Watching Movies By Myself at the Halfway House 7-12-2021

The Prizefighter and the Lady: So that Jethro's dad - Max Baer, himself - the antagonist of The Cinderella Man, where he was made out to be a jerk but here he carries himself well. Myrna Loy looks too lovely to contemplate her in Cheaper By the Dozen. Thank you, Turner Classic Movies.

The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox: Goldie Hawn on the verge of her run as a big star. I had never seen this movie after hearing about it for years I was not impressed. I recall an interview where Burt Reynolds said he would have liked to have the George Segal role and I think he would have done a better job. That is if Burt didn't smile too much.

I kept flipping between the two of them; not being in the mood to watch either. 

We set up Tubi last night. We watched Keanu Reeves in Henry's Crime.  Maybe I'm getting slap happy in the halfway house but I liked the movie and Reeves' performance as a man finding himself was convincing.  Not a blockbuster, not in the least splashy, but plays to Reeves' talents as much as the John Wick movies.

TCM showed Clark Gable and Marion Davies in Cain and Mabel. I kept switching off to the news - it  was 7 AM, after all. Gable was a boxer and Davies a showgirl. They hate one another and then they fall in love. This was the first time I had seen Marion Davies. She was cute enough, talented enough but not enough to spark any interest in me. Three thoughts came to me from watching her: 

1. This was William Randolph Hearst's mistress;
2. I can understand why they cast Amanda Seyfried in Mank; and 
3. I finally appreciate Jean Harlow

On Fubi I watched Oklahoma Crude. This one I need to look up - I kind of recall it back when I was a kid (the stars were George C. Scott and Faye Dunaway, after all). I don't think it was a success. Like Bite the Bullet, this was a Western set after the closing of the frontier. No sex, not even romance, but there is death in the pursuit of oil that turns out not to be there. An ambiguous ending that could have be seen as pointless or absurd. The ending reminds me of Harper (also lately seen on TCM). Could be this is a movie that would play better now unless it drew the ire of our cancel culture.

I tried watching a Parker Posey/Jeff Goldblum, Fay Grim. The writer/director kept the camera aslant and that was not enough for me find any humor in the comedy. Goldblum and Parker were so arch they could have gotten jobs with McDonald's.

I tried What Happened to Jack Kerouac. No idea how old it was but the sound kept going from documentary low volume mumble to advertising jingle loud, I'm not sure this added to my knowledge of Kerouac since I am not sure what I heard other than spontaneous writing and drunkenness and San Francisco.

Then I tried What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael. This I could hear clearly. This was filled with images and talk and talk that was vigorous, balanced, and fun. This has been the best thing, so far.

I gave Parker Posey another go with Broken English. Parker is intelligent and good-looking and talented actress. The movie is a quiet thing about a woman in her 30s , still single, trying to find her place in the world after college and a degree in art who is now working customer service in a hotel. I find I do not like her a doormat character. She was the best thing in Netflix's Lost in Space. There she cut loose as a psychopathic Dr. Smith; there she was subversive. In Henry Grim, she was passive and not at all subversive - at least she was not before I pulled the plug. This was pleasant in a wistful way. Besides, the director, Zoe R. Cassavetes gave her mom, Gena Rowlands, a part and anything with Gena Rowlands I think worth watching.

I'd rather be working but what I get is movies.

sch