What a glorious feeling
May. 20th, 2008 02:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jadesfireI am currently working on taking full advantage of the free webspace the university gives me to create a website for my fanfic. Except the way you upload files has changed, and I'm now supposed to use a special SFTP and download a program onto my computer and learn how to use it and seriously, the instructions make it look like rocket science, even if it isn't. *sigh* I will do battle with it at some point, but that's going to have to wait until my brain feels like learning something new.
To help it along, I've signed up for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
gateverse_remix, and heartily encourage anyone else who's eligible to do so – you need to have written at least 5 Stargate universe stories of 1000 words or more. The deadline is two weeks after the sgabigbang one, and since I've finally sent my tardis_bigbang story off for final beta (hoorah!) and know what I'm doing for most of the timestamp memes, I can get down to some work on it. If I've got the two of them on the go at the same time, I should get more done – I work better that way, and hopefully won't blow braincells, the way I did with my Jack-fic. (and I'm not giving anything away by saying that, because would anyone have seriously guessed that my fic wasn't Jack-centric?)
My posting has been a bit grumbly lately – lots of moaning and complaining and down-ness – and I've been terrible about commenting, which means I haven't been chatting to people like usual. I feel like I haven't spoken to some of you in months, although LJ has its own space/time continuum, so it was probably actually just a couple of days. Still. *waves to everyone* How you doing? I'm still pretty down most of the time, but I know why and am doing stuff about it. It doesn't solve the problem, not yet, but at least I don't feel like I'm taking it lying down.
Thanks for all the offers of fic last night! I have a list of about 12 stories now, that should keep me going for a while.
Also last night, I went to see "Singin' in the Rain". At the cinema! The Times are running a series of offers, where you can get 2 tickets for £5 to see a classic film. They recently published their list of 100 greatest movies, and have chosen about 10 that they consider to be landmarks in film-making. They show for one night only, and if last night is anything to go by, there are lots and lots of tickets available!
"Singin' in the Rain" was the first classic film I remember seeing. At the age of eight, I'd heard of Fred Astaire, but not Gene Kelly. Then my grandparents, who used to record things for us, recorded "State Fair" and "Singin' in the Rain" on the same tape at Christmas. The former I found a little dull, although there are some wonderfully funny moments. But from my first viewing of the latter, I was hooked.
I like Fred Astaire, although in "The Band Wagon" and "Silk Stockings" and "Easter Parade" rather than the Ginger Rogers films, but Gene Kelly just bypasses my brain when he dances. In terms of choreography and pure art, "An American in Paris" is probably the better film. For sheer joy and fun and humour and pleasure, "Singin' in the Rain" cannot be beaten. It's sunshine on the screen, every time.
Seeing it on the big screen, not only meant I could see it better, but it was definitely the digitally remastered copy, which was sharp and bright, much more so than I'd expected. And alright, it didn't do much favours to the make-up department – John Barrowman's got nothing on Kelly when it comes to permatan – but that really, really didn't matter. Seeing it like that, where I was there specifically to see the film, also meant I could notice things that I don't normally see. The energy of the film is extraordinary, and you start to realise just how well crafted it is.
The pacing is superb, the mixture of humour and romance works really well, and watching Kelly not only satirize 1920s Hollywood, but also his own career, is a joy to behold. He's not the greatest actor or singer to ever grace the silver screen, but he was a lot better than I think he's often given credit for. The Don Lockwood in the films within the film genuinely isn't that great an actor. He does make a lot of dumb show, he is over the top, even after they've made the film into a musical. Which means he's a different persona to the one who falls in love with Cathy. It's a great performance.
Of course, what comes across most strongly is how much fun he's having. Debbie Reynolds had trouble keeping up, but Donald O'Connor matches him step for step in most of the dance routines, and you can see how much they're both loving it. 'Moses Supposes' is probably my favourite set-piece of the film, even more so than the title song, because it's just two guys, enjoying themselves. This is their banter, their way of kicking back and relaxing. It's wonderful.
The ballet sequence is unusual, in that Debbie Reynolds' dancing just wasn't good enough for it, and so instead of dancing opposite his leading lady, Kelly drafted in Cyd Charisse ('longest legs in Hollywood', and who went on to give incredible performances in "Band Wagon" and "Silk Stockings" with Fred Astaire) to take the part of the femme fatale. It's pure indulgence, of course, and part of the convention of how musicals were made at the time, but it does give us the most fabulous, sexy sequence in the nightclub. The two of them are so well matched, that I was half-holding my breath all the way through, although I must have seen the film at least twice a year since I was ten.
The other thing that really makes "Singin' in the Rain" stand out is the wittiness of the script. It's one of the most quotable musicals ever made, with line after line that you miss unless you're listening for them. Donald O'Connor as Cosmo Brown gets most of the best ones, but my all-time favourite is Don's to Lena, trying to tell her that they're not really engaged: There is nothing between us. There has never been anything between us. Just air. But there's line after line that you miss if you're not really listening for them, and I'm sure there are visual references that I miss because I'm living a few decades too late.
Because that's the best thing about "Singin' in the Rain". The people making it, the people performing in it, the people watching it (or many of them, anyway) would have remembered the era of silent movies, would have remembered the transition to talkies, and the huge upheaval in Hollywood as a result. Gene Kelly would have been 15 in 1927, when the film is set. Arthur Freed, who ran the musicals at MGM through the '40s and '50s, would have been in his mid-thirties, and without talkies, he wouldn't have had a career (being a song-writer and lyricist). This wasn't just history, this was their history, and the mixture of affection, humour and gentle mocking that this brings to the film really makes a difference on the screen.
I could go on. I could talk about the trivia, about how Debbie Reynolds' feet were bleeding in 'Good Mornin'' because of the all the takes Gene Kelly made them do, and that's why she quite often stands on something for them to dance round her. About how the rain in the "Singin' in the Rain' sequence was water and milk, because water on its own doesn't show up on screen. About how Gene Kelly had a fever while he was dancing it. About how 'Make 'em Laugh' is a rip off of the Cole Porter song 'Be a Clown', which featured in "The Pirate" starring Judy Garland and Gene Kelly, and how they were filming it the day Porter visited the set.
I could go on. But at some point I'm going to hit the posting limit, so I should probably stop there. If you've never seen this film, rent it, borrow it, get your hands on it somehow, and just indulge. You won't need to switch off your brain - in fact, I suggest leaving it on - but it's hard to finish it without a warm glow of happiness.
Or, in my case, bouncing across the car park afterwards. But that's probably just me.
I now have the urge to replace ALL my icons with classic film ones. I shall probably resist.
Probably.
To help it along, I've signed up for
gateverse_remix, and heartily encourage anyone else who's eligible to do so – you need to have written at least 5 Stargate universe stories of 1000 words or more. The deadline is two weeks after the sgabigbang one, and since I've finally sent my tardis_bigbang story off for final beta (hoorah!) and know what I'm doing for most of the timestamp memes, I can get down to some work on it. If I've got the two of them on the go at the same time, I should get more done – I work better that way, and hopefully won't blow braincells, the way I did with my Jack-fic. (and I'm not giving anything away by saying that, because would anyone have seriously guessed that my fic wasn't Jack-centric?)My posting has been a bit grumbly lately – lots of moaning and complaining and down-ness – and I've been terrible about commenting, which means I haven't been chatting to people like usual. I feel like I haven't spoken to some of you in months, although LJ has its own space/time continuum, so it was probably actually just a couple of days. Still. *waves to everyone* How you doing? I'm still pretty down most of the time, but I know why and am doing stuff about it. It doesn't solve the problem, not yet, but at least I don't feel like I'm taking it lying down.
Thanks for all the offers of fic last night! I have a list of about 12 stories now, that should keep me going for a while.
Also last night, I went to see "Singin' in the Rain". At the cinema! The Times are running a series of offers, where you can get 2 tickets for £5 to see a classic film. They recently published their list of 100 greatest movies, and have chosen about 10 that they consider to be landmarks in film-making. They show for one night only, and if last night is anything to go by, there are lots and lots of tickets available!
"Singin' in the Rain" was the first classic film I remember seeing. At the age of eight, I'd heard of Fred Astaire, but not Gene Kelly. Then my grandparents, who used to record things for us, recorded "State Fair" and "Singin' in the Rain" on the same tape at Christmas. The former I found a little dull, although there are some wonderfully funny moments. But from my first viewing of the latter, I was hooked.
I like Fred Astaire, although in "The Band Wagon" and "Silk Stockings" and "Easter Parade" rather than the Ginger Rogers films, but Gene Kelly just bypasses my brain when he dances. In terms of choreography and pure art, "An American in Paris" is probably the better film. For sheer joy and fun and humour and pleasure, "Singin' in the Rain" cannot be beaten. It's sunshine on the screen, every time.
Seeing it on the big screen, not only meant I could see it better, but it was definitely the digitally remastered copy, which was sharp and bright, much more so than I'd expected. And alright, it didn't do much favours to the make-up department – John Barrowman's got nothing on Kelly when it comes to permatan – but that really, really didn't matter. Seeing it like that, where I was there specifically to see the film, also meant I could notice things that I don't normally see. The energy of the film is extraordinary, and you start to realise just how well crafted it is.
The pacing is superb, the mixture of humour and romance works really well, and watching Kelly not only satirize 1920s Hollywood, but also his own career, is a joy to behold. He's not the greatest actor or singer to ever grace the silver screen, but he was a lot better than I think he's often given credit for. The Don Lockwood in the films within the film genuinely isn't that great an actor. He does make a lot of dumb show, he is over the top, even after they've made the film into a musical. Which means he's a different persona to the one who falls in love with Cathy. It's a great performance.
Of course, what comes across most strongly is how much fun he's having. Debbie Reynolds had trouble keeping up, but Donald O'Connor matches him step for step in most of the dance routines, and you can see how much they're both loving it. 'Moses Supposes' is probably my favourite set-piece of the film, even more so than the title song, because it's just two guys, enjoying themselves. This is their banter, their way of kicking back and relaxing. It's wonderful.
The ballet sequence is unusual, in that Debbie Reynolds' dancing just wasn't good enough for it, and so instead of dancing opposite his leading lady, Kelly drafted in Cyd Charisse ('longest legs in Hollywood', and who went on to give incredible performances in "Band Wagon" and "Silk Stockings" with Fred Astaire) to take the part of the femme fatale. It's pure indulgence, of course, and part of the convention of how musicals were made at the time, but it does give us the most fabulous, sexy sequence in the nightclub. The two of them are so well matched, that I was half-holding my breath all the way through, although I must have seen the film at least twice a year since I was ten.
The other thing that really makes "Singin' in the Rain" stand out is the wittiness of the script. It's one of the most quotable musicals ever made, with line after line that you miss unless you're listening for them. Donald O'Connor as Cosmo Brown gets most of the best ones, but my all-time favourite is Don's to Lena, trying to tell her that they're not really engaged: There is nothing between us. There has never been anything between us. Just air. But there's line after line that you miss if you're not really listening for them, and I'm sure there are visual references that I miss because I'm living a few decades too late.
Because that's the best thing about "Singin' in the Rain". The people making it, the people performing in it, the people watching it (or many of them, anyway) would have remembered the era of silent movies, would have remembered the transition to talkies, and the huge upheaval in Hollywood as a result. Gene Kelly would have been 15 in 1927, when the film is set. Arthur Freed, who ran the musicals at MGM through the '40s and '50s, would have been in his mid-thirties, and without talkies, he wouldn't have had a career (being a song-writer and lyricist). This wasn't just history, this was their history, and the mixture of affection, humour and gentle mocking that this brings to the film really makes a difference on the screen.
I could go on. I could talk about the trivia, about how Debbie Reynolds' feet were bleeding in 'Good Mornin'' because of the all the takes Gene Kelly made them do, and that's why she quite often stands on something for them to dance round her. About how the rain in the "Singin' in the Rain' sequence was water and milk, because water on its own doesn't show up on screen. About how Gene Kelly had a fever while he was dancing it. About how 'Make 'em Laugh' is a rip off of the Cole Porter song 'Be a Clown', which featured in "The Pirate" starring Judy Garland and Gene Kelly, and how they were filming it the day Porter visited the set.
I could go on. But at some point I'm going to hit the posting limit, so I should probably stop there. If you've never seen this film, rent it, borrow it, get your hands on it somehow, and just indulge. You won't need to switch off your brain - in fact, I suggest leaving it on - but it's hard to finish it without a warm glow of happiness.
Or, in my case, bouncing across the car park afterwards. But that's probably just me.
I now have the urge to replace ALL my icons with classic film ones. I shall probably resist.
Probably.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2008-05-20 01:33 pm (UTC)I have seen it - frequently - but you've made me want to dust my DVD copy off and play it again as soon as possible!
(no subject)
Date: 2008-05-20 01:36 pm (UTC)My work here is done.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-05-20 01:44 pm (UTC)... Colin Baker in Singing In the Rain, yo. *giggles*
(no subject)
Date: 2008-05-20 01:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-05-20 01:46 pm (UTC)YES.
I watched the film on a big screen at the beginning of the year, and it was so much fun. And Moses Supposes is my favorite song too! And I also bounce across the car park (or kitchen, whatever) after watching the movie!
My favorite lines are Cosmo's "At last I can start/stop suffering and write that symphony". And one of my favorite things are how easily Don and Cosmo manipulate RF, and how he cooperates with them, not being the evil corporate boss he so easily could have been.
And thank you for the trivia! I did not know the things you mentioned, and they are awesome to know. The only piece of trivia I know (which I think is correct?) is that when Kathy's dubbing Lina's voice, the voice is actually Lina's actress's herself herself.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-05-20 02:00 pm (UTC)According to the IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045152/trivia) some of my trivia is wrong, but I was close ;)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-05-20 02:50 pm (UTC)I actually love old movies in general. My mother used to have the habit of doing the ironing in front of whatever black and white war film/classic musical was on in the afternoon, and it's a habit I picked up as a child.
At the risk of sounding dumb, what's a remix challenge? I've seen a couple of fics labelled that they were written as part of one, but never quite had the patience to go and read the rules. Not that I qualify, with my one good, one rubbish, and two less-than-1000-words SGA fics, but I'm still intrigued, especially since I'm hopefully going to end up beta-ing the results :D
(no subject)
Date: 2008-05-20 03:34 pm (UTC)I was brought up on classic films too - they're much more fun than modern ones. Definitely need more icons...
A remix is more or less what it sounds like. You take someone's story, and you re-tell it, often from a different point of view, or fleshing out a tiny detail, or filling in a gap. You have to keep the basic plot, but other than that, you can mess with it as much as you like. The user info for the challenge is a good place to get an idea for it, and you can have a look at last year's entries. I wanted to do the really big RemixRedux, but it clashed with the Tardis Big Bang and SGA Genficathon. tackling the Stargate one is much less scary :D
(no subject)
Date: 2008-05-20 03:04 pm (UTC)"Make them Laugh" was always one of my favorites, it's silly and fun and just impossible not to smile or laugh while watching!
I haven't written 5 1000 word SGA stories so I can't do the remix thing, but I'd be happy to help beta/cheerlead if you're signing up!
(no subject)
Date: 2008-05-20 03:35 pm (UTC)The people across the aisle had brought their eight-ish year old daughter, who giggled through the whole of that. It was great :)
Thanks for the offer - I'm hoping it'll be a nice break after the intensity of the SGA Big Bang, which I shall definitely recruit you to cheelead for :D
(no subject)
Date: 2008-05-20 04:38 pm (UTC)How you doing?
I'm okay. I'm done with my one class and just returned from visiting my friend in Vancouver Island, so things are pretty good.
I'm still pretty down most of the time, but I know why and am doing stuff about it. It doesn't solve the problem, not yet, but at least I don't feel like I'm taking it lying down.
I'm sorry to hear that you're still feeling down. That really sucks. You seem to have a good attitude about combating it, though, which is admirable. Good for you!
Also, I don't know if you saw my last post, but: do you chat on AIM or Y!IM? If so, what's your SN? I'd love to chat with you at some point.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-05-20 06:45 pm (UTC)How was your trip? My impression is that Vancouver Island is very green and beautiful.
I hang onto my good attitude, because it stops me going under - as long as I can stay determined and slightly cross, it gives me the energy to plough on.
I know how to use IM, but don't very often, mostly because I have limited internet time as it is, and tend to start talking and realise half an hour later that I'm supposed to be doing something else! Sorry :(
(no subject)
Date: 2008-05-20 06:44 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-05-20 07:48 pm (UTC)I think my mom has a copy - I bet my she and my grammy would love to rewatch it sometime this week. :)