Day Three is upon us--can you believe it? Days One and Two can be found here if anyone has missed them. All right, time for today's entries... MovieRob kicks things off with a Broadway triple-header: Hair, The Browning Version, and Jesus Christ, Superstar. The Midnite Drive-In has a review of the Shoah drama, Bent. Vitaphone Dreamer gets that … Continue reading Broadway Bound 2020: Day Three
Back To Broadway
In 1929, The Broadway Melody officially opened the era of the MGM musical. In 1935, The Broadway Melody of 1936 kicked things up a notch or five. It also is credited by some as the movie that saved MGM. Starring Eleanor Powell and Robert Taylor, The Broadway Melody of 1936 is at once typical and eye-popping. It's bigger, sparklier, and … Continue reading Back To Broadway
Broadway Bound 2020: Day Two
Day Two, everyone. We had a great time yesterday (find Day One's posts here), and now we've got more to come. So, here we go... 18 Cinema Lane starts us off with the famous tale of romance-by-proxy, Cyrano de Bergerac. Crítica Retrô goes full Capra with a review of the much-loved You Can't Take It With You. Dubsism gets … Continue reading Broadway Bound 2020: Day Two
Broadway Bound 2020: Day One
We have arrived on Broadway, people. Are you ready for this? I don't know about anyone else, but celebrating the Great White Way feels like finding an oasis in the middle of a desert of chaos. Not to be dramatic or anything, but current events are really sucky right now. And that's as far as … Continue reading Broadway Bound 2020: Day One
That’s the Broadway Melody
Broadway, street of a million sighs... Ah yes, The Broadway Melody. One of the movies that started it all. For MGM, it was their first all-talking, all-singing, all dancing movie that broke all the ground and made everyone sit up and take notice. So much so that it won a Best Picture Oscar in 1929. But … Continue reading That’s the Broadway Melody
A Little Housekeeping (And One Week To Go)
One week left, bloggers. Time for those last-minute tweaks, then the dress rehearsal, and then curtain. Are you ready? Or are you looking to join the company? If this is you, we have a mighty big stage and plenty of room, so feel free to comment below. Here are all the details, as well as … Continue reading A Little Housekeeping (And One Week To Go)
Ziegfeld-less Follies
Mr. Ziegfeld, I presume... For someone who was the pinnacle of Broadway success, Florenz Ziegfeld didn't actually appear onscreen all that much as an actual character. Maybe once or twice, but that was about it. Oftentimes he was just an offscreen presence and his show was aspriational for many hopefuls. Other than that, he was … Continue reading Ziegfeld-less Follies
My Six From the 60s
It's National Classic Movie Day! Groovy, man... The 60s were a roller coaster of a decade, weren't they? Fashion went mod. America landed men on the moon. There was the Cuban Missile Crisis. John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr. were assassinated. The Beatles played on Ed Sullivan and the British … Continue reading My Six From the 60s
One Month Until The Third Broadway Bound Blogathon
Thirty-one days and counting, people. Thirty-one days until we head back to the Great White Way for a third year of Broadway goodness. I'm glad and appreciative that people are so enthusiastic for this blogathon returning in spite of all the trouble and weirdness we're dealing with in the world right now. If Broadway is … Continue reading One Month Until The Third Broadway Bound Blogathon
Mariage Macabre
Ah, sweet mystery of life... If there's one thing we all know about Tim Burton, it's that he rarely does anything normal, and even then the weirdness shines through. His films have a tangibility in an age of CG that is very unusual and personal, and one of the best in my opinion is 2005's … Continue reading Mariage Macabre
Not the Conventional Type
Mr. Price is back... Vincent Price might have been a horror king, but there was so much more to him. In fact, before horror was Price's primary acting output, he was known for his suave gentlemen characters of both the sympathetic and not-so-sympathetic persuasions. One of the most interesting, and one of Price's personal favorites … Continue reading Not the Conventional Type
Finding Answers With Ben-Hur
Time to hit the books... Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ is quite the novel and quite the enticing story for filmmakers. Every time it's been brought to the screen it takes people's breath away with the emotion, the politics, and the relationships, all woven together with the life and ministry of Jesus. Its author, … Continue reading Finding Answers With Ben-Hur
Go Team
*click* *adjusts rabbit ears* In my humble opinion, the most iconic villain of the original MacGyver series was Murdoc, played by Michael Des Barres. He appeared on the series a total of nine times, and for one reason only: MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson) was the only target master hitman Murdoc couldn't murder. Well, that, and he lived … Continue reading Go Team
Announcing The Third Broadway Bound Blogathon!
Things might be weird and tense right now because of the coronavirus, but we're still, God willing, going back to Broadway. We need all the fun we can get, people. We really do. For those of you who are new to Taking Up Room, this is when we pay tribute to the symbiotic relationship between … Continue reading Announcing The Third Broadway Bound Blogathon!
Taking Off the Mask
Time to rock out, all... It's always interesting when Christian artists (or any musicians) dabble in moviemaking, and 2008's The Imposter sports not one artist, but three: dc Talk alum Kevin Max, Kerry Livgren of Kansas, and Jeff Deyo, formerly of Sonicflood. Not to be confused with the Gary Sinise film, The Imposter follows Johnny … Continue reading Taking Off the Mask
Back To MGM
Mr. Keaton is back... Buster Keaton did have a career of sorts in sound films. Well, he tried, anyway. From 1933 onwards Keaton's life was turbulent. He was fired from MGM in 1933, his marriage collapsed, and Keaton struggled with alcohol abuse. IMDb claims there was a period of time when the public hated him … Continue reading Back To MGM
Norma’s Almost-Swan Song
Way up north... Quebecois Norma Shearer was an unlikely film star, at least in the sense that she didn't fit the mold of the perfect movie goddess. She had short legs, one of her eyes had a slight cast, and the critics regularly poked fun at her delivery. On the other hand, in regards to … Continue reading Norma’s Almost-Swan Song
Taking Up Room 