I have had the plot of Catfish described to me in detail, and having been on the internet for more than five minutes, I have no desire to see it.

Ah. Well, that decides it then.

Oh, Jess, I also sent you email. Just a quick updatey note.

When we were planning a 25th anniversary party for my parents, I asked them what was their song. Mom said she didn't remember and Dad told me it was, "The theme from The Apartment ." But because none of us kids had seen the movie we didn't realize Dad was joking, and dutifully tracked down the soundtrack to play at the party, not understanding why Dad was giggling and Mom was confused. Years later I finally watched the movie and got the joke.

I watched The Apartment last night

A+! That movie is nigh perfect.

Saw a fun screwball comedy last night, Merrily We Live. Emily Kilbourne (Billie Burke) has a habit of hiring hobos as her chauffeur with the idea of turning their lives around -- much to the displeasure of the rest of the family. Shortly after the latest runs off with the family silver, a scruffy Wade Rawlings (Brian Aherne) shows up at the door asking to use the phone. The Kilbournes all assume he's another hobo, Emily hires him as the new chauffeur, and comedy ensues.

Yeah, the plot is first cousin to My Man Godfrey (Rawlings wants to use the phone because his car just rolled off a cliff, so he isn't your typical hobo), and Aherne and Constance Bennett (as the older daughter) aren't exactly William Powell and Carole Lombard, but it's a lot of fun. Not least because it does have Burke playing a scatterbrained society wife as only she could, Bonita Granville as the over-hyper teenage daughter, and Patsy Kelly as the cook. And Alan Mowbray delights as the strait-laced butler who really can't deal with all the loopiness going on.

Burke playing a scatterbrained society wife as only she could

She's brilliant in exactly the same type of role in Dinner at Eight, too.

Firefly/Inception mashup.

She's brilliant in exactly the same type of role in Dinner at Eight, too.

Only one of the reasons that's my favorite movie of all time.

"I read the strangest book recently..."
::Best double-take in the history of cinema::
"You read a book?!?"
"Yeah. It said that someday, every profession will be replaced by machines."
::Looks her up and down::
"Oh, my dear, that's something you need never worry about."

Marie Dressler's last scene in her last movie. Best delivery of an exit line ever.

I was going through some more of the dvr'd silent shorts from Monday night's TCM broadcast. Melies is interesting in the abstract, but overall gets old very fast--too much of the same camera tricks to imitate magic tricks schtick. IMO, the best one was the Gulliver's Travels adaptation, not A Trip to the Moon. And I had to stop watching the Griffith shorts after about an hour, when the melodrama got way too thick on the ground. It was just about unwatchable. I still have the Silent Shakespeare shorts to watch tonight.

Oh, and I am looking forward to Sunday night's TCM broadcast of Metropolis!!