Access Atlanta > Movies > Blog > Archives > 2007 > November > 23
Friday, November 23, 2007
If you can’t say something nice, come sit by me
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dear Mr. Smithee,
In your recent column on musicals, you said “The Nightmare Before Christmas” is your No. 1. “Nightmare” is a movie I despise (mostly for use of claymation) but one most people I know seem to like. “It’s a Wonderful Life” also falls into this I-can’t-stand-but-others-love category. It just rubs me the wrong way.
With all the lists of movies you love recently, where are those popular “classics” that you just can’t stand?
MATTHEW M. COLLIE, St. Paul, Minn.
Dear Thanks So Much for Nothing,
Auntie Sarah Smithee used to always proclaim in that aging, cracking soprano of hers, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”
It’s why — even as a wee one — I would always query her about those intensely dark circles under her eyes.
In the long-haired ’60s, she might greet me with this: “Oh, my dear boy, you’d be so much more attractive with a proper haircut.”
To which I would lovingly retort: “Perhaps you ought to consider a face-lift.”
I would always immediately be punished with a good lashing, which, I must say, Mother Smithee took some sort of extra-special glee in doling out.
Such unjust retaliation for so obvious an observation left me bitter, which might be a consideration in understanding why so many beloved films make me expel perfectly good chunks of, say, turkey and stuffing.
Like you, my good friend Matthew, I know what I like.
And these, as some readers who know me are well aware, are not it:
“Forrest Gump” — “Shut up, Forrest! Shut up!”
“An American in Paris” — Ballet de Atrocious.
“Love Story” — I’d rather watch … (gulp) … “The Way We Were.”
“The Greatest Show on Earth” — I had trepidations about naming my second once-wee son Cecil B. just because of it.
“Big” — Every time I land on it with my remote, I just quickly pass it by.
“The English Patient” — Elaine Benes knows of what she spaketh.
“The Sting” — It’s the gullible public that got stung.
“Mrs. Doubtfire” — Robin Williams is less irritating — but just barely — in “August Rush.”
And, Matthew, I’ve got two more. These may well land me in hot water with many a fine reader. But what do they really know?
“Gone With the Wind” — I can tolerate only a few minutes here and there.
“A Christmas Story” — I’d rather watch “White Christmas” or “It’s a Wonderful Life” or “The Ref” or “A Midnight Clear” or, naturally, “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” or “Die Hard” or even “Home Alone.”
ALAN
P.S. I dare not send you my 60th anniversary “It’s a Wonderful Life” bell with Zuzu’s petals. So you get my “Beowulf” fake fur piece and an “Ask Alan Smithee” T-shirt.
Dear Mr. Smithee,
What actor has appeared (in at least a big enough role to be named in the credits) in the most movies that have won the Oscar for best picture?
Morgan Freeman was in at least three: “Driving Miss Daisy,” “The Unforgiven” and “Million Dollar Baby.”
GEORGE BARTON, Sharpsburg
Dear Give Credit Where Credit Is Due,
Three actors have appeared in five best-picture Oscar winners: Wallis Clark, Franklyn Farnum and Bess Flowers.
And maybe you are right to question the inclusion of someone like Flowers, who was not credited in any of her five (“It Happened One Night,” “You Can’t Take It With You,” “All About Eve,” “The Greatest Show on Earth” and “Around the World in 80 Days”). Known as the “Queen of the Hollywood Extras,” she appeared in more than 700 films before her death at age 85 in 1984.
Edwin Maxwell appeared in four top Oscar winners: “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Grand Hotel,” “The Great Ziegfeld” and “You Can’t Take it With You.”
Morgan Freeman was indeed in three. His total is shared with 24 other actors, including Clark Gable, Dustin Hoffman, Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep.
ALAN
P.S. You get a plush “Shrek the Third” baby and an “Ask Alan Smithee” T-shirt.
HAVE A QUESTION FOR MR. SMITHEE?
E-mail him at alansmithee@ajc.com or go to accessAtlanta.com and click on Movies. Please include your name, city and daytime phone number. Mr. Smithee can’t reply to every request, but inquiries chosen for publication will receive movie-related prizes.
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Can you spot the many Disney films in “Enchanted”?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As expected, Disney’s enchanting “Enchanted” took the lead in the long holiday weekend box-office race. On Wednesday, “Enchanted” garnered $8.15 million — nearly twice the $4 million-plus takes attained by No. 2 “Hitman” and No. 3 “This Christmas.”
Part of the fun of “Enchanted,” which mixes animation and live action as the fairytale princess-to-be Giselle (Amy Adams, in photo below) lands in real-life New York City, are the dozens of subtle and not-so-subtle references to previous Disney movies.
Here’s just a few:
“Beauty and the Beast” — When the Troll tries to grab Giselle in her treehouse home, on the right is the bell jar with the rose in it.
“Snow White” — On more than one occasion, Giselle is offered a poisoned apple.
“Cinderella” — At a formal dance, Giselle loses her glass-like slipper.
“Mary Poppins” — On a bus is a woman with a bag of birdseed in an homage to the earlier film’s “Feed the Birds” woman.
“Lady and the Tramp” — One NYC restaurant is named the Bella Notte Restaurant, which refers to the song in the classic animated dog film.
Did you notice more Disney references? Did you spot homages to “Pochohontas”? “Sleeping Beauty”? “The Little Mermaid”? “Tarzan”? They’re all there.
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