More Sunshine, Friends

Funny things happen in the blogging world, especially when it comes to blogger awards and tags. Right after I finished my Sunshine Award post that Gill nominated me for, Ari from the Classic Movie Muse nominated me for another Sunshine Award. And Rachel from Hamlette’s Soliloquy nominated me for one as well. Wow! Thank you, Ari and Rachel!

First things first, though. As is usual with these award posts, I have to start off by displaying…

The Rules

• Display the award’s official logo somewhere on your blog.
• Thank the person who nominated you.
• Provide a link to your nominator’s blog.
• Answer your nominator’s questions.
• Nominate up to 11 bloggers.
• Ask your nominees 11 questions.
• Notify your nominees by commenting on at least one of their blog posts.

Next, of course, we have…

The Questions

Here are Ari’s:

1. Who is your favorite comedian/comedienne? From now, I would say Jerry Seinfeld. From the classic era, I’d probably say Myrna Loy. She wasn’t a comedienne in a Lucille Ball kind of way, but she had a great way with comedy and she made it look really easy.
2. How did you discover classic movies? Through my parents. There used to be a video store in Auburn called First Run Video and they had a ton of classic movies, so my parents had a great time introducing me to all the greats like Singin’ In the Rain and movies they remembered seeing as kids, like anything starring Roy Rogers, for instance.
3. You are hosting a splashy surprise party in the heydey of the studio era. Who is it for and who’s on the guest list? It would be fun to host a Rat Pack party–they’ve never been duplicated before or since in Hollywood history. Naturally, Judy Garland and Sid Luft would be included in that number. Or maybe it would be cool to have the Irish Mafia over–James Cagney, Spencer Tracy, and Pat O’Brien would be quite the house guests. I hope they don’t mind going to a dry house, though.
4. Who is your favorite screen team? That’s a hard choice. I would probably say Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, but I also like Myrna Loy and William Powell as a team, and Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney, plus Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell in His Girl Friday.
5. You have an opportunity to travel back in time and attend a special event. Do you choose a movie premiere or Oscar ceremony. Which premiere or ceremony do you choose and why? I would go back to the 1939 Oscars ceremony because so many classic films were made in 1939 and it would be fun to be around to see those awards. I’d also like to hear Judy Garland’s live rendition of “Over the Rainbow” and David O. Selznik’s acceptance speech for Gone With the Wind‘s Best Picture Oscar. Both, unfortunately, have been lost to history.
6. If you could travel back in time and be the assistant to a director, who would it be and why? I would say William Wyler or Billy Wilder. Those guys knew how to think outside of the box while also investing in their characters.
7. What is a film that makes you laugh out loud no matter how many times you’ve seen it? The Princess Bride is awesome, as are Arsenic and Old Lace and The Philadelphia Story.
8. If you could add a movie costume to your own wardrobe, which one would you choose? Besides the ruby slippers, I’d say Ginger Rogers’ gold bubble hem dress from The Barkleys of Broadway, although I would never wear a film costume because I’d be too afraid of damaging it. Just owning something would be fantastic.
9. What is a film set that you’d like to live in? The house where Driving Miss Daisy was filmed. I’ve always thought that place was gorgeous. If it has good AC and a dishwasher, I’m totally there.
10. What is your favorite period in history as depicted in film? Name a film that beautifully reflects this period. Besides World War Two, I’d probably say the Victorian Era, but the only movies I’ve seen so far that accurately reflect that period are 1949’s The Heiress and the 1994 version of Little Women. Usually movies set in the Victorian Era take too many liberties with the costumes (especially the busts on the women’s dresses) and the look of the sets, plus the makeup looks too heavy, and no respectable woman in that time would have worn noticeable makeup. The other thing is that the sets generally look too empty. Victorians liked having a LOT of stuff around, especially in the parlor, because it was a status symbol. To be fair, though, the actors and crew have to be able to move around the sets easily while playing scenes, and that’s not going to happen if a set is too cluttered.
11. What is an underrated film you wish more people knew about? I just answered this question on my Classic Movie Blog Association profile, but I’ll do it again: I wish they would put The War Against Mrs. Hadley on DVD. It deserves it just because it’s a great example of wartime propaganda and dated in the best way. In 1942, while we knew a lot about what was going on in Europe and Asia, we hadn’t seen it for ourselves yet or felt the full force of the war, and so Mrs. Hadley seems slightly idealistic.

And here are Rachel’s questions:

1. What’s the first movie you have a memory of watching? Song of the South and The Fox and the Hound. I was around five at the time and it was when Disney ran double features for kids in theaters before everyone had VCRs.
2. Have you ever written a fan letter to a celebrity?  (If so, did you get a reply?) Yes! When I was in the eighth grade I wrote a letter to Bryan Duncan and he wrote back. I still have it. Funnily enough, about ten years ago we got to be friends via social media and talk almost every day.
3. What are the three funniest movies you have ever seen? That Thing You Do!, The Philadelphia Story, and The Princess Bride. And if I might pick a bonus, the above-mentioned Arsenic and Old Lace.
4. What movie do you really want to change the ending of? The end of The Watchers was kind of a letdown–there’s a lot of repetition in the third act and it doesn’t have as much tension when the characters aren’t isolated anymore. They could have easily ended everything in the forest and it would have been way more satisfying (Here’s my Substack review of the movie).
5. What movie do you wish had a sequel, but it doesn’t? I’m not really a fan of sequels most of the time, because if the first movie is really good it’s hard to improve on that. There are exceptions, of course (The Two Towers, Back To the Future II, and Empire Strikes Back are a few examples) but if there’s no clear vision for the characters, well, sequels can be disappointing.
6. Who were were favorite actor and actress when you were a teen? It’s hard to pick just two, but Christian Slater, Christian Bale, Jonathan Brandis, Judy Garland, Jimmy Stewart, and James Cagney were favorites.
7. Who are your favorite actor and actress now? Christian Bale, Christian Slater, Jimmy Stewart, Audrey Hepburn, James Cagney, Judy Garland and Amy Adams. Yeah, things haven’t changed too much.
8. Does anyone else in your family love movies? My parents, definitely. Dad likes westerns and war pictures best, and Mom likes adaptations of classic literature like Pride and Prejudice and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but they’ll watch pretty much anything if it’s good.
9. If you could pick an actor/actress to play you in a movie, who would you choose? I have no idea, to be honest. Maybe Kristen Connelly?
10. Do you ever watch a movie in the theater more than once? Absolutely. I saw Elvis a couple of times. Same thing with the second Dune movie. The Fellowship of the Ring is the recordholder, though–I saw that one four times.
11. Are there any movies coming out in 2024 that you are looking forward to? Trap might be good, or it might be an “M. Knight Shyamalan is making movies again. Yay?” kind of thing. Blink Twice might be a good one as well. I’ve also been looking forward to White Bird for a year now but it keeps getting pushed back, so who knows when that’s going to happen.

Whew, that was fun. All right, now we’re on to…

My Nominees

• John Reiber
• Musings of A Classic Film Addict
• Classic Film and TV Corner
• Hamlette’s Soliloquy
• Classic Movie Muse
• Whimsically Classic
• 18 Cinema Lane
• Phyllis Loves Classic Movies
• Maniacs and Monsters
• Poppity Loves Classic Film
• The Flapper Dame
• nitrateglow

My Questions

1. Which movie of 2024 has been your favorite so far? Your least favorite?
2. Do you like superhero movies or are you over them?
3. You have the chance to visit any movie studio or any movie production at the height of the studio era. Which studio or movie do you pick and why?
4. What do you like best about your favorite film genre?
5. Who are your favorite film critics?
6. Are there any movies you regret reviewing?
7. Have you ever changed your opinion of a movie and if so, which movie was it?
8. What are some of the other things you like doing besides blogging?
9. Are there any movies that you think might make good video games? If you have any interest in video games, that is.
10. If you could write about any celeb or other film-related topic, what or who do you write about?
11. Who do you most enjoy seeing movies with?

All right, that’ll do it. Thanks again, Ari and Rachel–this was fun, as always! Thanks for reading, everyone, as always. Another post is on the way on Monday…

If you’re enjoying what you see on Taking Up Room, please subscribe to my Substack page, where you’ll find both free and paid subscriber-only reviews of mostly new and newish movies, documentaries, and shows. I publish every Wednesday and Saturday.