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Posted Nov 2nd 2009 at 4:05 am in Open Thread | 25029863 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bighollywood/2009/11/02/open-thread-tuesday-18/Open+Thread+Monday2009-11-02+11%3A05%3A30Big+Hollywood
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63 Comments
Even lugs and galoots appreciated Fred Astaire. He made grace a masculine attribute.
Astaire at 56! Remarkable! "Somethin's Gotta Give" The Balcony Scene with Leslie Caron
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PS-e1BxIjA
Some of the most eloquent praise ever showered on this irreplaceable genius:
http://mlight.typepad.com/moomin_light/2006/03/ba...
"Many years ago, as a small child, I was told one of those old-fashioned fables for children. It was about a dog with a bone in his mouth, who was walking on a log across a stream. The dog looked down into the water and saw his reflection. He thought it was another dog with a bone in his mouth — and it seemed to him that the other dog's bone was bigger than his. He decided that he was going to take the other dog's bone away and opened his mouth to attack.
It's the game all the cool kids are playing!
Scozzafava or Hoffman?
WHO WOULD STALIN PURGE?
http://naturalfake.wordpress.com/2009/11/02/who-w...
Fred Astaire is without a doubt the most graceful dancer I have ever seen. First time I saw him was on the TV show, "It Takes A Thief" playing Robert Wagner's dad.
One more game and the Yanks win their 27th World Series. Go Bombers!!!!
I read Astaire's autobiography, "Steps in Time," last summer and highly recommend it. He starts off with an amazing truth — that he's a nasty person (he must have been very hard to work with, once saying that Ginger [my all-time favorite Republican] was the only dancing partner of his he didn't make cry; he even slapped his sister once when she showed up a little tipsy before a performance, and then gave her $20 in compensation!) — but he also details his rise, including a veritable laundry list of who was who in vaudeville and the early days of motion pictures. It's a pity he insisted in his will that no movie ever be made of his life: it would have been a doozy.
His incredible nervousness about the success of his films is interesting, too: from reading "Steps," you'd never know those musicals he did were groundbreaking artistic events. He was afraid each one of them would be a failure.
An interesting detail mentioned in "Steps" is that, due to the technology of the time, they couldn't pick up the tapping sound while the dance was being filmed, so each and every one of those wonderful dances had to be redone precisely so the tapping sound could be recorded and then synchronized to the film version. Wow.
A lot of people, including famous dancers and musicians, wished they could dance as well as Fred Astaire, but did you ever wonder who Astaire wished he could dance like? This man, whom he also knew and mentions in "Steps":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIQJzcldzAw
Astaire did a tribute to Robinson in "Swing Time": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6cLbk9k8BI
Never mind the blackface — Robinson was at the height of his national popularity when this movie came out; it's a tribute to a well-known star from another star, and there are many and subtle references to black and white in this dance, none of them racist (indeed just six or seven years later, Irving Berlin would run into resistance when he wanted to use blackface in "This Is The Army" — society was changing).
This clip is good also to show how Astaire used his precision and symmetry (and Hermes Pan's camera effects!) to best advantage. Compared to that clip of Robinson's step dance, I can't help but feel that Astaire, not understanding his own gift, wished he had Robinson's raw talent; and he substituted sublime smoothness and mental work for it, never realizing, perhaps, that this was something of his own that, thus far, no other dancer has ever been able to equal, let alone surpass.
All that said, didn't he look like he was having fun in "The Towering Inferno"? Heh: McQueen, Newman … and Fred Astaire. Mrow!!!
Give Thanks With Obama This Thanksgiving
Obama thanks those who helped him win the presidency. He has a lot to be thankful for this year.
Give Thanks With Obama This Thanksgiving
Obama thanks those who helped him win the presidency. He has a lot to be thankful for this year.
NEA: Recommended Reading: Saul Alinsky, The American Organizer
The other NEA!
NEA: Recommended Reading: Saul Alinsky, The American Organizer
The other NEA!
Thank you for your post. When I get the chance I want to read the Autobiography that you mention. It sounds interesting.
We all know that Fred Astaire was the dancer supreme. What is less known (at least today) is the great reputation he has as a singer. Nearly all the songwriting heavyweights of the 20's and 30' inlcuding Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and Harry Warren wrote numbers specifically for Astaire to introduce on stage or in films. His light tenor did not have the firepower of other crooners but he could put over a song with charm, warmth and perfect phrasing. [His rendering of "The Way You Look Tonight" sung to Ginger as she washes her hair is one of the lovliest moments in film musicals.] Fred was an excellent musician who played several instruments (see the "Drum Crazy" number from "Easter Parade) and wrote music in his spare time. All in all the most talented performer ever to appear on the American (or any other) screen.
Thought for the day. Why are liberals always "joking" when they get nailed with their own words?
National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman called Obama "the most powerful writer since Caesar."
Now he said he was only "joking."
Anita Dunn said she often "looks to Mao Tse-tung" but then…oh yeah, that was "just a joke."
Funny thing…. turns out the person voted-in as POTUS is just a joke as well.
Then there's the "healthcare will ONLY be $800 billion" joke made by the Clown Princess of the House. But CBO says it's going to cost a few hundred billion more. That Nanc! What a card, huh???!
Those Liberals; just a bunch of silly lil' comedians!
Who's laughing?
Didn't Berlin comment that Astaire introduced more classics than even Crosby? He was a great crooner.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8337369.stm
Father fights to keep son alive (U.K.).
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/h...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1224486/B...
WTF! Are they REALLY promoting that radical arse wipes works? WTF is wrong with these farkheads.
Check out the sworn affidavit by a Bishop on obamas birth place
http://devvy.net/pdf/nov08/exhibit1.pdf
Here you go Kit:
http://naturalborncitizen.wordpress.com/
How can this be? joking?
we all know libs do NOT have a sense of humor. I know. I married one!!
A major motion picture on the life of Mohammed ( http://bit.ly/3QQ4Ra ):
Producer Barrie Osborne cast Keanu Reeves as the messiah in The Matrix and helped defeat the dark lord Sauron in his record-breaking Lord of the Rings trilogy. Now the Oscar-winning American film-maker is set to embark on his most perilous quest to date: making a big-screen biopic of the prophet Muhammad.
I really wonder how they are going to handle the last of Mohammed's wives?
I saw "The Road" yesterday. Loved everything except the ending. (lack luster)
There was a veiled reference to global warming as the cause of the apocalypse. They couldn't say 'global warming' because it was kind of cold and rained almost all the time. (Warmists need to get their stories straight)
Robert Duvall was so good i didn't know it was him until the end credits. And I still had to think about which role he played. Worth seeing.
DeDe and Doo-Doo. Not much difference, politically. What, and how much (influence or a post), did she get from the Obama gang to openly endorse Candidate Owens. Watch out for ACORN / SEIU 'mischief' at all the polling places on Election Day in all races. I hope Conservatives (and even Republicans) are on guard.
Texas whups California!
Why?
DEATH BY UNION, of course!
http://naturalfake.wordpress.com/2009/11/02/death...
You're Welcome
I am sure that you're right. Berlin and other songwriters appreciated Astaire's pure musicality and the respect he accorded to the song itself. Frank Sinatra's really great version of "The Way You Look Tonight" is a classic but it's classic Sinatra. Astaire's simple and heartfelt version in "Swing Time" is the way that Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields wanted it to be heard. I believe that Sinatra himself said that Astaire was the only guy who really nailed the tune.
The Amazing, Ageless Astaire! He could do it all ,sing dance and act, with ease. One of my favorite Astaire dance segments is from 'The Bandwagon', the 'Shine On Your Shoes' segment with the Shoeshine Arcade Man: Leroy Daniels. Mr. Astaire's TV specials with Barrie Chase were always a 'must see' when I was growing up. He made all his partners, Rogers, Caron,Charisse,Hayworth, Hepburn, Powell and others look so special. And his performences were never robotic, I mean.. the same, regardless of partner or film. Fred Astaire is a glorious example of imagination, hardwork with an emphasis on excellence.
Towering Inferno…best…disaster…movie…ever. Blows Poseidon Adventure out of the water. Heh, heh.
They're here and the craziness will follow.
"Over the past two years, there have been about a dozen attempted or successful honor killings committed in the US"
In what may be the first recorded instance of a Muslim wife attempting to murder her husband for not being pious enough, a Staten Island woman was charged this week with attempted murder, assault and criminal possession of a weapon. Rabia Sarwar, a 37-year-old Muslim, said she did it because her husband, a 41-year-old Pakistani native, enjoyed booze and pork and wanted her to dress in revealing clothes. (She held fabric over her face and threw a shawl over her head before leaving court on Thursday.)
It should be noted that the 'blackface' Astaire used was quite different than the traditional vaudeville kind. I don't think anyone's ever objected to this routine–it still stands as a wonderful tribute. (I believe Gene Kelly also 'darked down' for an uncredited turn in "Moulin Rouge," but I can't find it for the life of me)
The FoxNews site has an article about celebrities who are open about their pot smoking.
Not surprisingly, every single one of them is 1) a liberal, and 2) has frequently said something stupid and bigoted about Republicans or conservatives, often reported on here at Breitbart.
There should be a new anti-drug PA put out; one that shows these celebrities and the stupid, hate-filled garbage they spew without thought or remorse. The message should be: "Has marijuana made YOU into a bigot?"
Deportation for the both of them. Immediately.
Fredrick Austerlitz : Can't sing. Balding. Can dance a little
Reminds me of when I was a kid and I would say or do something really mean and get in trouble for it, after which I would try to wriggle out of it with "I was just kidding." That's exactly what's going on here.
And what do you think the chances are that this story will get major media coverage? Slim to none or less (maybe we'll be told that Christians were somehow responsible; aren't they always?)
Last night's "Mad Men" finally dealt with a certain landmark November, 1963 event. While the season's been pretty middling until recent eps (but still looks amazing), I thought last night's episode was brilliant, interweaving a historical event with the character's ongoing plot lines. They snuck the date in on the viewer–no portentous subtitles or glaring closeups of the morning paper's date. Really good stuff!
Hoffman with a squeaker.
The election is to fill the seat left open when Gillibrand was appointed to the senate to fill Clinton's seat, when she was given the state dept. as a consolation prize to hope and change.
From what I hear its way upstate New York, and the farther you get away from NYC, the more conservative the state becomes. (Larger upstate cities excluded, like Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse.)
Gillibrand, a demcrcat, was closer to what the left would call a moderate republican. She supports the second amendment and strict controls on abortion. It's that kind of a district.
They are modern liberals. This is what they do, this is how they think. Remember, it wasn't until 2006 that democrats had any power in Washington. These people have been lurking in the shadows, just waiting to return to power.
You are now seeing what they've been planning for those 6 years.
They've got bigger problems than that on their hands. True hard core Islamic fundamentalists oppose any likeness of Mohammad. I think its based on either the idea of idol worship, or likenesses steal part of the soul (at least that's what my 9th grade social studies teacher said).
"It is obvious what the fraudulent issue of fascism versus communism accomplishes: it sets up, as opposites, two variants of the same political system; it eliminates the possibility of considering capitalism; it switches the choice of 'Freedom or dictatorship?' into 'Which kind of dictatorship?' — thus establishing dictatorship as an inevitable fact and offering only a choice of rulers. The choice — according to the proponents of that fraud — is: a dictatorship of the rich (fascism) or a dictatorship of the poor (communism). That fraud collapsed in the 1940's, in the aftermath of World War II. It is too obvious, too easily demonstrable that fascism and communism are not two opposites, but two rival gangs fighting over the same territory — that both are variants of statism, based on the collectivist principle that man is the rightless slave of the state — that both are socialistic, in theory, in practice, and in the explicit statements of their leaders — that under both systems, the poor are enslaved and the rich are expropriated in favor of a ruling clique — that fascism is not the product of the political 'right,' but of the 'left' — that the basic issue is not 'rich versus poor,' but man versus the state, or: individual rights versus totalitarian government — which means: capitalism versus socialism." –philosopher and novelist Ayn Rand (1905-1982)
Did anyone catch Nicholas Nickleby last night on TCM. Rather good. I've got a two volume edition of the novel, published by UPENN in 1982, which is a complete, unabridged, facsimile of the original 1838-9 printing (which means you get all the original drawings and all the advertisements; the latter are fascinating).
Q: What's green and dances?
A: Fred Asparagus!
Thank you, thank you. I'm here all week. Try the fish.
Oh, you want more? Okay:
Q: What's green and plays the guitar and sings?
A: Elvis Parsley
Fred Astaire: "Can't act. Can't sing. Can dance a little."
Whatever Fred Astair did, Ginger Rodgers did backward and in high heels.
How wil Osbourne and whomever he gets to direct/star in this unecessary, sure to be uber PC pic deal with the constant barrage of death threats, hate mail and finger-wagging?
Hey- Osbourne should get Trey Parker and Matt Stone to write the screenplay and direct. Then I'd go see it.
I was going to do the Bojangle dance, but I'm a-fred a-stairs….
You all might want to watch this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp0FEMEsNrQ
Update, Rush has a poll he's reading hot off the press. In a 2 way race, Hoffman by 15 points.
Now where did I put that bushel of rotten tomatoes?
/snarc!
So let me see if I have this right: our corrupt, innefective puppet leader in Afghanistan stole the election, but somehow we got him to agree to a runoff…but now his opponent has backed out. So Karzai wins by default?? And we spend how much a year to keep the nitwit alive? Afghanistan is just going to be an unending poop sandwich. With extra poop sauce..
Did you know that Fred Astaire used glue on his shoes when he danced on the ceiling in Royal Wedding… : )
You're not kidding. Back in the '70s there was a picture called "Mohammad, Messenger of God." Mo was never even shown on screen — just reaction shots from the other actors. But a bunch of Muslims took over a theater (in the D.C. area, I think) and held the audience hostage. I'm going from memory here, but I don't think there were any fatalities. But that was then, this is now.
Then afterward the characters all cheated on each others wives and husbands : )
So who's going top kill Kenny this time around?
That's always been the problem with Afghanistan. It's not worth the time, effort or money to run. It doesn't destroy empires, it bankrupts them.
That's why its so wild and unruly. Because anyone with brains moved out years ago leaving the nut jobs behind.
Major hollywood Producer to make Mohammed Biopic!
In a world-wide exclusive:
TOP SEVEN POTENTIAL TITLES FOR NEW MOHAMMED MOVIE
http://naturalfake.wordpress.com/2009/11/02/top-s...
Major hollywood Producer to make Mohammed Biopic! ……is it going to be a Musical or a Comedy??
Excellent analysis of the MSM liberal bias in covering the NY-23 congressional race tomorrow, by Jim Taranto from the Wall Street Journal.
What's interesting to me is that the Kettle(obama)was calling the pot(karzai)black.
To be fair, that happens on pretty much _every_ episode…
Great quote.
BTW -Men-If you know how to dance, you are held in greater estimation in the eyes of the ladies. Minimal skills, decent hygiene and a pleasant personality will take you places you might not have expected mere partner dancing to take you. Take it from me. I know.
My only complaint about Fred Astaire is that he didn't make enough movies. I don't know how he was on the set, but in his movies he was a role model that has not been replaced. With my favorite all time star, Ginger Rogers, he still gives me joy to watch scenes in their movies. They gave a gift of hope, happiness, and joy to a world with people who need cheering up often. We have many like that now; entertainment is not "in."
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