Top 5 Dance Numbers You Might Have Missed

A list of dance numbers would be too easy with an Astaire or Kelly or the barn-raising sequence from Seven Brides For Seven Brothers. We’ll save those for another list. These are the deep cuts, hidden gems that make you want to take dance lessons.

1. The Nicholas Brothers - Down Argentine Way (1940): Buried deep in the middle of a perfectly delightful Fox musical is this four-minute magnum opus. No props, no lavish sets, no fancy camera angles, no dizzying, hyper-editing for artificial energy  - just Fayard and Harold Nicholas knocking it out with raw talent. And they could sing too.

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Posted Jan 11th 2009 at 2:12 pm in Top 5, Video | 1422928 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/01/11/top-5-dance-numbers-you-might-have-missed/Top+5+Dance+Numbers+You+Might+Have+Missed2009-01-11+22%3A12%3A20John+Nolte

Top 5: Opening Scenes

Let’s celebrate Big Hollywood’s opening day with opening scenes, the memorable ones that set the tone and sweep us into the story.

1. Touch of Evil (1958) – Not only did director Orson Welles set up most of his story and lead characters in a spectacular, single 3:30 shot, but reportedly he saved his job knocking it off in a single take as nervous producers looked on. And don’t listen to the film Ed Wood (1994). Welles was not forced to give Charlton Heston the lead role. In fact, it was Heston who fought to have Welles hired to direct.

2. Apocalypse Now (1979) – Director Francis Ford Coppola’s vivid nightmare opens on the slow-motion sound of helicopters over a jungle exploding in napalm all set to The Doors’ The End. Familiar, intoxicating, hellish, and something no CGI could ever recreate.

3. Elmer Gantry (1960): Burt Lancaster’s larger-than-life Elmer Gantry holds court in a seedy bar, throwing back the whiskey and preaching the word: Jesus had love in both fists! And what is love? Love is the mornin’ and the evenin’ star. But it’s a head fake – misdirection. You only think you know who this character is. A few minutes later the complexity thickens when, shoeless and exhausted, Gantry enters a black church and breaks into a gospel song few white men would know.

4. The Searchers (1956): John Ford opens the front door of a tranquil pioneer family’s cabin. A big man (John Wayne) on a big horse slowly makes his way toward us, and without a word we’re told nothing will ever be the same for this family again.

5. The Good, The Bad and the Ugly (1966): It might only be a credit sequence, but what a credit sequence. Vibrant colors and the kind of rousing, iconic score, courtesy of Ennio Morricone, no one seems to want to try anymore.

What say you?

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Posted Jan 6th 2009 at 4:17 pm in Top 5 | 9349130 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/01/06/top-5-opening-scenes/Top+5%3A+Opening+Scenes2009-01-06+23%3A17%3A13John+Nolte

Big Hollywood Loves The Arts

Until the very end of his storied career, Jack Lemmon could still be heard whispering, It’s magic time, to himself before the filming of each new scene.  More than our political views, and regardless of which part of the pop culture spectrum most engages us, what connects the Big Hollywood contributor is magic time, for we love the arts. And it’s a love that will manifest itself here in many forms, mainly through a sharing of our respective passions, but also criticism. Because whether it’s for the sake of the culture or simply customer bang-for-the-buck, we believe the arts must improve, but know that’s an impossibility until the discussion includes the ideas and ideals of everyone. 

For my part, I’ll mostly talk movies. You’ll find reviews of the latest releases and any trap I can lay to hook you with an appreciation for the classics, including top-five lists to get you thinking about films and a recommendation for whatever classic gem might be found on Turner Classic Movies or The Fox Movie Channel. 

Hollywood is much more than just “today.” It is a thing which reaches back a full century awaiting discovery and to help get us through as we plead our case here for a little more of that magic time.

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Posted Jan 6th 2009 at 12:58 am in Today's Pick, Top 5 | 826549 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/01/06/big-hollywood-loves-the-arts/Big+Hollywood+Loves+The+Arts2009-01-06+07%3A58%3A24John+Nolte