Calango Corona: The Alfred Hitchcock Hour- Run For Doom, 1963

This post was originally posted at The New Democrat Plus

I think Run For Doom is Alfred Hitchcock at his best because you see the full-scale of what he wanted to give his audience. A suspense/thriller involving people who were not saints or angels and not devils either, but real people who tend to be somewhere in between. With clever writing and a lot of humor and the female lead being a goddess. A gorgeous sexy women who is also very adorable and yet very clever and witty. Which is Diane Dors at her best, Jayne Mansfield who was also on this series and several other women who appeared on this series.

Run For Doom is about a nightclub singer with a bad history of marriages and relationships where the men in her life do not survive the relationship. And she walks away with a lot of money from the experiences. Diana Dors plays Nikki Carroll the nightclub singer and she’s performing one night and is introduced to a young doctor. Dr. Don Reed played by John Gavin and they naturally hit it off. Reed being a doctor is probably Nikki’s main interest him, but he’s a young doctor who doesn’t have a lot of money yet.

Dr. Reed has an ailing very wealthy father and his relationship with Nikki goes well enough for him to want to marry Nikki. Reed has gotten several warnings about Nikki’s history with men and her dead husbands and is warned not to pursue her. But I guess he’s blinded by his love for a women who doesn’t love him and decided to propose and marry her anyway. Reed’s father dies after finding out that his son is going to marry Nikki and now Reed is a very wealthy man. And naturally Nikki looses personal interest in Reed and looks to get out of the marriage.

Nikki has something that she can blackmail her husband on. Dr. Reed accidentally killed someone on their honeymoon by pushing a man over the cruise boat that they were on. And they didn’t bother to report the incident. Nikki tells the doctor to give her his money or she’ll report the killing to the police. Nikki also has a long-term on and off again boyfriend who wants her back. And knows what she is up to with her husband and decides to step in to get a piece of the action. And they have a physical struggle that leads to him strangling her and thinking he killed her.

To be honest with you, Diana Dors was the main reason why I’m so interested in this show. But it is a very entertaining and at times a pretty funny show as well. With Diana playing a women that is so cunning personally and bright and yet she looks too sweet and cute to hurt, let alone kill anyone. And yet she has a history of dead boyfriends and husbands. But in this marriage she is the one who doesn’t survive the affair.

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Hallmark Channel: The Alfred Hitchcock Hour- Hangover, 1962

Baby Goddess

This post was originally posted at The New Democrat Plus

A chance to see Jayne Mansfield with short hair. Don’t worry, she’s still baby-face adorable and hot with short hair. Tony Randall plays a talented, but alcoholic advertiser who’s drinking has gone too far to the point that it costs him his job, which is a very good job and his wife. And as well as his memory where he doesn’t remember the night before. Where he gets kicked out of a bar, screws up his presentation at work for one of his clients and wife walks out on him. He also forgets about an affair he had with Marion played by Jayne Mansfield.

He actually shows up at work the next morning thinking everything is normal and that nothing incredible happened the night before. He doesn’t even remember being fired and is wondering what Marion is doing at his home the next morning. He shows up to work locked out of his office where they tell him again that he was fired. And essentially spends the rest of the day trying to figure out what happened the day before.

As Alfred Hitchcock said on this show himself, this was about showing people the dangers of alcoholism, which I’m even surprised that term was even around in the early 1960s. And would assume that people who were alcoholics were considered to be mentally weak and not people with disease that needed serious treatment. But alcoholism causes Hadley Purvis played by Tony Randall his job and his wife and he loses his temper and takes it out on Marion.

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YouTube Movies & TV: Rounders (1998) The Fifteenth Anniversary

Source:YouTube Movies & TV– left to right: John Turturo & Matt Damon.

“Academy Award(R) winner Matt Damon (GOOD WILL HUNTING, Best Original Screenplay, 1997; THE BOURNE SUPREMACY) and Edward Norton (THE ITALIAN JOB) star in this story of passion, risk, and the extreme price of friendship! After losing a high-stakes card game, Mike (Damon) gives up gambling for law school and a fresh start with his girlfriend (Gretchen Mol — CRADLE WILL ROCK). But then his best buddy (Norton) gets out of prison and in over his head with a ruthless card shark (John Malkovich — BEING JOHN MALKOVICH). From there, Mike’s strong sense of loyalty — and the lure of the game — draw him back to the tables in a game he cannot afford to lose! Also starring John Turturro (O BROTHER, WHERE ARE THOU?) and Oscar(R) winner Martin Landau (ED WOOD, Best Supporting Actor, 1994). 2011 Miramax”

Source: YouTube Movies & TV

The 15th anniversary of my favorite cards movie Rounders.

If you’re a true poker fan and have been a fan of it for a long time, or most of your life, or you just started getting into like ten years ago, or so when celebrities got into and it became cool, Rounders is a great movie for you.

This movie came out in 1998 about five years before Hollywood made card games cool thing to follow and be part of. When ESPN started putting so many poker tournaments on. (Even though poker is not an athletic sport) Not saying that Rounders is the cause for the celebrity exposure of poker and other card games in America, but it came out right before that fad.

Rounders is about two young borderline professional poker players who the only money they’ve ever made at this point is playing poker.

Mike McDermott (played by Matt Damon) is a recovering compulsive gambler who lost all of his money a few years back. And is now driving a truck trying to pay back his debts and get through law school.

Worm (played by Ed Norton) is a compulsive gambler and an ex-con who just got out of prison, small-time white-collar criminal. Who owes a lot of money to a loan shark (played by Michael Imperioli) and needs to win a lot of that money back quickly. And goes to his long time buddy Mike to help him win it back.

Rounders is a great movie about how very smart, street smart people who read people very well and can tell the real people from the fakers and people trying to be someone else, who have something to hide. Poker is not just about having good cards, but knowing what your opponent has as well by being able to read them so you know when to play and when to hold. Because you know when your opponents cards aren’t as good as yours.

Rounders shows you how good poker players are successful and why the wannabes leave games owing more money that they started with. It is also a movie with a lot of sarcasm and quick-witted humor. Ed Norton and John Malkovich are very funny in it. And it is one of my favorite movies.

You can also see this post on Blogger.

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ABC News: Nightline- Bill Weir: ‘Melrose Place Cast Reunion’

Source:ABC News– The cast of Melrose Place.

Source:The Daily Press

“Amanda, Kimberly and Billy, the stars of the hit ’90s TV drama, discuss their favorite moments.”

From ABC News

I only caught the last couple seasons of Melrose Place, because at first I thought the writing was kinda cheesy. And I’m not a big fan of soap operas to begin with, but I was flipping around one Monday night, in I believe 1997, looking for something to watch before Monday Night Football. Which at that point I watched every Monday night and I caught a little of Melrose Place and I figured what the hell, I would watch a little of this before the game.

And I couldn’t stop laughing, it was a very funny show with people constantly screwing over other people and doing it in such a casual way and the writing of it was actually pretty good.
I’m not a soap opera expert obviously, but I think a good soap opera has all the selfishness and people screwing others with very little fear about the consequences for themselves or the people they are screwing. As well as the crazy lives that only people in Hollywood could live and write into a script.

But a good soap opera has great writing, very funny writing and very funny people in it. Which is why I’m actually a late, but definite fan of General Hospital, because that show essentially has a cast for comedians or comedic actors. Who are also great actors and combine both roles very well. People who improvise and with writers who give them great lines.

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Associated Press: ‘USA Elects Sigourney Weaver to Political Show’

Source:Associated Press– Hollywood Goddess Sigourney Weaver talking about her mini-series Political Animals.

Source:The Daily Press

“Sigourney Weaver and Carla Gugino on the strong women they play as Secretary of State and journalist in USA Network’s new ‘Political Animals’ miniseries.”

From the Associated Press

I saw the premier of the new USA mini-series Political Animals last Sunday night and I liked the show. Much different from NBC’s The West Wing, with a lot more humor. The West Wing was also a funny show, but Political Animals to me looks like a political satire. Not completely based, but definitely inspired by real-life political stories.

The Elaine Barish character (played by the still gorgeous, sexy, and funny Sigourney Weaver) is divorced from the former President of the United States. Her relationship with her ex-husband, looks a hell of a lot like the relationship between Bill and Hillary Clinton, a couple who obviously loves politics and is deeply involved in politics.

This show looks like 2008 all over again with the Barack Obama/Hillary Clinton Democratic presidential race, where of course then Senator Obama not only wins the Democratic nomination but is elected President.

Senator Hillary Clinton who loses the Democratic nomination in 2008, but comes out of it strong and is able to form a good relationship with President Elect Obama in late 2008 and early 2009 and is nominated by President Obama to be his Secretary of State and obviously gets confirmed by the Senate.

I haven’t figured out if Elaine Barish was in Congress at all (House or Senate) but she goes from being a former presidential candidate who loses the nomination to her opponent who is elected President in the same year and then nominates his former opponent in the Democratic race, to be his Secretary of State. This looks like the third installment of the Bill and Hillary Show, the real-life Bill and Hillary Show, the Primary Colors version of the Bill and Hillary Show.

The latest installment of the Bill and Hillary Show with Hillary as Secretary of State and we get to see how Bill and Hillary interact with each other as Secretary of State. But instead of Bill making Hillary’s career all about him, plays more of a counselor to Hillary and tries to steer her on the right course.

There are some added new twists to the Bill and Hillary Show. With how they interact with their kids and struggles that their kids are going through as well, as well as Hillary’s relationship with the media. This looks like a very funny and entertaining show, with the new Bill Clinton doing an excellent job of playing a horny bastard who not only cheats on his wife, but mistress’s as well, similar to Bill, but the new Bill is not as Yankee or yuppie as Bill. More of a redneck, but someone who is also highly intelligent and knows and how to play the game of politics and someone who has been very successful at it.

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