Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Eruption of Terrible Power
Meerschaum — Vintage Pipe
Meerschaum or French name for the same substance - écume-de-mer, we call it "sea foam". As the use of meerschaum pipes slowly change color, and very old are more shades of yellow, orange and red colors ...16 more images after the break...
Monday, June 27, 2011
Box Set Monday #1: Deborah Kerr
Hello and welcome to my new series: Box Set Monday. The idea for it came when I was lamenting over the fact that so many wonderful stars don't have even one box set of their own. Fans of Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Cary Grant, Marilyn Monroe etc. have many box sets available to them, but what about Deborah Kerr's fans? Or Greer's? And how about Eleanor and Roz Russell's? So, I decided that it would be fun to imagine I was able to create and manufacture the box sets for certain stars who haven't any; it seemed rather exciting to think about and pick out certain titles that would compliment each other and make a wonderful box set. So, to start of this series we have my queen, Deborah Kerr.
The Essential Deborah Kerr Box Set
Contains:
From Here To Eternity, 1953
The Grass is Greener, 1960
The King and I, 1956
The Night of the Iguana, 1964
An Affair to Remember, 1957
The End of the Affair, 1955
Now, a little about why I chose this particular selection of films. Firstly, I wanted to have a mix of drama, romance, and comedy. I personally prefer box sets to have a mix of an actor or actresses' films from a variety genres. So, taking that into consideration, I selected from what I consider to be the "essentials" for every Deborah Kerr film fan or for getting someone hooked on her. There are films I missed out that I'm sure other people might have included (such as Black Narcissus, Separate Tables, Tea and Sympathy) but I chose the films that I personally think would make someone fall in love with Deborah. Perhaps I'll do a Vol. 2 of this box set and include some of the films I didn't in this one.
I picked From Here To Eternity because it's perhaps Deborah's most iconic role, not only because she made such a wonderful job of Karen Holmes, but also because it was pretty the first film in which she didn't play some prim, perfect lady. Although she did get more roles in a similar vein after FHTE, Deborah never really managed to shake off the "just sit there and look pretty and English" typecast. Therefore, as a testimony to both her talent and the fact that it's a brilliant film, FHTE had to be included.
The Grass is Greener is a film I think you can't help but love. It's easy going, it's funny, it has a great cast (Deborah, Jean Simmons, Cary Grant, Robert Mitchum), and it's such a great little film. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that I had to pick this as one of the comedies. It showcases how brilliant the entire cast were as comedians (not that we didn't already know Cary was) and always look as though they are having so much fun together. It never gets old.
Whilst FHTE is arguably Deborah's most iconic role, Anna Leonowens in The King and I is probably her most well known and well loved. It's a truly wonderful film, from the cast to the music, the colours, and of course, the storyline. Deborah shone as Anna, the English governess who although being quite prim and proper, had no qualms about giving the King of Siam a piece of her mind. Everyone knows and loves this film and you couldn't very well have make a Deborah Kerr box set without including it.
In The Night of the Iguana Deborah, Ava Gardner and Richard Burton all give magnificent performances - maybe the best of their respective careers. It's sadly not all that well known but it's an essential for, not only Deborah/Ava/Robert fans, but also for classic film fans in general.
An Affair to Remember: the ultimate romantic comedy. It's one of those films that when you say "I like classic films" to someone, they reply with "Oh, me too! I love blah blah blah and AATR!". Nevertheless, it's a wonderful tear-jerking film that mixes romance, drama and comedy perfectly. If you don't love Deborah after seeing her sing "Tomorrowland" with the little kiddies, you never will.
The End of the Affair is probably the film I'm most excited to include in this selection. It's breathtakingly stunning black and white photography combined with the heartbreaking story makes this very sadly underrated film not only one of my favourite Deborah films but one of my favourite films in general. It's tragic and beautiful, sweet and haunting. It's probably the darkest of all six films.
The Essential Deborah Kerr Box Set will retail for FREE! Because everyone needs a bit of Deborah in their lives ;D
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I hope you enjoyed the first Box Set Monday. Any ideas for who box set (it's a legitimate term as of this moment) would be most appreciated. Thanks for reading!
Sunday, June 26, 2011
balloons, cake and birthday wishes for the 'woman of a thousand faces'
That's right ladies and gentlemen, a year has rolled by and once again we find ourselves celebrating the lovely Eleanor Parker's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
There you have it! 6 serious and not so serious reasons I love the birthday girl. Once again, on the off chance that Eleanor is surfing the interwebz, I'd just like to extend my warmest wishes to you on this day and I hope that you enjoyed eating plenty ofweiner schnitzel (sorry, my TSoM references cannot be tamed!) cake and had a wonderful time. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! ♥
I hope you have a wonderful days filled with raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens. See how seamlessly I managed to fit a TSoM reference into that sentence? Even though it technically had nothing to do with Eleanor...
ANYWAY, it's time for me to rustle up one of my 6 Reasons posts. I haven't done one of these since Deborah's birthday last year because none of my most favourite favouritest favourites have had any birthdays since then (except Glynis, but shhhhh she musn't find out!). In no particular order...
Reason #1 - Her smile
Reason #2 - The Baroness Schraeder Giggle
Reason #3 - Her chameleon-like ability in films
Check out Lizzie (1957) if you want to see her showcase her ability to morph from a mousy museum office worker Elizabeth into the more than slightly crazy Lizzie.
Reason #4 - Her voice
Reason #5 - Scaramouche
It should start at 5:10, one of my favourite parts. Eleanor is so hilarious as Lenore; the film wouldn't be any good without her in my opinion ;D
Reason #6 - Her ridiculous beauty and adorableness
There you have it! 6 serious and not so serious reasons I love the birthday girl. Once again, on the off chance that Eleanor is surfing the interwebz, I'd just like to extend my warmest wishes to you on this day and I hope that you enjoyed eating plenty of
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Shazahn Padamsee Photoshoot
Shazahn Padamsee is an Indian film and stage actress, who has also worked a model. Daughter of noted actors Alyque Padamsee and Sharon Prabhakar, she made her first film appearance in the 2009 Hindi film Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year. After the failure of her début film, she went on to appear in two South Indian films, gaining credit from critics for her performance, before featuring in Madhur Bhandarkar's Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji in a prominent role. 08 more images after the break...
Nina Dobrev Photoshoot
Nina Dobrev (born Nina Constantinova Dobreva; in Bulgarian, January 9, 1989) is a Bulgarian-Canadian actress. She played the role of Mia Jones, the single teenage mother, on Degrassi: The Next Generation, from the show's sixth to ninth season. She currently stars as Elena Gilbert and Katherine Pierce on The CW television teen drama The Vampire Diaries. Nina Dobrev $eventeen Magazine Photoshoot, 10 more images after the break...
Crazy Chinese Workers
These workers are crazy, stretching along the steep build mountains, and a noticeable ones are working without any insurance. 14 more images after the break...
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