight for the colonies, combined with his stubbornness, forced Jane to move herself and their three children (one of whom was portrayed by Rita Quigley, sister to child star Juanita Quigley) to live back at her own home and split from Matt.  Luckily for them and all other intensely-involved audience members, the couple agrees to get back together at the end. 

All in all, this wasn’t a too shabby movie.  I’m not sure if I would watch it again, but I would recommend it to anyone wanting to see a movie focusing on families during the founding of America.  I’d give it a 3 out of 5, at best.

Synopsis from Wikipedia

Pictures from Google

"The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer" 1947: Reviewed

In the last two weeks, I have watched “The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer” four times, and I must say: it is DEFINITELY one of my favorites.  This hilariously witty film, often referred to as BBS between my friends and myself, stars the gorgeous Myrna Loy, handsome Cary Grant, and not-so-child-star Shirley Temple.  Sidney Sheldon created such a wonderful screenplay for the movie that he won an award.  This movie is a stupendous choice and comes with lots of guaranteed laughs. This film is truly wonderful; the plot is never slow, it brings out Myrna and Cary’s strengths and definitely makes you question Shirley’s fall from the top.

BBS opens with a welcoming view of a beautiful house and landscaping, fit for any family.  The scene quickly cuts to the household’s help, Bessie, who is in the midst of preparing breakfast.  As she goes to wake up the younger of the household, Susan Turner (Temple), we catch a glimpse of a gorgeous room with a bed to die for!  Cue weird look from Susan that says, “Hey!  I’m Shirley Temple!  Aren’t I gorgeous?”  “Just five more minutes, Bessie.”  Susan is feeling a bit sklunklish but hastens to wake up when threatened with the awakening of the judge.  The movie is very sly in revealing that Judge Turner is in fact a lady: Margaret Turner (Loy) to be exact.  And so the morning starts.  After receiving three dollars from Margaret to pay off a bet debt, Susan heads off to school “The call of the wild!  I’ve gotta go!” to listen to a speech.  Little does she know how much this speech will impact her life!  Next, after a few jabs about marriage from Uncle Matt (Ray Collins), we find Margaret in a court setting, listening to a nightclub brawl case.  The man/artist to be blamed, Richard Nugent (Grant), arrives late but is cleared of all charges.  We meet up with Nugent again in a few minutes, giving the speech at Susan’s high school.  Being very good looking, all of the girls are intently interested in what Mr. Nugent has to say, even Susan (though she takes it a bit farther, despite her boyfriend, Jerry White’s (Johnny Sands) wishes.)  Susan is convinced that “Dickey” wants her to pose for him, and sneaks out later that night, causing a frantic search for her and Richard’s arrest. 

"Dicky wants me to pose for him."

Uncle Matt believes that taking Richard, who is now Susan’s love interest, away from Susan will only end in devastation, so it is decided that Dickey will date Susan until her infatuation with him diminishes, instead of doing time.  This plan does not go accordingly, however, and Susan falls even more madly in love with Richard.  Much to Susan’s outrage, someone else falls in love with Richard—and this time, he falls in love back.  I’ll leave you to find out who this someone is and what becomes of Susan and Dickey; but don’t worry, it’s a happy ending!

This is definitely my favorite Shirley Temple film, and is tied for number one (along with the first three Thin Man’s) favorite for Myrna Loy.  This was also my first Cary Grant film, and it was most certainly worth it!  “The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer” sure made me wonder how Shirley Temple went from amazing movie star to public servant.  Not once have I regretted watching this movie!  (As you can tell, considering the number of times I’ve watched it!)

“The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer” most certainly deserves a spot on the classics list for its originality and use of talent.  Bravo Shirley, bravo Myrna, and bravo Cary!