August 2022 - Film and TV

August is done and the end of summer is near! I feel like once labour day goes by my brain starts going into fall mode. This past week the weather has started to cool down....well... mostly in the lower 20s, so not exactly cold. But we did have two mornings were we woke up to 12 degrees so its a bit chilly for August. Anyway this post isn't about the weather !  Its about the movies and TV shows I've watched this month ! I've been super busy trying to fit in as many activities at the end of summer that I haven't had much time to watch movies. You will see the difference in the amount of movies I watch once the cold weather starts. But for now this is the August round up! 

AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (1951) 

8/10. Another technicolour musical! This one is An American In Paris starting Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron. and I'm about to admit something.... The only movie I've seen starring Gene Kelly is Singing in the Rain. Which happens to be one of my Favourite Movies!  Not sure why I've never seen his other movies but TCM was having a Gene Kelly special and I happened to catch this one!  I thought it was amazing! 

And even tho Gene Kelly is the start of the picture I think Leslie Caron stole the show! It's hard to believe this was her first film! She was a ballet dancer and was discovered by Gene Kelly and his wife. She was perfect for this role!  She has a very sweet on screen presence and I love the way she speaks. She is also an incredible dancer! You see her showcasing her dancing skills in a brightly coloured montage (see photo above) which if you are on the vintage side of social media you've seen this dance number before. And there is also a 15-17 min ballet dance sequence at the end of the film that I found breathtaking. My favourite part of the dance sequence was the bit at the flower market (see below) 

I don't know how much time and money was spent on sets and costumes alone! everything was done to perfection! I gave the movie an 8/10 because I felt the ending was a bit rushed (story wise) it didn't really explain much and there were some loose ends. But it was entertaining and worth watching! I think I'm going to check out some other Gene Kelly Movies. (Although I might be biased in my love for Fred Astaire Movies)

GREASE (1978) 

100000/10! MY FAVOURITE MOVIE. If you haven't seen Grease please get out from under that rock you've been living under. We've all seen Grease and we all love it. I think it's also the reason why I started getting interested in vintage clothing. I actually have an almost exact replica of the dress sandy wears on their diner date (See above) its a true 1950s vintage dress and it looks almost the exact same (even down to the tiny polka dots). This is also my moms favourite movie so I watched it A LOT when I was little. I had to see it once I heard the news about Olivia Newton John... it was heartbreaking to hear about her passing. 

They actually played it at my local Drive in Theatre so I HAD to go see it. I love going to the drive in and this was the perfect movie to see ! I love all of the songs but I think my favourite one is summer lovin.  I love boy/girl perspective duets, the contrast between the ultra feminine and ultra masculine is my favourite in any musical.

I don't think I have anything else to say about Grease other than its sheer perfection and everyone should watch it weekly!  This movie should be featured every month on my blog,  I watch it all the time but I try to feature other movies. This month I didn't watch much tv so I decided to include it. 

THE WEDDING NIGHT (1935) 

6/10. I had high hopes for this movie. I've been wanting to explore more movies from the 1930s because I love the fashion. They are a bit harder to come by and they require a bit more digging to find and they aren't talked about much compared to other time periods (There are less of them).  I stumbled upon a DVD of the wedding night at a grocery store a few weeks ago (super random I know) But since I rarely see DVDs being sold these days (I usually get them at the thrift store) let alone from movies from the 30s I decided to give it a try! it was a dark rainy day so thought it would be the perfect backdrop to watch a movie. 

It wasn't as good as I thought it would be.... The ending was also really sad and totally unexpected given the tone of the rest of the film. It's also set in the countryside and I'm not much of a country girl lol so that made it a bit harder to relate to. I think the best part was Gary Cooper of course (He's so dreamy!) and Anna Sten's hair!  I'm tempted to cut mine short enough to style it like that.  I don't think I'll watch it again, it was a bit boring for me..  but I will look up for Gary Cooper movies to watch but I would sure love to watch more of him *wink*. I couldn't find a trailer but the whole movie is on youtube so I linked it above. 

And that pretty much wraps up the Films I watched this month. I'm sorry this post is so short, but like I said I haven't spent much time at home this month. I also didn't have any new TV shows to share. I'm still not done watching Mad Men, I feel like It's taken me over a  year to get through it. Once I finish it I'll do a review! The fall is coming up and that brings the cold weather and earlier sunsets so that means more time for Movies!  I also have my fingers crossed that the movie theatres will have new releases that aren't superhero movies. We are in desperate need of a good feminine movie.  Also I'm a bit torn on my September/October film review posts. September I wanted to focus on watching fall themed movies (Makes sense) and October I normally watch horror. Bit since I do these posts at the end of the month there is no point in sharing horror movies after halloween is over. So you might see an additional film/Tv review post early in October focusing on horror movies. ! Let me know your thoughts!