Down Argentine Way

The 1940 musical Down Argentine Way is really only notable for its great Carmen Miranda numbers and for the appearance of the Nicholas Brothers, both of whom are featured in diegetic numbers as the characters visit Argentine night life. There are also non-diegetic numbers in this musical, but I can't say I had any interest in them. The title song "Down Argentine Way" was nominated for an Oscar for reasons I could not explain if I tried.

Charlotte Greenwood is a strange performer. In Down Argentine Way she plays the comic sidekick/Ado Annie part. I can't say I laughed at many of her jokes, but she has some interesting dance moves and a serviceable voice.

The entire enterprise of Down Argentine Way is that trying on of other bodies, especially those deemed ethnic by Hollywood or "America" at large. Grable sings about Argentina and Ameche speaks Spanish-inflected English (if not Argentinian Spanish-inflected English).

In any case, the whole thing is pleasant enough, Don Ameche is handsome and has a great smile (as always), and the Nicholas Brothers and Miranda are excellent.

In Old Arizona Redux

My friend Charlie has set himself a project. He is going to watch all of the Best Actor Oscar winners in order, starting with Emil Jannings in The Last Command up through Colin Firth in The King's Speech. He, of course, has already seen some of these, but I think most of them will be new to him.

I recently watched The Last Command myself, so we chatted about that recently and about the next movie on his list: In Old Arizona starring Warner Baxter. I saw the movie in 2005, so I don't really remember it very well, but I told him that In Old Arizona was one of the first sound films to be shot on location. It was rather a big deal because the technologies were brand new for recording sound in an unconfined space. Anyway, I had remembered that the movie was fine, or make that unmemorable. Today, however, I got a message from Charlie. 

Charlie: Okay... I started watching In Old Arizona the other day. I got about halfway through until I decided to take a nap instead. 

Me: Haha. 
Charlie: It's awful. Even Warner Baxter isn't good. I'm going to finish it, don't get me wrong. 
Me: Just 'cause it is an important movie doesn't mean it's gonna be a good one. 
Charlie: True. But i don't see why he got an Oscar for this! 

Me: Well... I mean, sometimes they want to award people for all sorts of things.
Charlie: I mean, I haven't seen the whole thing yet.
Me: I haven't seen any of his five opponents.
Charlie: I wouldn't want to.
Me: Haha. You really hate this movie! I didn't think it was that bad.
Charlie: I like his chemistry with the girl. It's the most believable.
Me: It's a very '20s movie if I recall correctly. 
Charlie: Oh yes. It's like a musical on film. Bleghhh

Me: And I seem to recall he has weird (i.e. bad) makeup.
Charlie: Yes. The mustache is so stupid.
Me: Does he sing? I can't remember.
Charlie: Yes, but not in a musical way. He sings in the bath tub. 

Me: well, AMPAS does love a song. 
Charlie: AMPAS?

Me: The academy. AMPAS loves a bathtub scene, too. Haha.
Charlie: Ohoh, I read your IM wrong. I thought it said "AMPAS does a love song."
Me: oh hahaha
Charlie: It was hardly a song though. He was just in the bath tub, singing. Anyway, I am not looking forward to finishing it, but I suppose I should just rip it off like a band-aid. At least Emil Jannings was good.
Me: It is short, no?
Charlie: 90 min or so.

Me: Well, you will probably not think much of Disraeli either. Should I warn you? 
Charlie: No, let me just realize my mistake while I'm watching it, knowing I need to watch every movie anyway.

Me: You will get to The Champ and be in love with Wallace Beery. So you have that to look forward to, at least. And A Free Soul is also really really good. If I remember right.
Charlie: They should all be really, really good! Or at least good.
Me: Well, they aren't, I'm sorry to tell you. Haha. There are plenty of Best Picture winners that I hate. No way around it.

Charlie: Why did they do this?? Was it because something about it was just revolutionary to the time? I don't see how actual words coming out of Warner Baxter's mouth can help his cause. If anything, it should hurt it.
Me: Hahah. You are so mad about it. Hahahahaha. This is amazing. Poor Warner Baxter.
Charlie: Haha. I'm glad you're enjoying this... at least someone likes something that's a result of In Old Arizona.
Me: I just spit my coffee out onto my desk. I'm posting this on my blog.
Charlie: Good. Tell the world. No. Warn the world. Warn is a better word. 
Me: You are putting me in an excellent mood.

Charlie: Haha well I'm glad, because this movie didn't put me in a good mood whatsoever. You must enjoy misery.
Me: I am laughing so hard right now. I really didn't remember it as that bad. I feel like a 90-minute movie can't really be as soul-crushing as you are describing it. It's not like it's Alexander or something.
Charlie: I'd tell you to watch it again to refresh your memory, but I REALLY don't think you should. Trust me, it's that bad.

Me: I just looked to see if I wrote a review of it in '05 when I watched it. I didn't. 
Charlie: Wow, shame on you. You should've told everyone how awful it was. Okay, again, I'm jumping ahead. I haven't seen the whole thing. I need to watch the whole thing and I'll tell you if I feel the same way or not. I doubt I'll change my mind though...
Me: Alright. Go watch the rest of this movie.
Charlie: This is only my second movie! I've got so many (bad) movies to go.

Weekend Redux

I don't think I've posted about Junebug, a new film by a guy named Phil Morrison that I saw on Friday night. It's great. I have been seeing really good movies lately and I've been loving it. If you do get a chance to see this very interesting drama about red-state/blue-state value systems I would love to talk about it with you, so drop me a line. It's very challenging and I know I love the film, but I'm not sure how I feel about what it has to say. Anyway...

This weekend after watching In Old Arizona on DVD, I drove out to Cathedral City (near Palm Desert) to stay with my friends Linda & Matt for the evening. We spent the day in the pool (it's so fucking hot out there it's unbelievable) and then we walked down the street to have dinner with their friends Michael & Jim. I had such a nice time, and not just because of the free food. I love visiting my friends and spending quality time with them. Spending a good six or seven hours with people I love is one of the great joys in life. (I had a similarly enjoyable time with Justin, Elizabeth and Mike a couple weeks ago.)

So I drove back from the desert this morning and ran a rehearsal. Two Gentlemen, by all accounts, is going splendidly. I am not sure how I feel about the show itself, and sometimes I think I'm not getting quite as much work done as I want, but I am having a damn good time directing this show. It's a low-stress thing (except for that one hiccough last Sunday) and everyone in the show is my friend. That's as much fun as the work itself: watching people I love perform onstage. I mean, I always want my actors to succeed and to do good work, but I think it is an entirely different thing to direct a cast I care about as much as this one. It's like it was all those years ago when I did Gross Indecency except that I know this group better than I knew those actors, and I have been directing a lot longer.

After rehearsal, I came home and did laundry and watched a charming little film by Mike Binder called The Upside of Anger. I have been meaning to see it for a while because Nathaniel has consistently predicted since February that Joan Allen is going to get an Oscar nomination for the role. I still disagree with him on this, but I think the film is worth seeing. It's a nice rental. The reason I am recommending it, though, is because of Kevin Costner, who I think gives a stellar performance (inexplicably and unpredictably reminding me of my father in a lot of ways). When you see it, I think you'll see why I think Joan Allen is gonna be assed-out come January when the nominations are announced. The character is really really difficult to sympathize with. The writing is great, though, and Mike Binder could end up with a nomination... actually I don't think the film will be looking at any Oscar noms, but the film is a charming piece that plays very well... and I'm telling you, Costner rocks.