Olly!

Your Auntie Vera first called your attention to the curly-haired, baby-faced, whippet-thin bit of gap-toothed British adorableness known as Olly Alexander way back in 2009.  Remember him? Probably not, if you are American, because even though he has never stopped working, almost none of his work, mostly small independent movies, has made it across the Atlantic.  His one big Hollywood movie was the mega-bomb Jack Black vehicle Gulliver's Travels.  He has worked on the stage, and done TV- notably the seventh series of Skins, and a story arc as a vampire in Showtime's Penny Dreadful.  He also is the lead singer of the band Years and Years, who are responsible for this song that I truly love.

I bring this up now because the trailer for his new film God Help The Girl, a musical, was released last week, and although I don't think there's a snowball's chance in Hell that it will be anything like "a hit" by the standards of commercial cinema, it seems that it will be released in America, and from the looks of things it could be downright adorable. At 24 years of age, Olly is still just as lovely as always, and it seems that French hotness Pierre Boulanger,  star of the 2003 film Monsieur Ibrahim (Remember that? I sure do.) is in it too. God Help The Girl is set for a September release, and will probably be available for viewing here in Iowa sometime in 2018.  Looking forward to it. 

This Is My Easter Tradition

Ever since I first stumbled upon this movie on a Saturday night TV broadcast when I was about twelve, Easter Parade has been a favorite holiday tradition of mine. Back in those days if you wanted to see an old movie you were at the mercy of a local TV progammer. There were years when none of the local stations would show Easter Parade , and I had to make due with ABC's annual showing of my second favorite Easter movie, The Ten Commandments, which wasn't about Easter at all. Nowadays, I can watch either of them anytime I want, which is convenient, but I must admit, some of the thrill is gone.

Perfect Moments At The Movies #5

Funny Girl is two thirds of a good movie, maybe even three quarters, but the last half hour or so is really quite dreary. Then, WHAMMO, maybe the best finale to any musical ever, Barbara Streisand, standing in one spot, sings My Man.  Here's your Oscar, Babs.