ClassicMovieRIMF # 4: Benny and Joon (1993)

Classic movies haunt me. Definitely. Yesterday I was in the mood to watch a more recent film so I picked a movie called Benny and Joon. All I knew about it is that was a comedy, starring Johnny Depp and the actress from Fried Green Tomatoes. The end.

So, it starts, lalalala, nice music, parallel scenes introduce the main characters; a girl painting and a guy in a train looking like this:

And that was minute 02:43. I mean, classic films leave me alone! So, the painter woman (Mary Stuart Masterson aka Joon) is mentally ill (likes to start fires, hears voices, has panic attacks) and lives with her brother (Aidan Quinn, Brad Pitt's brother in Legends of the Fall).

One night Aidan Quinn takes her to a night of poker games with his friends. Well, second classic movie reference: someone is betting a Deanna Durbin album.

Another guy says his cousin arrived to live with him. He says the cousin doesn't know how to read, spends his time polishing plastic forks and..."keeps me up all night watching stupid old movies".

Well, the cousin is Johnny Depp aka Benny and he's kind of weird, but in a good way. He loves doing tricks and performing acrobatics and always wears a pork pie hat. At a restaurant, he recreates Chaplin's famous table ballet scene, as you can see:

Then he copies some Harold Lloyd acts, like he pretends that his hat has a life of its own and he can't catch it or that he can't let go a sticky handkerchief (watch). 

When Johnny Depp sees Mary Stuart painting he says: "Kirk Douglas, Van Gogh ear". They start a relationship and at some point Johnny gets a job in a video store. Here's a conversation with a client:

Johhny Depp aka Benny: I think that Fred Astaire is the way to go.

Lady: Yeah?

Johnny: That's a good choice

Lady: Who is the woman who starred in the Roman...uh...

Johnny: Audrey Hepburn

Lady: Yeah, thanks a lot. 

There are more references according to Imdb, but I didn't notice them, so maybe you should see this film. I really liked it, it was a nice movie with a great casting (besides Johnny, Aidan and Mary Stuart you can see Julianne Moore, Oliver Platt and William H. Macy).

Hope you enjoyed this Classic Movie Reference in Modern Films!

A blog you should follow: 'My Love of Old Hollywood'

Today I wanted to write a special post about an interesting blog I found the other day: My Love of Old Hollywood. Page, the owner, writes about Actors and Actresses from the silent Era to the 1940s. The info she provides is really amazing (I found several anecdotes that I didn't know) and very easy to digest, plus she makes a special Youtube video roll related with the person reviewed. But the most exciting thing is that she posts about stars whose autographs are in her personal collection, so her entries are illustrated with signatures of Irene Dunne, Fred Astaire, Fay Wray, Douglas Fairbanks, Jean Harlow, Charles Boyer, James Cagney, Colleen Moore, Una Merkel and more. 

Janet Gaynor's handwritten note.

Charles Boyer's signature. 

"Sincerely, Irene Dunne"

Page explains in her first post And So We Begin:

I get asked a lot about when I started collecting this type of memorabilia and why. The why goes back to about the age of 8. My mother would find a quiet room in our house and sit down to an old black and white movie whenever she could. After seeing the joy on her face and complete contentment while watching The Thin Man movies or hearing her infectious laugh while watching Cary Grant and Kate Hepburn, I wanted a part of it and I found myself just as lost in the beauty of Old Hollywood as she still is today.

My collection started about 15 years ago and it is now at over 250 pieces and growing. The items that I will list on this blog are from The Silents to the 1940's. In no way is this site meant to sell or buy items and its not a place to argue about Star Wars ruling over Hitchcock. Everyone is welcome to comment on the blogs and items that will follow, and hopefully we can keep it all about our love of old movies and the stars that filled the silver screen.

I realize my collection may not appeal to everyones taste and I welcome hearing from and showing anyone else's items from this era. The more the merrier. Just realize that although some collect fridge magnets, matchbooks and even beanie babies, thats a discussion for another site, and I am sure theres a website out there for anything collectible that you can imagine. (Okay, I do collect fridge magnets)...Don't judge me. There will be plenty of time for that later when we get started. : )

Oh, she gave me an foretaste of her next posts including items from her collection: Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, Norma Talmadge, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Gregory Peck, Claudette Colbert, Vivien Leigh, Gloria Swanson and Elizabeth Taylor. Plus she will post on Myrna Loy next at my request :)

Visit Page's site here: My Love for Old Hollywood. 

* Credits: All the pictures from My Love for Old Hollywood.  

Day 19- Who’d you like to party it up with in the afterlife

William Powell and Myrna Loy of course (yeah, I'm thinking really in Nick and Nora Charles). And Clark Gable and Carole Lombard. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz (he would be in charge of the music obviously). I'd invite Peggy Lee and Frank Sinatra to sing some of their hits. Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, and Ginger Rogers to show some moves. Oh, oh, and Bette Davis and Joan Crawford :) I would go with Cary Grant so we two will laugh about all the craziness around, while S. Z. Sakall tell us some interesting gossip. Everyone would go —just like in Well, did you Evah? lyrics— "what a swell party this is!". 

Oír: "Footballer's wife" de Amy Macdonald

I like this song. And it's great that Amy mentions classic actors and actresses

Me gusta esta canción. Habla de la diferencia entre tener fama debido a tu talento y tener fama sólo por pertenecer a la farándula. Amy diferencia a actores clásicos como James Dean, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers & Marilyn Monroe con la típica esposa de futbolista vacía que llena portadas o los participantes de realities.
Mi parte favorita es cuando se dirige a la pareja de bailarines diciéndoles: "Oh Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire, ¿bailarían para mí?, porque simplemente no me importa lo que pasa hoy, creo que hay algo más, algo más".
Bueno, les dejo la canción (no es el video oficial).

Oh Mr James Dean, he don't belong to anything

Oh he left before they could get him

With their ways, their wicked ways

Oh Marilyn Monroe, where did you go?

I didn't hear all your stories

I didn't see all your glory

But the footballer's wife tells her troubles and strife

I just don't care in the end

Who is she to pretend

That she's one of them?

I don't think so

And the girl from that show

Yes the one we all know

She thinks she's some kinda star

Yes you know who you are

I don't think so, I don't think so

Oh Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire

Won't you dance for me cos I just don't care

What's going on today

I think there's something more, something more

And I'm gone with the wind like they were before

But I'm believing myself I think there's something more

There must be something more

I think there's something more, something more

But still the footballer's wife tells her troubles and strife

I just don't care in the end

Who is she to pretend

That she's one of them?

I don't think so

And the girl from that show

Yes the one we all know

She thinks she's some kinda star

Yes you know who you are

I don't think so, I don't think so

Oh I don't believe in the telling of your stories

Throughout your life, there's just something unappealing

It don't catch my eye

It don't catch my eye

Oh I don't believe in the selling of your glories

Before you leave this life, there's so much more to see

I don't believe this is how the world should be

But still the footballer's wife tells her troubles and strife

I just don't care in the end

Who is she to pretend

That she's one of them?

I don't think so

And the girl from that show

Yes the one we all know

She thinks she's some kinda star

Yes you know who you are

I don't think so, I don't think so

The footballer's wife tells her troubles and strife

I just don't care in the end

Who is she to pretend

That she's one of them?