In preparation for TCM’s absolutely apocalyptic rare musical schedule in the past few weeks, I had to start ticking through some of the features I’d taped earlier in the month to clear some space on my DVR. Getting low on DVR space is typically a great motivator for me to watch movies… as it gives the very dire ultimatum of “You really can’t watch anything new until you finish these.”
I get the majority of my musical rentals from Netflix nowadays, which means I have to make the decision on my weekend viewing earlier in the week… so by an eerie coincidence, by the time I found out Esther Williams had died, Million Dollar Mermaid was already on its way to me for weekend viewing.
I’ve owned a box set of Elvis Presley movies for about the past three years, yet as of this weekend I’d only watched ONE of them, and even that (Jailhouse Rock) was only within the past few months–on some weekend I hadn’t rented a musical and needed something for my weekend morning project. I actually may have watched more of them sooner had I not owned them, because I was lulled into the complacency of always having them right there, waiting for me–instead of a rental with a due date or a friend tapping on their wrist waiting for a disc’s speedy return.
I’ve been happily chugging along with my Moviepass usage for the past few months, cheerfully heading off to see all manner of misguided summer sequels, questionable comedies, and, yes, even a few mainstream gems I probably wouldn’t have bothered to see otherwise, had I been paying for each one rather than seeing them all under …
Man, Busby Berkeley really is on another level, isn’t he? He certainly had an eye for film, which I think really distinguishes him from other choreographers, both of his era and of any time. His most famous set pieces simply can’t be replicated in any other medium–not only are the dancers choreographed, but the cameras as well… and you can’t get one of those great Berkeley overhead geometries seated in a theater.