Movie-A-Day #227: Woodstock (1970).
The Woodstock Music and Arts Festival – 3 Days of Peace, Love and Music – began on this day in 1969. It’s easy to over-mythologize it, but it does seem like it was a pretty cool event. At least, Michael Wadleigh’s “Woodstock” makes it seem so.
Movie-A-Day #226: The Jerk (1979).
Happy 66th birthday to one of the most brilliantly funny comedians today, Steve Martin. His first starring role, “The Jerk,” is still my favorite. Not that it’s been all downhill for him since then. But, uh… yeah. Never mind. Just go watch “The Jerk” again.
Movie-A-Day #225: Vertigo (1958).
Today marks the birthday of the master himself, Alfred Hitchcock. If you haven’t watched “Vertigo” in a while, you should see it again because it’s easy to forget just how deeply twisted that movie is. And while you’re at it, follow that with a marathon of “North by Northwest,” “Notorious,” “Rebecca,” “Rope” and “Psycho.”
Movie-A-Day #224: Cleopatra (1912).
Cleopatra, the Queen of the Nile (and possibly the Queen of Denial, we’ll never know) let the asp do its dirty work and died on this day in 30 B.C.E. She’s been portrayed on film a lot, and the Liz Taylor version is especially popular, but let’s go off the beaten path a little bit and recommend Helen Gardner’s 1912 version instead. It makes for fascinating viewing.
Movie-A-Day #223: War of the Colossal Beast (1958).
Happy 88th birthday to a Southern California legend and institution,
Stan Chambers. He was on the region’s groundbreaking television reporters, first joining the pioneering local station KTLA in 1947 and becoming a fixture there until his retirement one year ago today. (That’s 63 years on the job, folks.) He covered just about every major story in the Los Angeles area during that time, along with countless stories about the ordinary everyday folks who live here. He’s also a very nice man who is still generous with his time and who always has plenty of fun stories to tell. And for all his time in the entertainment capital of the world, he has mostly avoided going Hollywood, appearing in only a couple of films (far fewer than many other local newscasters who have far less service time). His first movie appearance – and for decades his only one – was as himself in “War of the Colossal Beast,” reporting on the giant Glen Manning’s L.A. rampage for KTLA.
Desuko Movie Spot. 