May 2024 Schedule Posted, Asian Stars featured

[CinemaInternational]

It turns out the May schedule has Breathless, not Godard's first film which TCM has shown fairly frequently, but the 1983 remake starring Richard Gere. It also has Switching Channels, by common consent everybody's least favorite version of The Front Page. Might as well test that view.

It seems as though neither has the strongest reviews, but Breathless '83 does have some avid fans including Quentin Tarantino. Switching Channels on the other hand (which I have seen) is decidedly minor, and gets what spark it does have from Kathleen Turner, who seemed to have a better idea than others on how to perform screwball comedy.

[Hibi]

I remember the Breathless remake being ok. Not great, but not awful (if you didn't compare it to the original) I don't remember that much about it. Think it was set in L.A. I think it did middling box office.

[CinemaInternational]

I remember the Breathless remake being ok. Not great, but not awful (if you didn't compare it to the original) I don't remember that much about it. Think it was based in L.A.

It was. I guess if a famous French film which had starred an American actress came to be remade, it was a nice, snappy idea to make a remake set in America with a French actress to keep the balance the same.

[cmovieviewer]

TCM has posted an article on their website that explains a special theme for May called "The Art of Artifice," which I could try to summarize as how the movies make fictional places and stories seem real:

https://www.tcm.com/articles/Programmin ... f-artifice

The Art of Artifice is the primetime theme on Tuesday evenings in May.

TCM/WBD has seemingly reduced their website almost as much as possible, so it is nice when some information is provided.

[buzhidao]

I'm getting tired of these group SOTMs or "trying to right past wrongs" SOTMs by focusing on a minority SOTM who was never really a star. There are so many stars waiting for a month that have NEVER been chosen and TCM seems to have no interest in showcasing them.

Sessue Hayakawa is an Academy Award nominated actor. He was quite successful during the silent era as well and started his own production company. Just because you aren't familiar with him doesn't mean you need to reduce him to his race, especially when less successful actors have been SOTM before.

https://silentology.wordpress.com/2023/ ... -hayakawa/

[cmovieviewer]

Thank you for the Sessue Hawakawa reference. To go along with the article, here are the films TCM has scheduled this month:

5-6
The Cheat (1915)
The Dragon Painter (1919)
The Tong-Man (1919) (a TCM premiere)

5-13
Tokyo Joe (1949)
The Geisha Boy (1958)
Daughter of the Dragon (1931)

5-20
House of Bamboo (1955)
Green Mansions (1959)
Hell to Eternity (1960)

5-27
Three Came Home (1950)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

I was hoping TCM would post something on their website to provide context, but nothing so far. (There is still some time for them to do so before the films on Monday.) May is also Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, so I assume that is another reason for their choice.

Edit:

TCM has now posted the SOTM article for May:

https://www.tcm.com/articles/Programmin ... e-hayakawa

[Hibi]

I'm getting tired of these group SOTMs or "trying to right past wrongs" SOTMs by focusing on a minority SOTM who was never really a star. There are so many stars waiting for a month that have NEVER been chosen and TCM seems to have no interest in showcasing them.

Sessue Hayakawa is an Academy Award nominated actor. He was quite successful during the silent era as well and started his own production company. Just because you aren't familiar with him doesn't mean you need to reduce him to his race, especially when less successful actors have been SOTM before.

https://silentology.wordpress.com/2023/ ... -hayakawa/

I am well aware of his career and said so in another post if you'd bothered to read it.