Halloween Films For Those Who Are Paranoid of Fear.

Like me.

Sir Alfred may be my favorite director ever. Twilight Zone may be one of my utter favorite TV shows ever. And I may think that Vincent Price + Horror Movies is the greatest combination since Tofu + Soy Sauce. BUT. I am unfortunately and regrettably easily and utterly frightened of anything even near to being a "scary movie".

What do those of us paranoid of fear do?! Well, we watch all things remotely frightening with at least 1-2 other persons and with a pillow in front of our faces for approximately 78% of the film. It works.

Or we watch pseudo-scary movies and pretend we are brave when really we're not.

Enter the brilliance of Bob Hope. 

Now, for our Halloween selection we have two Hope films.

 The Ghost Breakers is one of my favorite movies ever. It's hilarious, has great actors, AND awesome pseudo-scariness. You should probably go watch it.

 

The Cat and The Canary. Also Bob and Paulette Goddard. Also brilliant. 

 

And, while you're at it, you might as well watch the 1970's remake. Not as brilliant or hilarious. BUT, you do have Honor Blackman, Michael Callan, Peter McEnery, Wendy Hiller, and Wilfrid Hyde-White, sooo. Yeah. Warning: This is not pseudo-frightening. Murder + long fingernails are involved.

Moving right along, we come to the awesomest movie ever set on Halloween. 

 

Arsenic and Old Lace holds my heart. Everything about this movie. Peter Lorre is obviously the coolest one, but Cary Grant is a very close second. Followed behind by Teddy and the Aunts...and of course Boris Karloff (;-D). Now, if I were writing a play, I would DEFINITELY have the dead body be in the window seat. JUST SAYIN'.

 Next, on our list of pseudo-scariness is something which is really not pseudoly frightening. But, which those of us who are paranoid of fear MUST pretend to find entirely unfrightening. This would be films involving Vincent Price. We must laugh at the "silly plots" and the "outdated effects" and dreadful "overacting" while not making visible ANY of our terror. Or the fact that Vincent Price has the coolest voice ever and is entirely too believable and frightening to be laughed at. (After watching House on Haunted Hill it is not recommended that you go around making sure all the doors are locked. This will show your true fear. Of course, when everyone is gone-- THEN YOU BETTER GO LOCK ALL YOUR DOORS.)

P.S. Check out the amazing post by Mercurie/Vincent art by Kate!

Um, well, Rod Serling is here because Niamhy (the Irish Leprechaun) decided that he deserves an award for his voice. Here it is. Congrats Mr. Serling.

P.S. Be sure and check out the Irish Leprechaun's Halloween Movie series!

P.P.S. Don't watch Mr. Serling's Night Gallery. IT IS SERIOUSLY FRIGHTENING. 

Next up are a couple of TRULY frightening films, both with awesome lead actors, and the awesome Gail Russell. Okay, The Unseen is the only one that actually deserves to be on this list. PERFECT for fear paranoia. The Uninvited-- not so much. Even the mention of Mimosa makes me break into a cold sweat. But, I hate to break them up (and the above list is looking a little pathetic...I need to fill it up a little! ;-D).

Well, I don't know what else to say! Have an awesome day! And try to steer clear of elderberry- wine-bearing old ladies. (I've already had to detour around three today, personally.)

 (Okay, I actually don't celebrate Halloween, but these suggestions are still perfect for the easily frightened. So yeah. Okay, I'm gonna leave now! ;-D)

Happy Reformation Day! -Millie

The Problem With Steve McQueen.

When you watch ONE Steve McQueen movie, then you have to watch five more...and all the seasons of Wanted: Dead or Alive. It's really QUITE a problem. ;-D

 

I was quite ill yesterday, AND since my new laptop crashed 30 minutes after I got it (no mangoes were involved this time. ALTHOUGH, I had just finished a Mango Tango Odwalla before it was delivered... :-O), I decided to watch a movie. I decided on The Great Escape, which I had not seen in quite frankly, at least, 25 years. (Although, I had heard quite a bit of it since then-- coming through the walls of my next-to-me brother's bedroom.) It's such an awesome movie. And so, utterly quotable. Of course, THEN, I couldn't watch anything that didn't have Steve McQueen in it (it's a curse! ;-D). And I wasn't really in the mood for Magnificent Seven, because....

SPOILER ALERT: After watching TGE and seeing James Coburn and Charles Bronson make it to safety, I really couldn't handle Mag7 and watching them get killed while STINKIN' HORTZ BUCHOLZ LIVES. Yeah. Anyways. END SPOILER ALERT.

AND, since my oldest brother moved out last month (and took all his Steve McQueen films with him), there was nothing else to watch....except Wanted: Dead or Alive. All three seasons of it. Of course W:DoA is one of THE coolest westerns EVER. So, it was perfectly fine. I put a disc in on play-all. Currently, I am still watching Wanted: Dead or Alive. 

It's kind of addicting.

So, Josh Randall is a bounty hunter. And THE coolest bounty hunter ever. He carries around a sawed-off shotgun and brings in crazy-scary outlaws. And he basically does it just for the money. Yeah. I mean, in one episode he refuses to help some nuns save another nun who was taken hostage by some outlaws...BECAUSE THEY CAN'T PAY HIM. That's just Josh Randall (he does of course save the nun and catch the outlaws by the end...sheesh.)

Anyway, I have harrible headache and am going back to my room to watch more westerns. Have a wunderbar day....and really...I WOULDN'T suggest watching any Steve McQueen. Seriously.

-Millie

October Smiles At You...

The title of this post comes from a card I made many, many years ago! My oldest sister makes THE coolest cards ever, using old books, magazines, and such! Once, when I was like 8 I was making cards with her and trying to be all poetic...so I cut out this chapter of a book that said "October Smiles At You". This card just needed to be sent to someone...in September. I still have this card. Without fail I find it-- every November. I'LL SEND TO SOMEONE EVENTUALLY. That person will be very lucky. ;-D

Okay, anyway...

I absolutely loved Kate's mix of the month. I had to steal the idea. So, here is my mix for October, that I have been listening to all month. Unfortunately, I had to leave out some of the awesome songs. HOW DOES THIS SITE NOT HAVE "ROLL ON COLUMBIA, ROLL ON" BY WOODY GUTHRIE?! A grievous error.

But, anyways...

Have an awesome last 10 days of October!

Suicidal Laptops, Thomas Paine, Mrs. Brown's Lovely Daughter, and OTHER Leprachaunishness....

KUSHAY!
So. I have regrettably been away from my blog for far too long. IT'S NOT MY FAULT. I promise! ;-D

My laptop committed suicide, so I've been having to get by with the...cue ominous music...."family computer". Basically, I've been barely even doing my homework. AND, I HAVEN'T EVEN TALKED TO KATE IN LIKE THREE DAYS.

Care to hear about the harrible (yeah, I'm still talking like Shirley MacLaine) incidents surround my laptop's suicide?!

It was so-so day in the life of The Millie. But, it was about to get a lot better, because I was home from college.

AND, I had a glass of delicious, iced Organic Santa Cruz Mango Tea. It kinda makes life worthwhile (p.s. I bought said tea with final remaining pennies). I set my laptop, Arnold, on my desk, plugged it in and turned it on. I turned away to grab something...and....SMASH!....SPLASH! My laptop was flat on the ground...screen down....with mango tea all over it. It's IMPOSSIBLE to even think that I may have accidentally tripped on the charging cord. It was definitely a case of suicide.
I had exactly six days left on my warranty (I've had the computer less than a year), so I sent it in. I got word yesterday that the motherboard is fried and that is the one thing that is not covered by my warranty and if I want them to repair Arnold it will cost me $380. But, unfortunately, I had already spent my life's savings on that glass of mango tea, sooo....

ANYWAY, moving on to Thomas Paine. Mere moments ago, I finished an essay about the similarities between his and Phillis Wheatley's writing. They are both pretty awesome! (This adds nothing to my blog post. It just made the title of my post more symmetrical!)

Now, to the "vintage" part of my post!

So, today did not look to be going exactly excellently...just from the morning. So there I was sitting on a bus heading to college. I had my MP3 player on shuffle and was staring listlessly out the window. SUDDENLY, "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter" (Herman's Hermits) started playing. Who knows how it got on my player, but I just started laughing so hard. Peter Noone just sounds like a little leprechaun. A little British accented leprechaun.When it got the line: "Walkin' about, even in a crowd, well, you'll pick her out, makes a bloke feel so proud" I SERIOUSLY thought he was going to sing, "makes an elf feel so proud". Well, this dumb, little song from the 60's highly brightened my mood today! And NOW, on top of always saying, "Harrible" like Shirley MacLaine, I'll only ever be able to say "Lulvely" like Peter Noone.

So, how are you guys?! And BTW, if possible, send me the link to your latest posts. Minus my computer, I sort of forgot my password to Bloglovin' and sorta haven't been able to read any blog posts! :-/

Have a lulvely day!

-Millie

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CASEY!

Happy Birthday Auntie Casey! You're the coolest auntie ever, ever, ever, ever! ;-D

And, I hope you have the best birthday ever!

Hedy Lamar has come to celebrate!

And Amy Adams is bringing food!

And, I think I stole this from your Tumblr! ;-D

Have a stupendously amazingly cool day!

-Millie

"I'm never illegal--- just close to it."

The Wheeler Dealers (1963) was a truly a movie MADE for James Garner! I mean, who else could play a Boston born, Yale-educated conman who has everyone thinking he's a sweet, little Texan boy...with such charm?!

I, being the viewer knew everything that was going on....AND HE STINKIN' FOOLED ME.

This movie just offered so much awesome mind-smushing entertainment. And not mind-smushing in the Frankie + Annette way, but in intelligent mind-smushing way. (I'm being completely serious by the way. I think the thesis of my next research paper for college is RIGHT HERE. ;-D)

Basically, I'm trying to say...it was brilliantly hilarious!

Lines like: "That's the way the Popsicle melts. " and "What are you taking...HAPPY PILLS?!" will now be said constantly by me. MWAHAHAHAHA!

James Garner is clearly the star and chief scene-stealer (except he never even has to steal them), and that is usually the case when James Garner shows up in a movie. But, Lee Remick is also quite amazing! She plays the only female at her particular Wall Street company, who is soon going to be fired because of her gender. (They need to cut back on costs...she's "clearly" the only "logical" choice!) UNLESS she can unload a bundle of worthless stocks from a company that no one has ever heard of, the makers of the Universal Widget!

The supporting cast is of course equally brilliant:

Pat Crowley, Jim Backus, Chill Wills, Elliot Reid, Robert Strauss, Charles Lane, and Phil Harris are just a few!

I have nothing else to say about this Wowzie Kazam film. I am quite sorry. But, I am tired. And, I'm being forced to use the "family computer". My own laptop unfortunately decided to commit suicide last night by jumping off my desk and taking a full glass of organic iced mango tea with it! (The "organic" really was relevant to that sentence.) It's a sad day.

I leave you with this:

Lee Remick: I don't understand. How can you buy something when you don't even know what it is?
Chill Wills: Well, you see, ma'am, Henry here is a real wheeler dealer. And a wheeler dealer is somebody that loves to find places for money to go. It's like hitchin' on to a star. You may zoom up to the sky on a mighty pretty ride.
Lee Remick: And if the star falls?
James Garner:Well, then I find some way for the, uh, government to take three-quarters of the loss.


I would recommend this movie to anyone! SERIOUSLY! Go watch it! (And if you want a real synopsis/review, check out IMDb! ;-D) I seriously can't understand why this movie has never been released on DVD, but currently it is available for purchase ($5 to cover supplies and shipping) at Silents and Talkies! Thanks Kate for sending me a copy! :-D

Photo of the Day!

James Dean hasn't shown up in awhile, so...how about him in a garbage can signing autographs?!

The coolness never ends here.