What Movie Related Book Have You Read Lately?

[LostHorizons]

Bewitched was inspired by I Married A Witch and Bell, Book and, Candle.

In Bewitched though neither the man or the woman falls in love as the result of magic --- which was the case in I Married A Witch and (I think) Bell, Book and Candle.

In I Married A Witch,Veronica Lake's character was trying to put the love spell on Fredric March's character but ended up hexing herself!

The one major difference with Bewitched is that the witch doesn't lose her powers if she falls in love. Of course, the producers had to make this change since the major plot device of the show is when the witch has to use her powers (but only, when necessary, well,, based on what she tells Darrin).

Both movies end with the witch no longer having powers but feeling being is love is better (which is a very romantic concept).

Did Veronica Lake's character lose her powers in I MARRIED A WITCH?
It's been awhile since I've seen it so I don't remember.
I remember at the end Fredric March and Veronica Lake are a married couple with children and are sitting in their living room with the Veronica Lake character knitting or something like that.
I also don't remember if she ever falls in love with Fredric March's character "for real" or if it's just the effect of the love potion.

Lake’s character gives up her powers but their daughter runs in with a witch hat and broom and runs around making noises and the husband says something to the effect of “not again!” That’s a really cute movie.

[markfp]

I just finished reading Making Movies" by Director Sidney Lumet. Great look at various steps involved in making movies. While he started directing towards the end of the studio system the book is a fascinating look behind the scenes of movie making in the '60s and later from the director who gave us among other films 12 ANGRY MEN, SERPICO, NETWORK, and DOG DAY AFTERNOON.

[HoldenIsHere]

I just finished reading Making Movies" by Director Sidney Lumet. Great look at various steps involved in making movies. While he started directing towards the end of the studio system the book is a fascinating look behind the scenes of movie making in the '60s and later from the director who gave us among other films 12 ANGRY MEN, SERPICO, NETWORK, and DOG DAY AFTERNOON.

Sidney Lumet is one of my favorite movie directors.
I haven't seen all of his movies, but there hasn't been one I have seen that I haven't enjoyed on some level, even if the subject matter was disturbing, as was the case with EQUUS.

My favorite movies of his (ones I have seen multiple times) are:
RUNNING ON EMPTY (probably my #1 favorite Lumet movie)
DOG DAY AFTERNOON
THE FUGITIVE KIND
MURDER ON THR ORIENT EXPRESS
12 ANGRY MEN
DEATHTRAP

Others I have seen and have enjoyed/admired:
NETWORK
THE VERDICT
THE MORNING AFTER
EQUUS
THE WIZ
LAST OF THE MOBILE HOT SHOTS (aka BLOOD KIN)

[HoldenIsHere]

The one major difference with Bewitched is that the witch doesn't lose her powers if she falls in love. Of course, the producers had to make this change since the major plot device of the show is when the witch has to use her powers (but only, when necessary, well,, based on what she tells Darrin).

Both movies end with the witch no longer having powers but feeling being is love is better (which is a very romantic concept).

Did Veronica Lake's character lose her powers in I MARRIED A WITCH?
It's been awhile since I've seen it so I don't remember.
I remember at the end Fredric March and Veronica Lake are a married couple with children and are sitting in their living room with the Veronica Lake character knitting or something like that.
I also don't remember if she ever falls in love with Fredric March's character "for real" or if it's just the effect of the love potion.

Lake’s character gives up her powers but their daughter runs in with a witch hat and broom and runs around making noises and the husband says something to the effect of “not again!” That’s a really cute movie.

Thanks for the information. I didn't remember if Veronica Lake's character gave up her powers, but I did remember the part about the daughter running around with a broom at the end and Veronica Lake and Fredric March looking at each other with "Oh no!" expressions.
I also remember that Lake's character's warlock father was trapped in a liquor bottle that's seen at the end of the movie locked in a shelf over the fireplace.
I MAARRIED A WITCH is a really fun movie that I need to re-watch again.

The part about the daughter with the broom reminded me of the episode of BEWITCHED from the first season called "... And Something Makes Three" where Darrin thinks Samantha is pregnant (it was actually Louise Tate who was expecting) and he imagines what their children would be like. In that episode, Maureen McCormick (best known for her role as Marcia Brady on THE BRADY BUNCH) plays one of the witch daughters named "Little Endora." In Darrin's fantasy, Little Endora turns her brother Maurice into a plant for taking her candy and teasing her.
Maureen McCormick would later appear in the second season episode "Trick or Treat" where Samantha's mother Endora (played by Agnes Moorehead) takes the form of a trick-or-treating little girl on Halloween to put a hex on Darrin.
Samantha is pregnant in that episode and is wearing maternity clothes. She'd give birth to her daughter eleven episodes later in "... And Then There Were Three."

[TikiSoo]

Omigod that picture is so funny! Those expressions!
I didn't appreciate Dick York as a kid, wondered why such a pretty girl would be attracted to him. I know now-he's hilarious!

[HoldenIsHere]

Omigod that picture is so funny! Those expressions!
I didn't appreciate Dick York as a kid, wondered why such a pretty girl would be attracted to him. I know now-he's hilarious!

The "Trick Or Treat" episode of BEWITCHED has become part of our annual Halloween viewing. This year we watched all five of the BEWITCHED Halloween episodes. We enjoy them all.

The sweetie's favorite Darrin reaction occurs in the pre-closing credits tag in the "Trick Or Treat" episode. It was a contender for a lap top PC screen saver:

[TikiSoo]

UGH, I have a book to warn you all from buying: Steve McQueen King Of Cool Tales Of A Lurid Life by Darwin Porter.

MrTiki picked this up at a thrift store thinking I’d like it, oy.
Just the cover-all photos of McQueen shirtless in beefcake poses- tells you what the author is focused on.
I randomly open the book periodically and have never fallen on any of it’s 400+ pages without reading about McQueen's sordid exploits. I can’t believe anyone would’ve wasted their time researching this.
I can’t imagine anyone cares.

[CinemaInternational]

Opposable Thumbs: How Siskel and Ebert Changed Movies Forever by Matt Singer

I realize that the TV reviewing duo of the 70s, 80s, and 90s are not popular here. But I wanted to read the book because I grew up reading Roger Ebert's print reviews and still do read them, even with my disagreeing with him sometimes (most especially a negative review for one of my favorite films, The Fisher King). And, it is also true that I used to get up at 6:30 AM on every Saturday morning at the age of 4, 5, and 6 just to watch the review program and hear the verdicts on the films. (I guess I was an early bloomer when it came to interest in films).

So, really, I was hoping for something really memorable, to live up to my expectations and years of studying reviews. But now, after having a library copy in front of me, it is unfortunately a book that is misconceived. It really plays into the earlyanimosity, bickering and sometimes screaming between the two rivals (before things became a bit better beginning in the late 80s), but it neglects to mention that they ended up reaching the same verdict on a film 60% of the time.... And then, it makes an even bigger mistake by rarely digging into talking about the films they reviewed. The films, the subject they cared most about, walk through on stilts, barely even being mentioned. (Some titles of major disagreements are mentioned briefly such as Full Metal Jacket, Benji the Hunted, Stella, and Men Don't Leave, but that really doesn't cover much). The film releases of the period covered here (1975-January 1999) might not be the equals of the classic era, but they had a vitality about them, a high around them that made them almost as intoxicating to discuss as the earlier films, but the author just usually shrugs at a film being insignificant if it isn't mentioned today (unless it is in the 25-film appendix of "forgotten" two thumbs up films that he touts. I've seen 16 of those, and even diehard film fans probably haven't heard of three of them). The author also flubs two details about some of the rare films mentioned in print: 1990's Stella was not a period remake of Stella Dallas; it was set from 1968 through the late 80s (the child in the film was conceived after a first date watching The Legend of Lylah Clare [!] and is delivered after interrupting a screening of Goodbye Columbus) and when The Piano is mentioned in passing as a film that David Letterman lied through his teeth praising during S&E's guest appearance while he truly hated it, the author says that the one character had a finger chopped up by a jealous admirer, it was actually her spurned mail-order husband. Couldn't the author have double-checked such things?

Otherwise, excepting that, it comes across as a tale of two men with extremely short fuses, although Ebert, in spite of character flaws, comes off looking better in the book than Siskel, who seems to verge on sardonic cruelty a lot if this book is any indication. There is enough fighting recounted that this could turn into the third or fourth season of FX's Feud, and it gets tiring after a while. And then there is that subtitle of the book. I guess the author perceives that the two helped to change the look of film criticism by showing anyone could do it, leading to reviews everywhere and by everyone these days, but even so, that premise seems somewhat undercooked in the actual book.

This isn't a complete botch of a book, but it is a disappointment.

[TikiSoo]

Opposable Thumbs: How Siskel and Ebert Changed Movies Forever by Matt Singer

I realize that the TV reviewing duo of the 70s, 80s, and 90s are not popular here. But I wanted to read the book because I grew up reading Roger Ebert's print reviews and still do read them, even with my disagreeing with him sometimes
(snipped)
This isn't a complete botch of a book, but it is a disappointment.

Interesting, THANK YOU (I think we need a “thanks” icon button so not to always “thank” in a reply)

I liked them but definitely preferred Siskel’s opinion to Ebert’s-who I thought had more pedestrian, childlike taste. But their concept was revolutionary for film criticism and they certainly were popular with the masses. Both were great writers with a real command of language-something most internet/blog/podcast “critics” lack.

(btw, not YOU...I appreciate the eloquent insights posted by this group)

[skimpole]

I finished reading Glenn Kenny's new book on the De Palma Scarface. Not bad, though not as good as his book on Goodfellas, largely because Scarface is not as good a movie.

[jamesjazzguitar]

Have any of you read Ebert's The Great Movies volumes I, II, and III? I got them as a birthday present. Now they focus too much on post studio-era movies for my taste, but those that like Ebert may enjoy them.

[CinemaInternational]

Have any of you read Ebert's The Great Movies volumes I, II, and III? I got them as a birthday present. Now they focus too much on post studio-era movies for my taste, but those that like Ebert may enjoy them.

Yes. I have copies of all three. The first two are more interesting than the third, which doesn't have as many memorable titles. They are good essays, even if I'm not too big on a few of the films that were picked.

[Detective Jim McLeod]

Have any of you read Ebert's The Great Movies volumes I, II, and III? I got them as a birthday present. Now they focus too much on post studio-era movies for my taste, but those that like Ebert may enjoy them.

I own only Volume II, I was at a book signing with Ebert so I have his autograph. At the Q&A, some young female asked him for advice on how to become a film critic. He said, "All I can tell you is how I did it. I was working as a reporter for the newspaper, the film critic retired so I got the job."