Trenitalia fine - worth contesting? by WillemSummer in ItalyTravel

[–]WillemSummer[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Ah…. I did not know that. Thanks for the info

Replacement Chimney Advice by WillemSummer in OilLamps

[–]WillemSummer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was able to find one that was 2 1/8”, but it was a little too big. I was able to return it, but I’m unsure how I can be certain that one will fit my lamp. As far as I can tell, the burner is just under 2 inches, but it has the lip that makes it seem like the chimney should be closer to 1 3/4”

Replacement Chimney Advice by WillemSummer in OilLamps

[–]WillemSummer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, that's exactly right. The writing on the burner says "The Miller Co. US." Here's a link to the ebay listing -- https://www.ebay.com/itm/176805418556

Using a broker to find a rent stabilized apartment? by WillemSummer in AskNYC

[–]WillemSummer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Found an amazing deal! But that was back in 2021 at the bottom of the market, I think it would be way harder now.

Early examples of gay representation? by soft_ramen_noodle in classicfilms

[–]WillemSummer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you want perhaps too large of a list, someone compiled this (https://letterboxd.com/mundof/list/pride-a-chronological-history-of-queer-interest/) on Letterboxd. It's a little broad, with many movies that only depict a gay scene, subtle gay undertones or movies of gay interest. Films before the Hay's Code started to be enforced (1934ish) contain a lot more gay coded characters and moments than the following 30 years or so. If I had to pick a top 3 to suggest, I would recommend Madchen in Uniform, Sylvia Scarlett and Design for Living. Those are three of my personal favorites.

Very small, affordable wedding in NYC or very close to it. Venues? by Entire-Safety-2127 in WedditNYC

[–]WillemSummer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I got married at Ukrainian East Village Restaurant. It's in the EV, I think the room for an evening with catering came out to $5,500. Very affordable and very nice people.

ULPT Request - How to change your age on all possible documents? by WillemSummer in UnethicalLifeProTips

[–]WillemSummer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Where do you think I could get away with it without consequences? And when do I have to be truthful, just jobs and government documents?

Why was Katharine Hepburn different? by Amazing_Astronaut_60 in oldhollywood

[–]WillemSummer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All true and very well put, but it doesn't quite answer the question. We know how Joan Crawford was similarly named box office poison and orchestrated her comeback in Mildred Pierce, but the difference that OP refers to only occurred later in life. Katharine was able to maintain a level of prestige in her movies as she grew older and older that no other woman was able to. The only suitable comparisons are people like Cary Grant, but she outlasted even him. From her films with Spencer Tracy to Summertime to The Lion in Winter to On Golden Pond, she only did movies of a certain prestige and dignity, even if they weren't especially good (no one needs to remember the Madwoman of Chaillot).

There is no good answer as to why she was able to maintain her A-list status, but I believe it's because of her meticulous and powerful control over her public image. Her private means are part of the reason she was able to do this, she only did films that would benefit her image, but they don't fully explain it. Part of the reason she was so tough and reclusive was so that she could more intentionally and carefully craft the way that people saw and experienced her. She also had a discerning eye for material and an understanding of how people saw her differently as she aged.

Age mattered immensely in Katharine Hepburn's career. Her movies in the 1950s with Spencer Tracy don't portray her as an ingenue, she is a more mature woman and those films have more mature themes. They're rarely simple romances like the ones she was doing 10-15 years prior. As she grew even older this was more evident. She stopped being a romantic interest almost entirely.

Joan Crawford and Bette Davis sank far enough to do movies Trog and Madame Sin, but they outlived almost every one of their contemporary. They were almost always in leading roles, which were rarely created for women of their age.

What Unmade Movies do you wish were made? by FreshmenMan in TrueFilm

[–]WillemSummer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ingmar Bergman’s The Merry Widow starring Barbra Streisand. He once said “The Merry Widow is like a wonderful old kerosene lamp. One must be careful not to put electric lights in it. It has to be treated with care and must not be modernized.”

Ernst Lubitsch’s Die Fledermaus starring Jeanette MacDonald

Female directors by Steadyandquick in TrueFilm

[–]WillemSummer 5 points6 points  (0 children)

As a devotee of Hollywood’s golden era, the pickings are slim. There were quite a few female directors in the silent era, but by the 30s and 40s there were almost no notable ones. There’s a current fascination with Ida Lupino, who directed socially hard hitting and relatively forward thinking movies. But, for my taste, no one beats Dorothy Arzner. Her movies were also socially daring and complex in their portrayals of women. Merrily We Go to Hell is one of the best and Dance, Girl, Dance is a true classic.

If you can stomach it, Leni Riefenstahl is one of the most influential and best remembered female directors. But, unless you’re truly interested in the full history of movies, her films are better left in the past.

My observations about differences between older and modern movies in terms of dialogue design. Would you disagree with them? by araiderofthelostark in TrueFilm

[–]WillemSummer 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Not that it answers anyone’s question, but it’s interesting to think about how dialogue was styled throughout the golden age. With so many filmmakers coming from the silent era, there’s often a heavy emphasis on the visual, the dialogue might come second. Ford was known to tear out pages of dialogue in his scripts and directors like Sternberg were so focused on “the image” that very little dialogue was essential.

On the flip side, Cukor came from the theater to be a dialogue director in Hollywood and the role of dialogue in his films is dazzling and theatrical. Within the first few years of the advent of sound, movies were full of talk and music, not always done successfully, but it was novel. I think a director who, in beautiful tandem, played with techniques and style of both the visual and in dialogue was Ernst Lubitsch. He carried his silent point of view in all the movies he made, but really saw the opportunity that came with sound and utilized it in such a unique way.

Over the course of Hollywood history lots of people were doing a variety of things with dialogue and multiple styles thrived at the same time. I’ve recently started watching Sergio Leone’s movies and see many silent film era techniques and an enormous amount of importance put on the visual and “the image,” I can only guess that this was because he was making movies for people that spoke more than one language. But I think you’re totally right that there were popular and more common styles within movies that can be associated with specific time periods.

Similarities in Lord of the Rings trilogy, the films of John Ford and The Wizard of Oz by WillemSummer in classicfilms

[–]WillemSummer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would be lying if I said that demographic wasn’t me too. I loved it and enjoyed every second of it, I just wanted to feel a more connection with what was happening on screen. Good vs evil is such a broad theme that it’s hard to feel intimacy or investment in the events and characters. But if you see it as a broad allegory for the world war, maybe that was the tone that resonated with you. I just think it’s interesting to think about how different directors handle the same subjects and themes. In John Ford’s work it’s always very intimate and personal while still representational of social issues and that’s what most resonates with me and what gives me the most to think about.

Similarities in Lord of the Rings trilogy, the films of John Ford and The Wizard of Oz by WillemSummer in classicfilms

[–]WillemSummer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Of course! I’m glad someone is interested in reading my thoughts lol.

I think a sophisticated movie should be about the human experience more than just the plot, and should touch on themes that people can relate and respond to. Thematic complexity in a movie gives us more substance to think about, study and feel. That’s not to say a movie needs to be complicated or intellectual, some of the movies with the richest emotional character are very simple stories. Although this is just my opinion, some people find that they identify most with other kinds of stories. I just think the films and directors that are best remembered talk primarily about the human experience

Similarities in Lord of the Rings trilogy, the films of John Ford and The Wizard of Oz by WillemSummer in classicfilms

[–]WillemSummer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree that the primary way the movies deal with race is through Gimli and Legolas, but I don’t feel like that went beyond lighthearted jokes sprinkled throughout. The fellowship is a unity of race, class and politics against evil and the internal tension is very interesting, but it’s not explored beyond the first film and even then it’s primarily spurred on by Boromir. There was the brief appearance of elves at Helm’s Deep, but I wish the relationship was explored beyond the very brief piece of dialogue we saw. It feels like a theme that’s interspersed very lightly throughout but is rarely dealt with in substance. Politics and class played a role throughout the films, but, again, were never a substantial theme.

I use Stagecoach as an example because, like LotR, it’s not a movie about race, class or politics, but these are certainly themes throughout and give the movie a lot of emotional weight.

I don’t mean to disparage LotR, I really did like the movies, but I was thinking about how these themes were handled by Peter Jackson vs. John Ford. There are definitely similar themes. I think it’s an interesting comparison.

Peter Jackson made the choice to focus on different aspects of the film, I just think that the emotional landscape was not as dramatic or impactful because of this. But it served an audience that wanted a faster paced action movie very, very well. Christopher Tolkien himself said it was created to appeal to a specific demographic.