Elvis on American Idol: How They Did It

I swear, this is the last thing I'm going to say about this Elvis business. But if you care at all, you won't want to miss this video from 2 Live Fools on how it was done.

Elvis + Celine = Creepy

There's only one video on YouTube of Elvis and Celine's performance on American Idol last night and the quality isn't great, but here it is:



I can't stop watching!

Elvis on American Idol

That's right, Elvis was on American Idol tonight. Singing with Celine Dion. There's only one word to describe such a scene: disturbing. Disturbing partly because they took Elvis out of a video from the 60's and managed to make it look like he was standing on stage next to Celine...it actually looked kind of real. Kind of.

Disturbing mostly because Celine Dion was involved.

There were a lot of strange camera angles and such, because apparently, in the 60's, they thought crazy angles and close ups were the way to go. So they'd show all these close ups and then stick Celine in the background. Yeah, it was weird. Here's the video.

I can't say that it's not worth a viewing. It was pretty interesting and very original I guess, but I'm pretty sure Elvis is rolling over in his grave right now. If he's dead...

Birthday Round-up

This is a big week for birthdays. Birthdays of people I like. Today is Barbra Streisand and Shirley MacLaine's birthday. I don't know that I'd say I like Barbra, but she's alright.

I went through a Shirley Maclaine stage not long ago. She's pretty great. I had avoided watching Terms of Endearment for a long time mostly because I heard how incredibly depressing it was. But when you're in a Shirley MacLaine stage, you can't just ignore it. So I rented it and yes, it is depressing, but its amazingness more than makes up for the pain it causes. My other favorite Shirley MacLaine movie is a rather obscure one called Used People. It's actually the movie that started my whole Shirley MacLaine stage. Much to my dismay, it does not yet exist on DVD. To celebrate Shirley's birthday, TCM is showing a couple of her movies this afternoon, followed by her Private Screenings interview. Should be good!

The other birthday this week is Carol Burnett, on the 26th. I love Carol Burnett. She's absolutely one of my favorites since I was a kid. I watched the Carol Burnett Show all the time, and I wanted to be a comedian because of her. I also enjoyed her in Annie as Miss Hannigan. Nobody's ever said, "she hadda go bathroom" quite like her. I've spent many years trying to copy it, to no avail. I was delighted to see her the other night on the TVLand awards, honoring Lucille Ball, my other favorite! Lucy's kids were there to accept the award, it was all very cute.

So there you have it, the birthday round-up for the week of April 23, 2007.

The Next Voice You Hear...

Last week I was incessantly flipping through my many cable channels, finding nothing interesting, as usual. I finally landed on my very favorite channel, TCM...they never let me down. They happened to be showing this crazy movie called The Next Voice You Hear...

I came in about a half hour into it, so I wasn't quite sure what was going on, but I couldn't stop watching! I was first intrigued by the woman in it who was acting as if she was going into labor but was strangely thin for a pregnant woman. I can only deduce that it was apparently indecent for a women to look pregnant on screen. Oh, the fifties. She also looked rather familiar, but I just couldn't put my finger on it. I looked it up and found it was Nancy Reagan (Nancy Davis at that time). It was definitely my first Nancy Reagan movie...kinda strange.

Anyway, from what I could tell when I started watching, the story was revolving around a very stereotypical 50's type family consisting of pregnant mom, kind of boring dad and adolescent son. One evening while everyone was huddled around their radio, God broke in precisely at 8pm with a special message for mankind. He began to broadcast every night at 8, and the townspeople (along with the entire world, apparently) listened each night in anticipation. Most of them were just confused, but some thought it was the end of the world and proceeded to freak everyone else out with their crazy antics. It was basically a mix between Leave it to Beaver and The Twilight Zone.

I won't spoil the end for you in case there's any chance that you might watch it some day, which is unlikely. But just in case, I'll keep it to myself. It's definitely worth a watch, if only for it's painfully stereotypical 50's feel with a sort of failed attempt at being creepy. And also Nancy Reagan.

Wait Until Dark

We had our second Old Movie Night this weekend featuring Wait Until Dark. It was quite a success I think.

Wait Until Dark is scary. It stars Audrey Hepburn and Alan Arkin. She's blind, some guys are after her because she has this doll stuffed with heroin, and just about the whole movie takes place in her apartment. Not your typical Audrey Hepburn movie. I had seen it quite awhile ago, but I've mostly just caught random parts when it's been on tv over the years. So it had been awhile since I'd seen the whole thing. It's really an excellent movie, and there was a great moment where just about everyone in the room screamed and jumped. Luckily, I knew what was coming, so I just got to observe everyone else's shock, and then laugh at them.

If you're looking for a good suspenseful movie with some Audrey Hepburn action, this one's for you. It's very well made, and manages to stay away from most of the 60's movie corniness. But really, how can an Audrey Hepburn movie possibly be corny? The DVD has a few special features, and I'm tempted to add it to my collection.

It seemed to please the younger audience...everyone was pretty into it. They always seem surprised that these movies are in color. I guess when people think "old movie" they think black and white. So next month we're definitely showing a black and white film. I can't wait!

My Favorite iTunes Radio Stations

I recently rediscovered the little radio feature on iTunes. When it first came out awhile back I listened to it regularly, but then I kind of forgot about it. They have hundreds of radio stations playing a lot of completely random and sometimes weird music. It's great. As if I don't already have more than enough music to listen to!

Anyway, I found the best radio station to ever exist called Martini in the Morning. They basically just play standards...Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Ella Fitzgerald and the like. You can also listen to it from their website, www.martiniinthemorning.com. I highly recommend it.

My other favorite iTunes radio station is called Illinois Street Lounge on SomaFM. Not exactly sure what that means. Their description reads: "Classic bachelor pad, playful exotica and vintage music of tomorrow." I don't really know what that means either, but if I was in charge of writing their description, it would go something like this: "Random instrumental pop songs that go on forever and could have easily been taken straight out of a 60's Doris Day movie or Napoleon Dynamite."

Other great stations include Beatles-a-Rama, an all show tunes station, and Fistful of Soundtracks, all movie music. They seem to be adding new stations all the time...who knows what will come up next!

Easter Parade P.S.

My favorite part of watching Easter Parade last night came when one of my guy friends likened Fred Astaire's slow motion dancing during Steppin' Out With My Baby to The Matrix. Fred was pretty ahead of his time, I guess. I love watching musicals with a bunch of twenty-somethings.

Easter Parade

Instead of watching The Passion of the Christ to celebrate Easter like a good Christian, I went ahead and made my friends (and some family) watch the Judy Garland classic, Easter Parade. It's a pretty perfect musical...good songs, a few laughs, Judy Garland. It's not my favorite Judy movie, but it's pretty great. Fred Astaire always seemed too old for her, and he was, but after enough viewings you come to accept it. Gene Kelly was originally slated to play Fred's character, but he injured himself and couldn't do it. Fred Astaire came out of retirement to take the part. I'm much more comfortable with Fred in a top hat anyway. I always kind of wished she would just end up with Peter Lawford, he's much cuter and has a British accent, but I think we all know that's just not possible. Not in a musical anyway.

They came out with a 2 disc DVDa couple years ago and I recommend it if you haven't picked it up already. It has quite a few great features including two documentaries...one about the movie and one about Judy...plus an outtake of the entire Mr. Monotony song. Some clips of Mr. Monotony showed up in That's Entertainment 3, but not the whole song. So the DVD is definitely a must for any Judy fan!

Wizard of Oz at McDonald's

I hate to admit it, but I kind of enjoy McDonald's every so often. At the moment, I'm sitting at my desk munching on my chicken nuggets with honey and enjoying them immensely. But my chicken nuggets with honey are not the best part of my meal today, nor are they my reason for visiting McDonald's in the first place. That honor goes to the sweet toy I got with my Happy Meal. That's right, McDonald's is giving away Wizard of Oz Madame Alexander dolls in Happy Meals. Apparently this has been going on for a couple of weeks and I was unfortunately unaware. Now I'm trying to catch up and collect them all which means I will be eating way too many fake chicken nuggets in the next few weeks. But sometimes you have to take one for the team. The team being me. So far, I have Dorothy and the Wicked Witch of the West. There are 8 total, so yes, I still have a ways to go.

In other Judy Garland news, I learned today that The Pirate will be coming out on DVD in the kind of near future. It's been ages since I've watched this movie. Mostly because the only copy I have of it is taped off the TV and not in the best shape. It's not really one of my favorite Judy movies, but it has some hilarious moments, and I am looking forward to watching the DVD.

Happy Birthday Debbie Reynolds! (Continued)

While looking through my Debbie Reynolds pictures, I found some (possibly illegal) videos I took of the show. I can't believe I forgot, but she did do a Judy Garland medley. It was amazing. She said that Judy is one of her favorites. :) So here's a video of the Judy medley...

Happy Birthday Debbie Reynolds!

That's right, today is Debbie Reynolds 75th birthday. Debbie is always a good time. I can't say I've seen a ton of Debbie movies, but I did see her live last year which was great! I took some photos (I don't think I was supposed to) and they didn't turn out too well, but you get the idea. She puts on a good show, and she's completely hilarious. I was thoroughly impressed with everything she does, especially at her age. She does a fabulous impression of Barbara Streisand, but the best part is when she shows clips from her movies and sings along with them. She also has a great montage of old movie bloopers that she shows...stuff you probably won't see anywhere else. I highly recommend the show, if you ever get the chance to go.

So, to celebrate, I'm watching Singin' in the Rain on TCM! I love TCM. And Debbie Reynolds.