gone with the wind Tagged Articles at Cinematical

My inbox, Facebook, and Twitter page were semi-flooded with messages of support and condolence when this A L I E N remake gossip hit the wires, and that's because (as anyone in the universe can tell you), it's my #1 favorite film of all time. Mainly because it's just about the perfect horror film, but also because it's a movie that helped plant me on the road of movie freakdom, and for that I'm eternally grateful. Plus it has Sigourney Weaver in her underwear.

So if a film as undeniably flawless as A L I E N can be considered for a remake, it begs the question: What movie won't they remake? Keep in mind that Psycho, Halloween, The Manchurian Candidate, and King Kong have already earned remakes, which tells me that all bets are off. Not even Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, or The Wizard of Oz are safe. Therefore, clearly, remakes are a force of pure evil.

Then again, there IS the old Shakespeare argument, the one that says "Hey, the Bard's plays have been remade over and over for centuries, and surely you wouldn't call Casablanca superior to King Lear, would you?" To which I would respond, "Good point. And no, Casablanca is definitely not superior to King Lear. But A L I E N certainly is."

• Evelyn Keyes (1916-2008) - Actress - Played Scarlett O'Hara's little sister, Suellen, in Gone With the Wind. She also co-starred in The Seven Year Itch, The Jolson Story, in which she also sings, Mrs. Mike, Here Comes Mr. Jordan, Union Pacific, Before I Hang, A Thousand and One Nights, The Prowler, Johnny O'Clock, Enchantment and A Return to Salem's Lot and made a cameo appearance in the 1956 version of Around the World in Eighty Days, produced by her then-boyfriend Michael Todd. Her husbands included Artie Shaw, John Huston and Charles Vidor, who directed her in The Desperadoes, The Lady in Question and Ladies in Retirement. She died of uterine cancer July 4, in Montecito, California. (Variety)

• Henry Beckman (1921-2008) - Actor - Appears in The Brood, Niagara, The Wrong Man, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Marnie, Sweet Charity, Silver Streak, I Love You to Death, Death Hunt and Kiss Me, Stupid. He died June 17 in Barcelona. (Variety)
• James "Jimbo" Breen (1955-2008) - Greensman, Carpenter, Actor - Worked on M. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense, Signs, Unbreakable and The Village, appears in Lady in the Water and can be heard in The Happening. He also worked on Beloved, In Her Shoes, Two Bits and Annapolis. He died of cancer July 3, in Pennsylvania. (Philly.com)

There are a few classic films that I simply refused to rent while growing up, specifically for the reason that I knew I should see them for the first time on a big screen. Of these, I managed to see both 2001: A Space Odyssey and Blade Runner in a theater, while others, such as Lawrence of Arabia and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, were on television too often to ignore them on the small screen first. One film that I'm still dying to see in a theater is Terrence Malick's Badlands. A few years ago I actually went to a special screening of the film in Connecticut, but it was disappointingly (understatement) projected from a DVD copy. Then two months ago it played one show at NYC's IFC Center, but I had to miss it for another engagement.

Last week Entertainment Weekly presented an article/photo gallery titled "23 Movies You'd Like to See on the Big Screen," which lists these kinds of films (there's actually many more than 23 cited), most of which should ONLY be seen on the big screen, as they were originally meant to be. The list includes obvious epic choices like 2001, Lawrence of Arabia, Gone With the Wind, The Greatest Show on Earth and The Ten Commandments, as well as other classics, like Malick's Days of Heaven, Casablanca, Once Upon a Time in the West, Star Wars, High Society, Halloween, Singin' in the Rain, To Kill a Mockingbird, Psycho, Oklahoma!, The Music Man, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Searchers, Stagecoach and The French Connection.

What makes a film romantic? Is it the setting, the dialogue, the actors, the sex? And when your snuggling up next to your significant other this Valentine's Day, which films will you prefer to slide into the DVD player? Moviefone has assembled the definitive list -- the top 25 romance films of all time -- and now it's up to you to decide what they got right, what they got wrong and what they didn't get at all. Of course, Casablanca tops off the list at number one (is there a list in which Casablanca is not featured in the numero uno spot?), but following closely behind are Titanic (#2), Wuthering Heights (#3), An Affair to Remember (#4) and Gone with the Wind (#5). Obviously, when we're talking romance flicks, they don't make them like they used to.

When it comes to films made within the past few years, we don't find one until Brokeback Mountain shows up at number 12, followed by Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind at number 15, and last year's Atonement at 18. Personally, I have a few issues with placement -- not so much with the films themselves -- like why Sleepless in Seattle is at 25 when it should've been higher. Films that didn't make the cut? Surprisingly, not many romantic comedies made the list. Even though they rely more on humor, some of us enjoy a little laughter with our cheesy romance. That being said, why not throw When Harry Met Sally a bone? Or even last year's Knocked Up? Either way, let us know what you think about the list below -- which films belong in different spots, which don't belong on the list at all and which are your favorites?

I haven't picked up an issue of Premiere Magazine in quite some time, but a friend of mine recently recommended I visit the publication's newly refurbished website. So I did. Pretty solid content across the board, I'm happy to opine -- but one particular article caught my eye, tickled my fancy, and squatted in my brain long enough to recommend it here.

Basically, a bunch of the Premiere writers were asked to come up with their picks for Most Overrated Film of All Time -- and while most of the sacred cows slaughtered here are pretty darn obvious ones, the opinions and explanations as to why each film was chosen, well, I thought they were fairly compelling. Frankly, I'm thrilled to see someone call Field of Dreams "just too on the nose," because it absolutely is.

Fully prepared for the onslaught of How Dare YE!! hate mail, the Premiere posse has wisely decided to add an equally pithy rebuttal in defense of each movie. So when someone has the audacity to impugn The Wizard of Oz, we sane people have a defender who'll say Dude, Please. I've placed the 20 titles under the jump, just to help spark discussion, but do not let that stop you from reading through the whole article. It might make you think a little differently about some of those Unquestioned Classics that everyone's afraid to admit they don't really dig. (Yep, 2001: A Space Odyssey is overrated; I said it and I'm proud.)

Today is actress Evelyn Keyes' birthday; her year of birth seems to be disputed (1916 or 1919), but so far as I can tell, she's still with us. Keyes was born in Port Arthur, Texas, which some of you might recognize as also being the birthplace of Janis Joplin. Keyes arrived in Hollywood in the 1930s and acted in films and on TV until well into the late 1980s. She was sometimes a leading lady in 1940s films like Here Comes Mr. Jordan, The Jolson Story, and Mrs. Mike, and later played Tom Ewell's wife in The Seven Year Itch. She's been married four times, most notably to director John Huston and bandleader Artie Shaw. However, Keyes is most remembered for her small role as Suellen O'Hara, Scarlett's pill of a sister in Gone with the Wind. In fact, Keyes' autobiography, written in the 1970s, is titled Scarlett O'Hara's Younger Sister.

I'm not the fan of Gone with the Wind that I was in high school. Over the years, the racial stereotyping has started to bother me more, and I'm less convinced by Clark Gable's performance as Rhett Butler. Also, it is difficult to love a four-hour film. However, I still love reading about the making of Gone with the Wind -- the huge and lavish production, David O. Selznick's baby, has generated many fascinating stories. Looking at my bookshelf, I realize I own at least four books related to the making of the movie (including the above-mentioned Keyes bio). I also love the costumes by Walter Plunkett, especially Scarlett's dresses. The Harry Ransom Center in Austin has Selznick's archives and a lot of other material from the movie, including faithful reproductions of Scarlett's most gorgeous dresses. Take a look at the HRC online exhibition of Gone with the Wind, especially the Costumes and Makeup section. You can see pictures of all the dresses, the "makeup stills" taken of most of the cast members, including Keyes. Every photo or description is accompanied by memos from Selznick about what he wanted (or didn't like) -- he was a notorious memo writer. Many of the memos are collected in a book called Memo from David O. Selznick ... yes, I own that one too.

Two-time Oscar-winner Olivia de Havilland just turned 90 years old. She's well-known as the only surviving star (though not actor) of Gone With the Wind, and got a standing ovation for attending the 75th Academy Awards a few years ago -- but she's been in retirement since 1988. Now she's considering a comeback role as Brooke Astor, the 104-year-old philanthropist and widow of Vincent Astor who now suffers from Alzheimer's and anemia, and is currently the subject of a legal battle between her son and her grandson regarding her welfare.

According to The Daily Express, a script has been written and Meryl Streep is interested in the role of Astor's daughter, Charlene. Now the production is just waiting on de Havilland. If she returns to the screen, it will be the first film role since 1979's The Fifth Musketeer (she did some TV work afterward and even won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Emmy). Because the Oscars are obsessed with legends, I'm thinking that the role could get her another nod if she decides to do it.

Firstshowing.net has Part One of a two-part guest post by Jason Kaleko on whether we are living in the Age of the Sequel, and if originality in Hollywood is dead as a doornail. Jason cites the AFI 100 and notes that only one film in the entire list is a sequel. True enough, but true also that a lot of them were based on existing source material -- they were not completely original ideas. Just looking at the Top Ten of that list: Casablanca was based off a play, Everybody Comes to Rick's; The Godfather was an adaptation of Mario Puzo's novel; Lawrence of Arabia was based off the writings of T.E. Lawrence, a British officer who spent time in Arabia from 1915-1918; and Gone With the Wind, Wizard of Oz, The Graduate, Schindler's List were all book adaptations. The only truly original works in the Top Ten are Citizen Kane, On the Waterfront, and Singin' in the Rain -- which is not to say that the other films aren't good. It's certainly as much of an art form to adapt an exisiting work as it is to write from scratch.

I don't think there was really any more originality in Hollywood back in the "good old days" than there is now. Studios bought the rights to books, they hired screenwriters (or used underpaid screenwriting staff) to pen adaptations, they made the film. Perhaps it just seems more glaringly bad at the moment because of Hollywood's current love affair with comic-book adaptations and sequels of comic-book adaptations; that trend too, as all Hollywood trends must, will eventually have its end. In the meantime, there's still plenty of original film being made, even it most of it comes out of the indie world. We'll have to check back with First Showing next weeked to see what Jason has to say in Part Two; it feels like he's segueing into talking about indies.

In the meantime, though, what do you film fans and fanatics out there think? Is originality really dead in Hollywood? Or has the death of originality been greatly over-exaggerated?

Watching The Break-Up take in a respectable $38.1 million this past weekend -- thus proving that audiences love to watch a solid relationship self-destruct right before their eyes -- I found myself pondering the ingredients that make up the perfect movie couple.

Like in real-life relationships, on-screen chemistry is probably the most important ingredient in a successful movie couple. In just an hour and a half, you're expected to feel for these people, connect with them and relate to their situation. While it's always great to see a happy ending, some of the more memorable movie couples parted ways at the end. Rick and Ilsa did so in Casablanca. Rhett Butler frankly didn't give a damn about Scarlett O'Hara, and told her so in Gone With the Wind. Alvy Singer and Annie Hall couldn't find their way to a happy relationship if they were provided a road map and directions. These couples stick with us because they were real -- another important ingredient. If, at any point throughout a film, you are able to see yourself inside one of the characters, it immediately draws an emotional side of you in. A side that, ultimately, finds you examining your own relationship.

So, I ask you: In your opinion, what ingredients are needed for the perfect movie couple? Oh, and how about telling us your favorites of all time.