Crawdaddy's "Random Thoughts" about Home Video, Film & TV (6 Viewers)

[Cranston37+]

Eddie posted a picture of one side of his study. The painting is his father...

 

[Matt Hough]

Almost my entire house looks like that. Books, CDs, and discs stacked endlessly on every available bookshelf, mantle, ledge, and cubbyhole.

 

[bujaki]

I'm even worse than that!

 

[Robert Crawford]

Matt's 2016 Blu-ray Review of "I Wake Up Screaming"

RAH's thread about the same Kino BD Release. I'm going to watch my BD again with Eddie's commentary on the disc. After that, I will listen to his "Noir Alley" comments.

 

[Matt Hough]

Matt's 2016 Blu-ray Review of "I Wake Up Screaming"

RAH's thread about the same Kino BD Release. I'm going to watch my BD again with Eddie's commentary on the disc. After that, I will listen to his "Noir Alley" comments.

Thanks so much for digging up these reviews. I knew I had the disc, but I honestly didn't remember writing the review. I'll likely listen to the before and after without rewatching the movie. I have so many discs and streams I want to get to.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Thanks so much for digging up these reviews. I knew I had the disc, but I honestly didn't remember writing the review. I'll likely listen to the before and after without rewatching the movie. I have so many discs and streams I want to get to.

I just finished watching the Blu-ray again and I forgot how good Eddie's commentary was, about this film. A very influential movie when it comes to "film noir" that has some great camera work in it, despite some bad back projection shots. One more thing, Laird Cregar was one fine actor that left us much too soon.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I just finished watching the Blu-ray again and I forgot how good Eddie's commentary was, about this film. A very influential movie when it comes to "film noir" that has some great camera work in it, despite some bad back projection shots. One more thing, Laird Cregar was one fine actor that left us much too soon.

Eddie talked about it on the audio commentary and again in his Noir Alley comments about a certain famous song being featured in "I Wake Up Screaming". Like him, I don't get why this particular song was used in the movie. They don't mesh in my opinion..

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

I Wake Up Screaming. Okay, but the dialogue and acting was a bit cornball for me. I'm glad Eddie brought up "Over the Rainbow," because it was driving me nuts every time it was played (usually upon Grable's appearance). I think the explanation is as simple as it was a popular radio tune of the day since "Wizard of Oz," and this film bought the rights to use it. It's still a common practice to use a popular contemporary song in a film. I'm reminded of the film Say Anything paying the exorbitant price of $300,000 just to use Peter Gabriel's song "In Your Eyes," but then what is the most memorable moment of that film? Money well spent. It didn't work in this instance. It took me very much out of any potential Noir mood.

I also have a hard time taking Victor Mature as an actor seriously, since my first exposure to him was in the Peter Sellar's comedy After the Fox basically playing a parody version of himself as the self-involved actor Tony Powell. And the hair dye coming off in the actress' hands as she caressed his head to kiss him. I just couldn't stop thinking of that hair dye coming off in all those hats he wore here. And when you're focusing on insignificant details like that, well, the picture is not sweeping you away in its story. But there is a decent story behind this slightly cornball presentation. Or book. I tried to go back to the original source after last week's Ride the Pink Horse, but any paperbacks of the original book were out of print. Too bad.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I Wake Up Screaming. Okay, but the dialogue and acting was a bit cornball for me. I'm glad Eddie brought up "Over the Rainbow," because it was driving me nuts every time it was played (usually upon Grable's appearance). I think the explanation is as simple as it was a popular radio tune of the day since "Wizard of Oz," and this film bought the rights to use it. It's still a common practice to use a popular contemporary song in a film. I'm reminded of the film Say Anything paying the exorbitant price of $300,000 just to use Peter Gabriel's song "In Your Eyes," but then what is the most memorable moment of that film? Money well spent. It didn't work in this instance. It took me very much out of any potential Noir mood.

I also have a hard time taking Victor Mature as an actor seriously, since my first exposure to him was in the Peter Sellar's comedy After the Fox basically playing a parody version of himself as the self-involved actor Tony Powell. And the hair dye coming off in the actress' hands as she caressed his head to kiss him. I just couldn't stop thinking of that hair dye coming off in all those hats he wore here. And when you're focusing on insignificant details like that, well, the picture is not sweeping you away in its story. But there is a decent story behind this slightly cornball presentation. Or book. I tried to go back to the original source after last week's Ride the Pink Horse, but any paperbacks of the original book were out of print.

Well, I disagree with you about the acting as I thought it was pretty good in this movie. I'm not a fan of Betty Grable, but I thought the other actors were fine in their roles. As to Mature, I agree with Eddie that he was a better actor than given credit for.

 

[Matt Hough]

I was on the TCM app and was pleased that the film was there with Eddie's intro and outro comments. I skipped the film itself in favor of something else, but I will revisit his full length commentary soon.

 

[Robert Crawford]

A really good looking Blu-ray from ClassicFlix for an average comedy that I enjoyed watching again.

 

[Cranston37+]

I Wake Up Screaming was seriously hurt by the music. It wasn't just the song, but the score just kept playing the same motif over and over and over...

No matter if this or Maltese Falcon was the first noir - Elisha Cook Jr was in them both so he was definitely in the first noir.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The music didn’t help, but it did have some impressive cinematography that future film noirs copied.

 

[Dave B Ferris]

Did anybody catch Ben's comment when the film that played before "I Wake Up Screaming" ended? The crew could be heard laughing in the background, because Ben said - coming up, this week's Noir Ally Presentation, 'I Wake Up Screaming', also the title of the autobiography written by Eddie's wife, Kathy.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Did anybody catch Ben's comment when the film that played before "I Wake Up Screaming" ended? The crew could be heard laughing in the background, because Ben said - coming up, this week's Noir Ally Presentation, 'I Wake Up Screaming', also the title of the autobiography written by Eddie's wife, Kathy.

No, I didn't hear it, but I love the back and forth between Eddie and Ben. I wouldn't mind being in a bar with those two after they had a couple of drinks. I imagine those two guys would have me rolling in laughter with their playful insults towards each other.

 

[Dave B Ferris]

Yeah, assuming it was genuine (which I hope it was), at least one or two of the crew members were rolling in laughter after Ben's zinger!

 

[Cranston37+]

I'll tell you one thing that makes me sad - I've liked Alicia Malone ever since she came on my radar a number of years ago. I catch her a lot on all the usual places - podcasts, YouTube, etc. I can tell you with no doubt that when she's on TCM she is purposely toning down her accent. You can hear it most when she does this hard "R" sound that we do in America. I wish she would just be her.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I'll tell you one thing that makes me sad - I've liked Alicia Malone ever since she came on my radar a number of years ago. I catch her a lot on all the usual places - podcasts, YouTube, etc. I can tell you with no doubt that when she's on TCM she is purposely toning down her accent. You can hear it most when she does this hard "R" sound that we do in America. I wish she would just be her.

You got that right as I love her Australian accent.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I'll tell you one thing that makes me sad - I've liked Alicia Malone ever since she came on my radar a number of years ago. I catch her a lot on all the usual places - podcasts, YouTube, etc. I can tell you with no doubt that when she's on TCM she is purposely toning down her accent. You can hear it most when she does this hard "R" sound that we do in America. I wish she would just be her.

Look who's joining Eddie next weekend to discuss "Elevator to the Gallows" (1958):

 

[Cranston37+]

Look who's joining Eddie next weekend to discuss "Elevator to the Gallows" (1958):

I kind of suspected she would be the one when Eddie mentioned it