Saturday, February 6, 2010

Manhattan Melodrama (1934)

Guess who plays the young Clark Gable? Mickey Rooney OMG!

This was the last movie that John Dillinger saw before being shot to death. I think that's what it's most famous for, even though it won an Oscar and contains the melody of "Blue Moon." (In the movie, the song is called "The Bad in Every Man." Lorenz Hart wrote new lyrics for it to make it more commercially appealing.)

William Powell and Clark Gable are compelling as always. This movie has lots of speechifying, but I didn't mind. And Myrna Loy is spectacular. She manages to give a convincing speech about love and honor and marriage and babies while wearing a gold lamé evening gown with a fur collar so gigantic that practically swallows her head. (Did the evening gown get its own series of monster movies? It should have. The Dress of Danger! Gore Gown for a Goddess!)

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Friday, February 5, 2010

My Weakness Is Strength

. . . is the new Patton Oswalt concert special/movie thing with DVD extras. If you like his stuff, go rent it right now. It's short, so I won't spoil any of the jokes for you.

Some people may enjoy the extras more than the film, as those include guest appearances by Jon Hamm, Samm Levine, oodles of puppets, and Sky Cake.

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