3 things about Peter Hunt’s ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service [1969]

1. “Stay alive, at least for tonight!”
2. A figure 8 written in lipstick on his inner thigh.
3. Joanna Lumley only has one line.

3 other things.

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3 things about George Roy Hill’s THE STING

The Sting [1973]

1. Paint-drips on the underside of the stairs.
2. “No, but you’re welcome to have a free beer on your way out.”
3. After a brief victory cry, they immediately begin packing up the big store.

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3 things about Alfred E. Green’s BABY FACE

Baby Face [1933]

1. Frizzy hair, sweaty face, a tray of glasses, “St. Louis Blues” in the kitchen.
2. He follows her into the bedroom. She turns around and says, “You haul your freight out of here.”
3. She sits down on the sofa in his office, the camera positioned at floor level to catch every inch of her legs.

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3 things about Woody Allen’s SWEET AND LOWDOWN

Sweet and Lowdown [1999]

1. A dapper Oriental gentleman wearing glasses and a mustache sits down next to him and sips from a flask.
2. Chili stains on the edges of his mouth.
3. “My father died.”
“Again? How many times can your father pass away?”

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3 things about Nagisa Oshima’s MERRY CHRISTMAS, MR. LAWRENCE

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence [1983]

1. An empty bed strewn with red flowers and candles.
2. The soldier beats on the window until it breaks, and the prisoners finally quiet down.
3. As if gathering a specimen he cuts off a tuft of hair, folds it into a piece of white cloth.

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3 things about Robert Woodburn’s CORN’S-A-POPPIN’

Corn’s-A-Poppin [1956]

1. A hog-caller named Lilian Gravelguard.
2. He awkwardly lifts her veil to kiss her on the side of her face, twice.
3. Grilled cheese on the moon.

Somewhere in the twilight zone between Ma & Pa Kettle and John Waters lies this quirky oddity, a downhome musical shot on a shoestring in Kansas City and co-written by Robert Altman before his first feature. This priceless time capsule was just restored by Northwest Chicago Film Society with funding provided by the National Film Preservation Foundation. It screens at the Music Box here in Chicago in June. Kyle Westphal has written an excellent piece on the movie.

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STORIES FROM THE GRID: Lawrence/Magnolia

Being part of a series involving Chicago and its surroundings.

Early Saturday morning. Springtime. The sun is out and it’s already warming up. A woman wearing oversized sunglasses is crossing the street. Slung over her right shoulder are four or five handbags or purses, it’s impossible to tell, and she’s got a faux fur parka draped over her arm. From underneath the parka extends a leash that she’s holding, at the end of which is a giant gray and white husky. The dog boisterously pulls her along, compelling her to cross the street faster than she’d like, for with her left hand she’s dragging an upright vacuum cleaner trailing its plug. The wheels of the vacuum cleaner scrape the pavement unpleasantly. Upon reaching the curb, dog and owner and vacuum cleaner bound onto the sidewalk in a single, smooth motion.

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3 things about Ron Howard’s FROST/NIXON

Frost/Nixon [2008]

1. A pause before he shakes his hand.
2. Cinerama Dome on Sunset Blvd.
3. “You know, I would’ve said ‘sons of bitches,’ but Manolo here is a lover of dogs, and he hates me to defame animals.”

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3 things about Woody Allen’s SMALL TIME CROOKS

Small Time Crooks [2000]

1. Rooftop, laundry on a clothesline, sunset.
2. “Make conversation. But don’t say anything, don’t speak.”
3. A bearskin that lights up.

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3 things about Jim Jarmusch’s ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE

Only Lovers Left Alive [2014]

1. She opens her mouth in pleasure, revealing her teeth.
2. “How I wish I had met him before I wrote Hamlet. He would have provided the most perfect role model imaginable.”
3. Face dissolving into skull dissolving into foul green liquid. She says, “That was certainly visual.”

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