Comments on: Open thread 7/5/21

By: huxley

huxley — Wed, 07 Jul 2021 19:41:29 +0000

neo:

Eeek! The coronavirus!

By: neo

neo — Wed, 07 Jul 2021 19:36:16 +0000

Stephen St. Onge: Well, as for overhead shots, long ago there was Busby Berkeley:

By: Stephen+St.+Onge

Stephen+St.+Onge — Wed, 07 Jul 2021 15:23:54 +0000

Slightly off topic, watching this clip illustrates why no one can film a decent dance number anymore.

Note how the camera hardly moves during the act. Whether it’s Fred playing, or Fred and Ginger singing, or the two dancing, the camera stays mostly still and lets you see them. A modern director would have three or four cameras going during the number, at weird angles, and would constantly cut from one to the other. No shot would last more than three seconds.

You’d see closeups, you’d see overheads, you’d see body parts. What you wouldn’t see is two people singing and dancing.

By: JohnTyler

JohnTyler — Wed, 07 Jul 2021 15:05:56 +0000

Yep, the Nicholas Bros were amazing and how they did what they did and not break their legs or destroy their knees is a mystery.
But their style of dance was very different than that of Astaire (and his various partners).
Astaire exuded class. polish, sophistication and seeming lack of effort when he danced, while the Nicholas Bros demonstrated extreme athleticism and energy along with their talent.
Even Gene Kelly’s style, IMHO, was more on the “muscular” and athletic style.

Though there were “better” tappers than Astaire, nobody could match his combination of skills and the seeming ease with which he performed.

He was one in a million; unmatched.

By: Richard

Richard — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 15:22:10 +0000

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WUhhKELUxB0

I like this one with Rita Hayworth. They are having so much fun. It looks effortless, but we know it’s not.

By: Art+Deco

Art+Deco — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 13:56:43 +0000

In 1986, Reagan commented: “Her male counterpart got the lion’s share of publicity but Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did and did it with high heels on and did it backwards.”

IIRC, the tiresome Ellen Goodman said that. Ellen Goodman being Ellen Goodman, it’s a reasonable wager she cribbed off someone else.

By: Philip Sells

Philip Sells — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 13:36:24 +0000

LOL

By: ObloodyHell

ObloodyHell — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 07:01:40 +0000

}}} In 1986, Reagan commented: “Her male counterpart got the lion’s share of publicity but Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did and did it with high heels on and did it backwards.”

I knew this one was going to come up. I believe Gene Siskel is also attributed to it — perhaps one was quoting the other.

Unfortunately, it’s false.

There were many times when Ginger was casually spun off to the side, as Fred took over and did something solo that Ginger could not touch.

Now, I will grant (thanks, Neo!) that the Nicholas Brothers could keep up with him, and perhaps do even better… but Ginger was simply not as good as Fred for some steps.

Here, you get both the brothers AND Cab Calloway…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8yGGtVKrD8

By: Zaphod

Zaphod — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 03:54:50 +0000

@Huxley:

That’s deeply forked for us Normies who just want to Grill. Quotidian happening in the G R R Martin household, maybe.

By: huxley

huxley — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 03:45:25 +0000

Zaphod:

I checked out of “Sons of Anarchy” when the Queen Gertrude character murdered the Ophelia character with a barbecue fork to the base of her skull.

A minor deviation from Shakespeare’s Hamlet.