I probably shouldn't but...

Dirty Harry movies? But, they are kind of violent.

Ummm...Steve McQueen and 'Bullit'? And there is another one, maybe 'Vanishing Point'? Or is that just a guy/car flick? Or 'Duel'? Isn't that one about a guy in a truck harrassing a guy in a car? Maybe not a good one.

Smokey and the Bandit? Can't say I've seen them but aren't they car flicks?

We saw 'Get Smart' tonight. I really liked it. Made me really want to watch the old shows and to find out the status of Don Adams.

The Italian Job (the remake) had some cool car chase scenes...

Yes, King of Kong is excellent. I'll add to that same mandatory viewing list Darkon, 2006. Not a great movie, but very interesting in an ultra-niche group sort of way.

Yes, the others were all professional dancers, except for Russ Tamblin who it was discovered could dance up a storm with an acrobatic flair. But, being actors, that's why Adam and Benjamin are 10 times hotter than any of the other brothers.


OMG, this is my favorite musical ever. I want to watch it right now.


The DVD has the weirdest extra ever. The film was shot twice ... once in CinemaScope and once in standard aspect ratio. The latter version is on the DVD and it's like watching the same movie, but with the takes that have zero ooomph and would have been rejected. Same movie, shot for shot, but without the zest that makes this film fantastic. So.Frelling.Bizarre.

I'm pretty sure that Oklahoma was also shot in two different aspect ratios. Without looking it up, I seem to remember that one was the novel "Todd-AO".

Yes, I saw a doco where they showed both side by side for a couple of scenes. Now I'm wondering which version of SBFSB I have...

I don't know if any of the brothers were gay, but one of the dancers is! Tommy Rall, who plays Frank, is openly gay.

Caleb is my favorite. One of little JW's earliest screen crushes. :D He also had a bit part (sans beard) in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. He was one of the shirtless athletes in the “Anyone Here for Love?" number. I have a picture somewhere. I’ll post it when I get home. ;)

Boy, I just don't like 7 for 7... I can't get through it. But I do enjoy a good production of Oklahoma! - and I can recommend one heartily; the Hugh Jackman version (we saw it through Great Performances on PBS) was full of nuance and complexity. And he was incredible - I knew he started in theater, but I had no idea just how terrific he was. I enjoy the movie well enough, too.

West Side occupies a big squishy area of my heart. It practically wears a bib that says Baby's First Sondheim. Lyrics, at least - and the awesome "Quintet," which, as Sondheim is wont to do, layers the musicality of several perspectives. He did it for "Rose's Turn," too. Which reminds me: I like Gypsy, with the sole exception of "Little Lamb." What a dumb song that is.

I love musicals. During my teenage years I listened to little else. But I was strongly into the modern ones. Sondheim, obviously, but also Michael John LaChiusa, Andrew Lippa, Jonathan Larson, Ahrens/Flaherty... I've recently been getting into them a bit more, so I think I'll have to pull my gigantic box of musical CDs out of storage.

Todd-AO was indeed the alternate version on Oklahoma. It is said that the Todd-AO version was shot on all the first takes, and the more widely distributed PanaVision was comprised of later takes, hence the Todd-AO has more vitality of performance, and in some cases, better sunlight.

The Todd-AO process involved shooting at a higher frame rate (30 frames per second instead of 24 fps). This version made its video debut on laserdisc some years back. Because the frame rate is virtually identical to the NTSC 29.97 fps, watching Oklahoma this way, the image sometimes looks more like video than film. This transfer was used for an initial DVD release back the in 90s, but it's a terrible transfer. The frame rate makes certain parts of the image pop, but overall, it is soft, fuzzy and lacking in detail.

There is a much newer two disc DVD release with an awesomely bright and clear remaster of the Panavision release, and on the second disc, the Todd-AO, but it seems to be the same dreadful transfer, or one not very much better. It's a shame, because that would be the version to watch, if it were given a sufficient remaster.

I don't think I've ever seen the Panavision version of Oklahoma. Now I want to watch both, and see if one suffers from the craptasticness that affects the standard aspect version of 7 Brides.


LSPE ... Oi, I wish I'd never read you can't make it thru Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. I'm trying so hard to have you not be dead to me, because I love you so much. ;)


(BTW, Caleb and Daniel were the gay brothers. Pfft, while the others were sleeping with sheep, they had better ideas!)