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Posts Tagged ‘Dennis Hopper’

Thursday’s Top Ten -Elizabeth Taylor’s Best Movies

Posted in BY THE WAY, From My Point of View - Personal commentary on Movies and Books, Thursday's Top Ten, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on March 24, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Screenshot of Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman...

Maggie and Brick in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Everybody has an opinion and as readers, you know I certainly do.  I thought it would be apropos  post my favorite Elizabeth Taylor movies.  Probably there’s been hundreds of articles written in newspapers today but I have been working all day and have not seen the news or a newspaper.  So here’s my list not in alphabetical order:

  1. A Place in the Sun – A triumvirate of talent; Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Cliff, Shelley Winters.  Taylor portrays Angela Vickers,  gorgeous and sophisticated.
  2. Butterfield 8 – Elizabeth is beautiful fashion model, Gloria Wandrous who has an illicit affair with a married man.
  3. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof – Maggie the cat, Elizabeth starred opposite Paul Newman.  Hard to tell who was more gorgeous!
  4. Cleopatra – Offered this role, Taylor said she would only do it if they paid her a million dollars and 10% of the gross.  And they did so she did.  And she had Richard Burton to toy with on and off the screen.
  5. Giant – Elizabeth is joined by a star-studded cast including Rock Hudson, James Dean, Rod Taylor, Chill Wills, Carroll Baker, Sal Mineo and Dennis Hopper.  I loved this movie but not because of Taylor, this was all about Dean.
  6. National Velvet – Velvet Brown is portrayed by the young Elizabeth Taylor who once again is surrounded by strong actors; Mickey Rooney and Angela Lansbury.  This movie was probably the turning point in her career.
  7. Raintree County – Susanna Drake, a lovely Southern belle who also happens to have inherited the crazy gene.  And again, Taylor is in a movie with lots of talent including Agnes Moorhead, Rod Taylor, Lee Marvin, Eva Marie Saint, and one of her favorite (and mine) co-stars, Montgomery Cliff.
  8. Suddenly Last Summer – Another triumvirate of talent; Liz joins Montgomery Cliff again and Katherine Hepburn.  This time her character, Catherine Holly is driven to insanity.
  9. The Sandpiper – A twenty-something free spirit with an illegitimate son whom she home-schools and lives with  on the beach in Big Sur.  She plays the seductress who leads the minister astray.
  10. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – Saving the best for last (I think) Elizabeth Taylor relishes her role as the castrating wife, drinking herself into alternative rages, seductions, and pitiful slobbering denial.  She was at her best in this movie and the Academy knew it.  She walked away with Best Actress Oscar for this stellar performance which was enhanced by her co-star Richard Burton and Sandy Dennis and George Segal.
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SWEEEeeeet! 5 Romance Movies You Probably Shouldn’t Watch TODAY

Posted in From My Point of View - Personal commentary on Movies and Books, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 14, 2011| 2 Comments »

Liz Taylor, trailer screenshot, cropped from h...

Elizabeth Taylor

If you been with me for a while then you know, last Thursday I listed TEN TOP Romantic movies of all times.  And there are 20 more to come before we’re out of this American Heart Month filled with red hearts, chocolate and love.

However, there is a dark side to some love affairs and these 5 movies are some of the BEST in that category:

  1. Who’ Afraid of Virginia Woolfe? (1966) Starring Richard Burton and Liz Taylor whose off-screen romance had as many pitfalls as their portrayals of George and Martha.   Boozy and bickering, George and Martha needle and humiliate each other in front of their guests, clearly seen as a sick yet symbiotic couple.  Elizabeth Taylor won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as the needy but castrating Martha.
  2. Closer (2004)Also directed Mike Nichols and adapted from a London stage production, it is filled with raw emotion and intense performances.  Jude Law, Natalie Portman, Clive Owen and Julia Roberts are all beautiful people who do ugly things to one another and ultimately themselves.  Not your romantic first date night flick.
  3. Blue Velvet (1986) David Lynch (you’re not surprised are you?) creates a sordid underworld of sexual slavery, addiction, depravity, voyeurism and crime beneath a typically suburban setting.  Disturbing and twisted romance involves, Roy Orbison, Dennis Hopper, Kyle MacLachlan and beautiful Isabella Rossalini.   Lynch darkly explores hidden fears and desires and adds unexpected satire along the way.
  4. Natural Born Killers(1994) Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis are lovers and killers who as they fall deeper in love, their thirst for killing intensifies.  Oliver Stone utilizes a variety of cinematic ploys as he unfolds this story of undeserved fame and all that comes with it;  frenetic camera angles, chopped up editing and the use of various film stocks.  Blood thirsty and scandalous, the public loves them.
  5. Fatal Attraction (1987) Michael Douglas and Glenn Close filled the big screen with steamy, sexual scenes and equally scary suspenseful moments.  Fatal Attraction quickly entered our lexicon as the universal term for a “crazy”  stalker or ex-lover who just couldn’t take no for an answer.  By the end of the movie, the one you are holding hands with will probably turn to you, shake their head and smile knowingly – clearly conveying the probable demise you can expect should you ever try…..

 

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