patricia

The dark version of this Belgian chocolate is like dying and going directly to heaven. I have two in my refrigerator, as I type this.

OK.

"I Confess" was quite a departure for Montgomery Clift, who, IMO, was better known as a tortured leading man, than a tortured priest. This film was rough-going for me, I think because of the dark, dreary atmostphere, which created a kind of claustrophobia, which, I guess, was the point. Strange film. Ralphie Boy, may I ask what the criteria were for leaving this film out of your Top 10 list??

I will throw all caution to the wind and pick "54", for reasons which are my own.

I too have heard more about the "one shot" technique in the filming of "Rope" than the finished film itself. I think that does it an injustice, aside from being an interesting bit of trivia, at least to non-film-makers. To me, the only thing important about any film is whether I become involved in the plot and care about the plot and the characters. If I don't, the technique, no matter how ground-breaking, means nothing to me. "Rope" had all the earmarks of a well-told story and that's why I like it. After all, that's the primary function of film, to tell the story.

What about "Rope"? I was totally shocked, the first time I saw it, to see Jimmy Stewart as a smarmy villian. Marvelous casting against type and totally effective. We're so used to seeing Stewart, as he got older, as the "aw shucks" good guy, that this role was a total revelation to me, at the time.

Another vote, from me, for "Straight, No Chaser". Some interesting and funny stuff, but the music is the star, as it should be. I first heard Monk, in the early sixties, on his "Misterioso" LP, but was into other music at the time and didn't really appreciate it. I rediscovered him, just a few years ago and have become a collector of his music. "Japanese Folksong" is amazingly addictive.

"Rebecca" is, by far, my favourite Hitchcock film. Judith Anderson and Nigel Bruce were perfect supporting characters to Olivier and Joan Fontaine. My favourite scene is the one in Rebecca's perfectly preserved bedroom. The line, "Why don't you jump?" haunted me, long after I saw the film. My second favourite is "Frenzy", even though many Hitchcock fans tell me it's their least favourite. Barry Foster is, IMO, one of the creepiest villians in Hitchcock films. My sentimental favourite is "The Trouble With Harry", because it was the first of Hitchcock's films I saw, as a child. It was funny, as well as very clever.

Helen Gurley Brown [former editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan] has the biggest head, proportionate to her body, that I have ever seen. There she is, this huge head, atop a toothpicky body, eyes wide, wide, wide, never blinking, her high-pitched voice, squeaking away. Now, that scares me. Holy man!!

Noj and JSngry, Thanks. My father always said that learning when to shut up was the most important thing. I guess I must have been talking and didn't learn that. B)

As with any other type of critic, the critics who write in the Penguin Guide, as well as AMG are giving their opinion, which may or may not be mine. However, the mere listing of less well-known artists has been invaluable to me, especially when I first became re-acquainted with jazz, about seven years ago now. If I hadn't browsed the lists, and read about the artists, I would have had no idea where to start. That, combined with recs from more experienced jazzers is the base of my collection of jazz. Of course, the Penguin guide lists only CD's, so artists whose work is mainly found on vinyl are a little shortchanged, but that doesn't happen as often now that re-mastered CD's are to be had of the really old stuff. I haunt a vintage vinyl shop here and am more often delighted, than disappointed in discs I have bought, solely on the strength of the covers and the extensive descriptions on them. The field is enormous and any help is good help, I think.

Chris is actually being uncharacteristically modest. There's talk of his book being made into a feature film, although I think that a doc. would be easier to control, factually. I would love to have seen the real Bessie. This book will be the next best thing. I love biographical books, particularly jazz-related ones so, of course I will be buying this one.

Just walked in and hung up my [large] hat. Thank you for the warm welcome.

Now them there's fightin' words! LOL!!! Ten bucks says I can beat her, two falls out of three, if she's not a hair-puller. B)

By a big head, do you mean in proportion to their bodies? If you mean that, I guess I have a disproportionatly large head, because I'm quite slight, and my daughters make fun, gently, of me, saying that I look like a lollipop. It's impossible to do something about a large head, except what Ms. O'Donnell has chosen to do, which is get fat enough to balance the head with the body. If nobody is grabbin' their kids off the street, in horror, then that's somethng, I guess.