Sunday 4 July 2010

Some Like It Hot - Seeing the Billy Wilder classic on the big screen.

'Some Like It Hot' is a real piece of magic. I've always loved it, as do most people. Hence why it's always at or near the top of 'Best Comedy Ever' lists.

Seeing it on the big screen for the first time was an incredible experience for me. It really showcases how masterful Billy Wilder was. There is something amazing about how you feel looked after during a Billy Wilder picture; like he really knew how to make you feel at home, make you feel loved. You can't help but just sink into his world.

I finally GOT Marylin Monroe tonight. Of course I've always found her very beautiful and pleasant to watch in films -- but now I realize, it's a particular kind of beauty that belongs in black and white on a giant screen, not at home on DVD. She radiates in a way very few ever have or will. I'm in love. I wonder if she was attracted to bloggers.

It's always great to see Billy Wilder films in the cinema because you lose so much when you sit at home watching it on your own. It's amazing to see different audience members laugh at different parts. There are so many levels to the humor; hence there are different types of laughs and types of people laughing. Somehow, Wilder takes care of them all. It's also great to see his amazing use of timing. A famous example is the scene in the bedroom with the maracas. After each funny line, there's a pause in dialogue whilst Lemmon shakes the maracas and dances, allowing the audience a chance to laugh and then recover, ready for the next line. The timing makes the jokes all the more powerful.

I felt at home tonight. Sitting in a cinema, hearing unforced, genuinely heart-warming laughter. And the laughs were big, giant laughs. Cinema was like this once, it still can be.

There is much more to say. But it's 2am, my iPhone battery is struggling and I must get some sleep. Nobody's perfect.

Care to share?

10 comments:

  1. I've seen this movie twice in the last month alongside "Sunset Blvd." And, before that, I already had a deep admiration for both "The Apartment" and "Double Indemnity." I can't wait to see the rest of his filmography.

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  2. LOL @ the Marilyn Monroe part.
    I bet she would be attracted to bloggers.
    As long as you're witty, I bet she would've fallen for you ^_^

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  3. I haven't seen this in sooooo long - I do love it though. Wilder's one of my favourite directors, he's such a legend xD xx

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  4. I was just reading about this yesterday, about how the studio originally wanted to film it in colour but Wilder insisted it would only work in B&W and how it helped to make the cross-dressing aspect more believable. Sometimes I find the story behind a film more interesting than the film itself, and this is one of them.

    I don't hate it, but I don't enjoy it as much as some of Wilder's other films. I find Marilyn Monroe compelling to watch (mostly because of her beauty and tragic story, if I'm honest) and Jack Lemmon is one of my all-time favourite actors, I LOVED 'The Apartment' and I think that's partly why I've never truly enjoyed 'Some Like It Hot', because, for me, the two don't compare. I've also always found Tony Curtis generally unappealing as an actor and hard to watch for some reason, which doesn't help.

    I'd be interested to see it on a big screen, though, I find it can make a significant difference to some films.

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  5. I love some like it hot!! Such authentic comedy, that is beyond cool you saw it in the theatres!

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  6. The Apartment is my favorite American movie, and I agree- I think it's better than Some Like It Hot. But I think the latter is more accessible and more broadly humorous, hence why it is, I think, more well known than The Apartment with general audiences.

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  7. I don't know why I don't love this as much as Wilder's others. I don't think it's Marilyn, it's probably the endless spoofs that occur. Still us funny, though.

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  8. I don't know why I don't love this as much as Wilder's others. I don't think it's Marilyn, it's probably the endless spoofs that occur. Still us funny, though.

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  9. I've got the movie in my home collection and have a lot of fun with it, though it would be cool to see it on the big screen in a theatre environment.

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  10. It's on at the National Gallery on the 7th, even more entused reading all your thoughts than I was previously :)

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