Favorite Stanwyck Films

broderic on July 16, 2007

If you haven’t seen any of Miss Stanwyck’s films, I again ask you to check out TCM who are celebrating her birthday today with 24 hours of her films. But if you’re like me stuck at work, here’s my list of 5 favorite Barbara Stanwyck films. I liked these the most.

The Lady Eve. I find this to be her best. She’s alluring and conniving, sexy and devious, witty and charming. She received an Academy nomination the same year for Ball of Fire, but it should’ve been for this role.

Meet John Doe. A lesser Frank Capra film, but still it had Miss Stanwyck. Even with the corn that Capra dishes, Stanwyck brings the joy out. This film was released in the same year as The Lady Eve and Ball of Fire (1941). It may not be as superb as those two, it sure has a moving performance from her.

Forty Guns. Miss Stanwyck in Samuel Fuller film. ‘Nuff said. The song written about her character nails it, “She’s a high riding woman with a whip.”

Sorry, Wrong Number. Barbara as a helpless victim? She’s not convincing, but she did garner her last Academy nomination for this role. Charged with playing a dubious hypochondriac she does show in the flashbacks why she’s such a dangerous woman.

Walk on the Wildside. One of her last roles on the big screen. She’s a New Orleans madam with a wicked crush on one of her girls. She’s villainous reminding us of her femme fatale role as Phyllis Diethrichson, and also reminding us why she’s wickedly bad.

Honorable mentions: Ball of Fire. Double Indemnity. Stella Dallas. Baby Face.

Celebrate Barbara Stanwyck’s Centenary

broderic on July 15, 2007

Tomorrow would’ve been Barbara Stanwyck’s 100th birthday. TCM is celebrating it by showing a whole day of her movies. I implore you, if you have the time catch a few of these. If you don’t, get your Tivo started. I certainly am.

Just check out the films, you’ll find something you like:

6:00 AM Night Nurse (1931)
A nurse discovers that the children she’s caring for are murder targets. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Ben Lyon, Clark Gable. Dir: William A. Wellman. BW-72 mins, TV-G
7:15 AM Lost Lady, A (1934)
A bitter woman who thinks she’ll never love again marries, only to fall for a brash young man. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Frank Morgan, Ricardo Cortez. Dir: Alfred E. Green, Phil Rosen. BW-61 mins, TV-G
8:30 AM Ladies They Talk About (1933)
A lady bank robber becomes the cell block boss after she’s sent to prison. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Lyle Talbot, Preston Foster. Dir: Howard Bretherton, William Keighley. BW-69 mins, TV-G
9:45 AM Breakfast For Two (1937)
A Texas heiress competes with a gold digger for the love of a playboy. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Herbert Marshall, Glenda Farrell. Dir: Alfred Santell. BW-68 mins, TV-G
11:00 AM Meet John Doe (1941)
A reporter’s fraudulent story turns a tramp into a national hero and makes him a pawn of big business. Cast: Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward Arnold. Dir: Frank Capra. BW-122 mins, TV-G, CC, DVS
1:15 PM Christmas In Connecticut (1945)
A homemaking specialist who can’t boil water is forced to provide a family holiday for a war hero. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet. Dir: Peter Godfrey. BW-102 mins, TV-G, CC
3:15 PM Two Mrs. Carrolls, The (1947)
A woman slowly discovers that her artist husband is a deranged killer. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Barbara Stanwyck, Alexis Smith. Dir: Peter Godfrey. BW-94 mins, TV-G, CC
5:00 PM Jeopardy (1953)
A woman desperately seeks help to prevent her trapped husband from drowning. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Barry Sullivan, Ralph Meeker. Dir: John Sturges. BW-69 mins, TV-G, CC
6:15 PM These Wilder Years (1956)
A wealthy businessman sets out to find his long-lost illegitimate son. Cast: James Cagney, Barbara Stanwyck, Walter Pidgeon. Dir: Roy Rowland. BW-91 mins, TV-PG, CC
8:00 PM Baby Face (1933)
A beautiful schemer sleeps her way to the top of a banking empire. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, John Wayne. Dir: Alfred E. Green. BW-76 mins, TV-PG, CC
9:30 PM Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire (1991)
Barbara Stanwyck’s multi-faceted career reveals uncanny reflections of her off-screen life. Cast: Sally Field, Barbara Stanwyck, Gary Cooper. Dir: Richard Schickel. C-46 mins, TV-G
10:30 PM Annie Oakley (1935)
The famed female sharpshooter learns that you can’t get a man with a gun when she falls for a rival marksman. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Preston Foster, Melvyn Douglas. Dir: George Stevens. BW-90 mins, TV-G, CC
12:15 AM Clash By Night (1952)
An embittered woman seeks escape in marriage, only to fall for her husband’s best friend. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan, Marilyn Monroe. Dir: Fritz Lang. BW-105 mins, TV-PG, CC, DVS
2:15 AM Executive Suite (1954)
When a business magnate dies, his board of directors fights over who should run the company. Cast: William Holden, June Allyson, Barbara Stanwyck. Dir: Robert Wise. BW-105 mins, TV-PG, CC, DVS
4:15 AM Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)
A neurotic invalid accidentally overhears a phone conversation plotting her own murder. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Burt Lancaster, Wendell Corey. Dir: Anatole Litvak. BW-89 mins, TV-PG, CC

Also, if you’re in LA you should check out the Academy’s display of her posters and lobby cards just because you can.

Le Tour 2007: Vino!?

broderic on July 13, 2007

Alexandre Vinokourov of Team Astana was a pre-race favorite. He’d finished 3rd in the 2003 Tour and is always fun to watch race because of his attacking style. I am in his camp and always cheer him on because he seems so wreckless.

Today he wrecked.

A nasty one. If you see the pictures, he’s pedaling with his ass hanging out of his torn shorts. Yet, to salvage his tour he kept on going minimizing the damage done. He finished 1 minute 20 from the winners. Overall he sits closer to the bottom at 2 minutes 10 to the leaders. Not far off since the race is still in the flats, but the Alps are coming this weekend. Can he do it? Can he rip off a crazy move? I am rooting for him. Allez vino.

This fifth stage was an awkward one with plenty of up and down hills, a very difficult stage. Not the mountains, but it played out like one. Le tour is cruel.

Capitol Swell asked where the podium girls are. He should check out the pictures posted at the end of the stages on the official site. They’ve changed their style and the podium shots are starting to include the girls. Or he can check out a flickr photo pool.

On The Road: 9.06 miles

broderic on July 13, 2007

Don't ride this stoned!
This year I’ve been cycling since May. My last post mentions that I’ve done about 400 miles. The last couple of times have been epic 20 milers for an hour and a half.

Today was just 9 miles. Easy right?

Look at this route’s profile. Notice those V shaped valleys. Those I climbed! If you know Caves Road, then you know that hill. I calculate it at a 12% grade. I have a map of cycling routes in Baltimore County which shows the grades of different routes. It’s marked as a red above 8%! It’s short and steep. It sucked, and I was sucking wind several yards from the top. There was also a dead cat on the road with flies buzzing around him. That sucked too.

I spent the next mile saving for the climb up Garrison Forrest. That was hell too. I was passed by two other cyclists who seemed to sprint up it. I stopped at the top to get my wind back.

For the rest of the ride, I was tired. Perhaps a rest would’ve had me going again, but at the time, I just wanted to sit down and die. The rest of the route was no cake walk either. If I read my Topo correctly, this 9.06 mile ride had 650 feet of climbing. I don’t think that’s true but it sure as hell feels it. I’m gonna need a ride with 1500 feet of elevation change or start a hill climbing workout!

With this ride, I’m officially past 400 miles, but barely. I need to step it up in order to get to 500 (450 is too easy as of now).

Le Tour 2007: Yellow Jersey Wins a Stage

broderic on July 11, 2007

Ever since Miguel Indurain won his 5 tours in the early 90s, the way to win was a big show at the time trials but keep contact in the mountains. This continued with Lance Armstrong with his seven wins, but adding kicking ass in the mountains instead of staying with the pack. It’s been a while for the yellow jersey to go out and win a stage that should’ve been for the sprinters.

Fabian Cancellara goes into time trial mode in the final kilometer to take out the breakaway and beat the sprinters to the line to take the stage for the yellow jersey. It was awesome.

Except for the breakaway. Two of the riders were away since the 6km mark. The stage was the longest in the Tour 236kms. That a long way to lose it in the final kilometer. They spent that final kilometer jockeying for position. Did they not care about the peleton closing on them? Perhaps. Too much playing not enough doing. That’s unfortunate.

What a strange stage this one was. The cyclists took six hours to finish the stage. My Tivo didn’t even record it, because the finish occurred past the designated time. They lollygagged for quite sometime letting the breakaway go. Yet, they kicked it into to gear to make the stage exciting in the end. Except for the breakaway.

On the Road. iPhone in a bag

broderic on July 11, 2007

When I had that lame ass motorola phone, it was no problem to keep it in the back of my jersey. With an iPhone, I get scared that it will pop out of my jersey on a bump and that’s the end of it. So lately, I’ve been packing my light jacket to act as a buffer for the iPhone so that it sits tight in the jersey. I’m little heavier, but a little saner. I also have been packing it in a sandwich bag to keep it from getting too moist. It’s strange.

Anyway, I’m about at 400 miles so far this year. I am aiming for 450 by the end of July, which should be easy if I keep up my pace. If I can get past 500 this month, I’ll be really happy.

I need to also think about getting a longer stem. My position on the bike feels too upright. It needs to be stretched out. I’m going to go with a 120cm stem. There’s a 100 cm stem on there now I think. It would also be good to lower the stem as well. That means cutting some of the fork down. It’s gotta be done soon so that I get use to the position.

It’s been a fun year so far.

Le Tour 2007: Day one

broderic on July 8, 2007

I’m blogging while watching the first stage of Le Tour de France. My legs are somewhat stiff from riding 30 miles yesterday. It was an adventure!

Anyway, vive Le Tour!

UPDATE: Robbie McEwan the ozzie rocket comes from back of the pack to take the sprint. Can anyone stop this guy? Watching the replay and he comes flying through leaving Tom Boonen and Thor Hushovd bobbing in his wake. Damn! That guys a fast finisher!

UPDATE 2: Even better than the sport are the podium girls. I love ’em. Girls in white and navy for the winner of the stage. Girls in yellow for the tour leader. Girls in green for the points leader. Girls in polkadot dresses for the King of the Mountain. Girls rock!

Ratatouille

broderic on July 8, 2007

At yesterday’s party, people wondered why I wasn’t blogging more since I got my iPhone. It’s awesomeness not withstanding, I don’t like to do it from the smallish keyoard. But to get back on the daily blogging track, I guess I should post my review of Ratatouille, which is only two weeks late.

At the end of the movie, I turned to The Seed and said that Pixar has a problem. Now it’s not the quality of the movie, but a marketing one. It’s a very good movie, but to market it as a fun ride for kids is selling it short.

Ratatouille centers around Remy the rat that has an uncanny sense of smell which leads him to wanting to cook. He makes it to Paris and the kitchen of Gusteau’s a former 5 star restaurant trying to get its reputation back. With the help of the dishwasher, Remy, brings back the gusto to Gusteau’s.

It’s an amazingly solid story with ebbs and flows that arise naturally. Nothing seems to have been added haphazardly. Like a good dish! It’s very mature story. One that would be hard to keep the young kids in line to watch. Maybe the animation will hold their interest, but after awhile the themes of the movie will go over the young one’s head and he’ll want to go eat some fried chicken fingers.

One thing about watching rats in the kitchen, it makes you want to puke. The advances in CG turned some of the shots of the rat warren rather disconcerting. It’s a cartoon but it looks so real. Gross.

In the end, this is another Pixar homerun. It’s made Brad Bird a very famous director who imbues stories with humanity. It’s rumored that he’s going to direct a live action film. It’s too bad, because he’s shown that the animated film can bring about some good storytelling.

4 of 5 stars.