Tag Archives: movies

I Need Some Nosteratu

Posted on June 16, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

The obligatory psycho eyes!

Hey, it’s Lame Post Friday! I have not shared monster pictures all week, so I thought I might indulge tonight.  I open with a monster of the human variety (using the term “human” loosely), the murderous Rhoda in The Bad Seed, as played by Patty McCormack in the 1956 movie. She is shown with her mother, played by Nancy Kelly, who does a good bit of scenery chewing herself.  Steven and I are watching the movie now.  I wanted something cheesy, familiar, and fun.

I did not mean to make a real movie blog post about The Bad Seed.  I merely mention it to set the scene, as it were.  It is the end of a long week, and I am tired.  I need some Nosferatu.

“Ah, fresh air!”

Here is the picture I always think looks as if it is in front of Little Falls Antique Center at Canal Place.  Just to give a little local flair.  For a little more local flair, I am sipping some Reisling from Merritt Winery in Forestville, NY.  I have not been there but have sampled the wine at tastings at Valley Wine and Liquor in Herkimer, NY.

I just flashed on Dracula, saying, “I never drink… wine”  (of course he pronounced it “vine”).  That is where the vampire and I differ.  Therefore I will close with a picture of Frankenstein, “Drink!  Good!”  Come to think of it, he may have been talking about gin.  Well, one must make do after all.

Tea is good, too.

This is Boris Karloff in 1931’s Frankenstein, on a break.  Just to complete the scene, we are now at the point in The Bad Seed where the characters are drinking gin and tonic.  Damn, that’s one of my favorites!  Well, wine is good, too.  Happy Friday, everyone!

 

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Monsters on Monday, What’s Not to Like?

Posted on June 5, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

I had a couple of authentic Mohawk Valley adventures I was going to write about,  but I’m tired.  Sorry, folks, I’ve had a rough weekend and a tough Monday — oh, I KNOW other people work much harder than I do and have a much harder time.  I’ll stop whining, I really will.  My point is, as I was idly scrolling down Facebook, trying to work up some ambition, I came across an awesome still from The Invisible Man, and, well, you know me and monster movies.  We are having another Monstrous Monday.

“But, Darling, I never loved you for your looks!”

Claude Rains and Gloria Stuart, what’s not to like?  Naturally I kept scrolling to see if I could get lucky and find a couple of more pictures.

They don’t do newspaper ads like this any more!

I LOOOOVE The Raven!  I only recently saw it for the first time, having DVR’d it from TCM.  I feel certain my husband will give me the DVD for my birthday or Christmas sometime.  Maybe on a boxed set of Roger Corman movies.  I like Roger Corman almost as much as I like William Castle.

I think this also works as a depiction of the popular conception of Monday.

This is one out of my Media Library.  Since I mentioned William Castle, I just had to include a picture of House on Haunted Hill (the 1959 original, of course), one of our go-to movies.  So entertaining!

Alas, one cannot enjoy Percepto while watching this on DVD!

Oh, how silly of me.  I went looking in my Library for William Castle, completely forgetting that I had just downloaded a movie poster from one of his flicks!  It just goes to show how truly tired I am.  I’m leaving the other picture in, though, because who couldn’t like to see a scary ghost and a screaming woman on Monstrous Monday?  No promises, but I’ll try not to be so tired on Tuesday.

 

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Alas, No Severed Heads for Me

Posted on May 28, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

Joan is obviously charmed to meet Gloria, but Jack looks less than thrilled.

It is that moment on a Sunday when I realize:  I’ve got to make my blog post, so I can get back to sitting on the couch, knitting, and watching television.  It is movies rather than Snapped today, and we began with Sudden Fear, starring Joan Crawford, Jack Palance, and Gloria Grahame.  I do enjoy a film noir on a gloomy Sunday (and almost any other day or weather), although ideally I like to sip Pinot Noir whilst I watch.  However, you can’t have everything.

Speaking of other things I didn’t get today, I wanted to have a Severed Head Sunday.  I have a number of movies that involve heads that part company as it were.  Unfortunately, we have just recently watched two.

Obviously, she feels strongly about matters.

I think I even mentioned that I watched the heart-warming classic Straitjacket on Mother’s Day.  Joan always played a mother so memorably.

“May I have this dance?”

We watched House on Haunted Hill last night.  Actually, in that movie, real severed heads are only mentioned.  The severed head you see turns out to be a fake.  Oh dear, ought I to have included a spoiler alert for that?  I don’t think it will materially injure anybody’s enjoyment of the movie.

It is early in the day, so I suppose I could still fit in a movie with severed heads.  Maybe Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte.

Isn’t she lovely?

Bette Davis, an unsolved murder involving a severed head, what’s not to like?  For once, I’m not having a Wrist to Forehead Sunday.

 

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Not Cheesy on Wrist to Forehead Sunday

Posted on May 21, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

We were supposed to be watching cheesy movies.  I am wearing my t-shirt from Original Herkimer Cheese, which says, “Keepin’ It Cheesy Since 1949.”

The moment I saw this shirt, I knew I had to own it one day.

I gave Original Herkimer Cheese one of my favorite plugs in a murder mystery for the Herkimer County Historical Society.

One character tells another she looks remarkably like Frangelica Inferno, “Uh, not that I watch porn movies.”

Character that looks like Frangelica:  “She was not a porn star!  Those were art films!”

Another character:  “Oh, please, those movies are as cheesy as Chutter from Original Herkimer Cheese!”

I do love chutter, and Original Herkimer Cheese.  But I digress. My original subject was cheesy movies, which I adore to watch on Wrist to Forehead Sunday.  We watched a good one last night, The Tingler, starring Vincent Price and directed by William Castle.  We thought of continuing the Price/Castle theme today with House on Haunted Hill.  However, I had also mentioned All About Eve as a possibility.  Steven was more interested in All About Eve.  How could I possibly object to a Bette Davis classic?

After All About Eve, Steve suggested another favorite of ours, Being Julia, starring the divine Annette Bening.  In addition to being one of my all time favorite movies, this one seemed related to All About Eve, because both are about highly talented, greatly admired stage actresses who have just a little bit of trouble in their offstage lives.

I am having a bit of trouble in my offstage life these days, as well as onstage, but how tiresome of me it would be to cry about it now, even on Wrist to Forehead Sunday.  Additionally, I have movies to watch.  For a blog post, this will have to do.  I hope to see you all again on Monstrous Monday.

 

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Monday Movie Meditation?

Posted on April 17, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

So there I was, sitting on the couch with my laptop and telling myself I could NOT again post the picture of Frankenstein’s monster saying, “No like Monday!”  I looked through my monster groups on Facebook for a new picture. Do you suppose I could find anything?  Then I saw this movie poster, which has nothing to do with Mondays and is actually a kind of a disappointing monster, but I downloaded it anyways, and here it is.

He is rather intimidating on the poster, I suppose.

I’ve seen Curse of the Demon a couple of times, DVR’d from TCM.  According to pre-movie commentary by Ben Mankiewicz, producer Val Lewton did not want to show the monster right away but was overruled by the studio.  I agree that it would have been much scarier to see the first victim looking utterly horrified by… what?  But these were pre-Jaws days.

For the uninitiated, in the first Jaws movie, we don’t see the shark until well into the movie.  This was actually making a virtue of necessity, because they had a lot of trouble with that mechanical shark, but it turned out to be SO effective.  Who knew?  Val Lewton, apparently, but nobody believed him.  Come to think of it, some post-Jaws movies could be a little more circumspect, too, but that’s a whole other blog post.

What a messy eater!

And here is the Jaws shark.  I feel he is a monster worth waiting for.  I’m afraid this was not a blog post worth waiting for, but what do you want from me on a Monday?

 

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Murder Book, Prison Movie, It’s Wrist to Forehead Sunday!

Posted on April 16, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

One of my favorites, and I like the movie just as much.

I pause in re-reading an Agatha Christie novel to make my Wrist to Forehead Sunday post.  I like to read a fast paperback on a Sunday.  Steven is watching a movie.  I told him to pick what he would like, because I was reading.  He chose Shawshank Redemption, which I got him for his birthday.  I forgot how heavy this movie is.  Steven pointed out to me how I reference it all the time, by “doing Shawshank Redemption” when it rains.

I do it with my shirt on.

Now that I’m reading Death on the Nile again, I want to see that movie.  It is a star-studded Agatha Christie romp (which I believe I have written a blog post about).  It is also an excellent adaptation.  There are differences between the movie and book, but I can see why they made the changes they did.  Let me see if I can find a good picture from the movie.

I REALLY wanted a hat like this for “Rubbed Out at Ruby’s.”

I couldn’t get the full cast picture to download (you know me and computers), but here is the best character in the flick, Angela Lansbury as Salome Otterbourne.  This is one of the characters that is changed somewhat in the movie, into a definitely more theatrical version.  I love it.  Maybe we can watch that movie next.  First I need to finish re-reading the book.

 

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Thirsty or Non-Sequitur, It’s Thursday

Posted on April 13, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

So I had a real post yesterday and I am not going to continue the trend.  I’m exhausted!  Never mind what all I did after work (and work wasn’t easy).  I ran around, I wrote some stuff,  I did some housework.  I did not work out.  Don’t judge me.  Oh, what do I care?  Go ahead and judge me!  I’m pathetic!

Oh dear, that sounded suspiciously like whining.  I apologize.  I recently made the observation that we do not have the luxury of giving in to despair. I guess I don’t even get to be too tired to make a blog post.   Well, too tired to make a good blog post.  But perhaps I can rouse myself enough to say something reasonably entertaining.

“Do you need a shave?”

Looking through my Media Library, I find a picture that mentions Thursday, which is today (that’s two days in a row of me knowing what day it is, for anybody who is keeping track).  It reminds me of a thing in my high school.  Some girls started this thing of running a hand along a guy’s face and saying, “Have you shaved?”  I was, of course, too shy and geeky to do such a thing myself, but I witnessed it on several occasions.  The practice stopped when a guy grabbed for a girl’s leg and said, “Have you?”

“Who were you expecting me to dance with, Deborah Kerr?”

I was looking for a related picture when I remembered:  It is Non-Sequitur Thursday!  I can be random as well as silly!  So here is Vincent Price dancing with a skeleton.  Who doesn’t love Vincent Price?  If you just raised your hand, you are probably reading the wrong blog.  However, I will not judge.  Love whoever you like!

This is what I’m waiting for!

To make another non sequitur, I go from monsters to flowers.  I am waiting and waiting for things to begin to bloom around here!  Today at work, I overheard some guys saying things like, “I keep hoping it will snow,” and “I can’t wait till it’s winter again!”  Eventually I called over to them, “Say, are you fellows doing some of that there sarcasm thing?”

Speaking of Thirsty Thursday (see first picture), I think I’ll have a glass of wine.

 

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Monday Movies

Posted on April 10, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

One of our all time favorites!

Yes, I said I was going to have a real post this Monday, and here I sit, watching old movies.  I took a vacation day today, never mind why, explanations are tiresome.  When we got back home from our obligations, we wanted to watch movies. I wanted an old one, and Steven (my husband) recommended Witness for the Prosecution (1957).  It was a good idea.  Billy Wilder, yes.

Instead of going on with a Billy Wilder theme, or perchance an Elsa Lanchester or Una O’Connor theme, Steven wanted to see a movie with good music. I suggested The Big Chill (1983).

Quite the star-studded cast for the day.

I think the above image is photo-shopped. I hope it is not copyright protected. I just found it on Facebook and downloaded it.  I see it came from Marshall Jay Kaplan’s Fame Cafe.  I think as long as I credit the source, it falls under the “fair use” clause.  It seems the Facebook page last posted in 2016.  I don’t properly understand the internet, as regular readers know.

Right now, I have more important things to ponder, such as what movie to watch next.  Good music? Old movie?  Monsters? The possibilities are endless.  In the meantime, I need to finish this post. I think I will call it another Mental Meanderings Monday and include one more photo, just because three’s the charm.

Back in the day when people made engravings on lighters for presents.

I don’t know if we’ll watch Strangers on a Train (1951) next, but I’m having trouble finding a picture to include, so this will have to do. In fact, I did mention this as a movie to watch tonight, since the  murder victim in Witness for the Prosecution shows up as in a small but pivotal role in Stranger on a Train.  I guess I don’t know what movie, if any we will watch next.  But at over 300 words, I call this respectable for a blog post. Happy Monday, everybody.

 

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Fay Wray, Can You Help Me Now?

Posted on April 6, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

Tired Thursday just does not have the same alliterative charm of Tired Tuesday.  And yet, I am just as tired.  Well, we all know what I do when I’m tired:  I make a blog post anyways!  I’ve been trolling my monster and movie groups for new pictures, but I am having no luck and really want to get this post made.  I wonder if there is anything in my Media Library I haven’t used lately.

I’ve always had a thing for tall guys with long hair, but this is ridiculous!

I forgot to mention that my clever husband Steven got our DVD/Video player working again.  Movies may be in my future!  I have not seen King King with Fay Wray in a long time.  Steven got me the Jack Black version recently and we have never watched it.  Oh, we rented it back when it was first available (wow, was it really so long ago that there were still video rental places?  Why yes, a quick check tells me 2005!  How the time flies!).  That was the only time I saw it.

Is it really better than Dr. X, do you suppose?

I found and downloaded a new picture after all.  Thinking of Fay Wray made me think of Mystery of the Wax Museum, another one of my favorites.  Wray plays an intrepid girl reporter who cracks wise.  I just love an intrepid girl reporter.

Yes, this is how I feel much of the time.

I went to my Media Library and added the first movie picture I saw, because I like to include three pictures.  We don’t have The Blob on DVD or video, so I guess One of These Things Is Not Like the Others (remember, from Sesame Street?)  Then again, that makes this a Non-Sequitur Thursday, doesn’t it?  And over 300 words, which I deem sufficient for a blog post.  Happy Thursday and I hope to see you all on Lame Post Friday.

 

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It’s a Crime to Not Watch Movies

Posted on March 16, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

A distinguished cast of characters? Or a rogues gallery?  What’s bothering me is where is Cecil Kellaway?

I found this picture among my downloads recently and thought it might be a nice way to begin a Non-Sequitur Thursday post.  Full disclosure:  I have another one of my headaches in addition to feeling quite lazy and whiny today.  I suppose you never feel lazy and whiny (you know who you are).  Well, I will bestir myself to type a few words including as few petty complaints as possible.

The above picture, in case you didn’t know, is from Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte, one of my favorite movies.  My current profile picture on Facebook is Bette Davis in that flick:

“Oh, so you want a blog post, do you?”

I am feeling a little movie melancholy these days, because our DVD/VCR abruptly quit on us during the snow storm of March 2.  It happened right after we briefly lost power.  It seems a little odd, though, because we have a power strip, which I thought was also a surge protector.  The television and cable box emerged unscathed.  Phew!  The nice this that when we finally get a new player, we will not have seen all our favorite movies for a while.

One of my other favorites.

We don’t watch as many movies these days anyways.  As regular readers know, I am addicted to true crime television.  And when I really want a movie, I have a few on my DVR, including, if I am not mistaken, a couple of Hammer Horror flicks I recorded last October and haven’t watched yet.

Who could be uncheered by a vampire?

Or I could just read a book.

You were expecting War and Peace?

I see I am closing in on almost 300 words.  300 silly words, but aren’t they usually?  I’m going to watch a true crime show till bedtime.  Maybe a monster movie tomorrow.  Or perhaps I will have a Mohawk Valley adventure I can write a real blog post about.  As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

 

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