Saturday, September 26, 2009

Donate Button- No Obligation



Hi everyone.
So this might seem lame, but I'm just trying to use all of my resources here... bare with me.
I have added a "Donate" button on the side bar. This is kind of like if I ran an "Ingrid Bergman Themed Car Wash" --that is if the website were a team or event and Pay Pal was the car wash.

I have decided to put this up as a fund raiser for school. I will be going to University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts for an M.F.A. in Film/Television Production, in January. I am trying to make my dreams come true, my dreams of making films, and it is largely inspired by Ingrid and all of you.

You keep my classic film love alive and well with comments, conversation, contribution, promotion, and of course all of your general love of the genre (as more than just "old movies").
I'm not trying to run a scam or hit anyone up here--please know this. I am just exploring all options and putting it out there.
Please keep returning, even if you don't donate. I still want feedback!

Thanks for your time,
Alexis

PS
I'm almost done the Adam Had Four Sons post, I promise release soon!!!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

40!

We're at 40 followers! Thanks everyone.
It's fantastic to have such admiration flowing in a creative way for our Ingrid Bergman. I'm still working on getting the Adam Had Four Sons post finished. I've been trying to do some extensive research on it as well as a play by play--let's all remember that this wasn't the finest film ever distributed. Lol. Definitely a lot harder to do a play by play when it's not something like Notorious, Anastasia, Autumn Sonata or something that really has deep meaning. I think David O. Selznick just REALLY didn't want to lose Ingrid to a trip home to Sweden!

Well I have much to post soon--and I will get on it as soon as I'm finished my film noir-style video for the fiesta movement.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Millie Photo of the Day



Millie posted a picture of Ingrid as part of her "Photo of the Day" series on her blog Classic Forever.
Check it out here: Photo Of the Day

Monday, September 14, 2009

Vote Ingrid!


I just found this via twitter-- woot!

"@mampdx just voted "Ingrid Bergman 1915-1982" on "What Classic female movie star is your favorite?" vote too ➔http://bit.ly/1022T2"


It's a poll to vote for your favorite classic film lady. I of course vote Ingrid and hope that you will too, though I know some of you have other loyalties-- I'll allow it-- THIS TIME! j/k

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Working on a Major Post



Hi everyone-
I'm working on a major post for Adam Had Four Sons. This will include a minute by minute (the votes were in!) and a historical context courtesy of imdb.com, google and various Ingrid Bergman auto-bio and biographies. I've been away all weekend and things are kind of busy, but as soon as I finish it, it should be a doozie (especially for a B-film). Lol.
Can't wait to share it with you-- plus this gives plenty of time to order it off of amazon.com to know what the post is about.

Monday, September 7, 2009

34!


34 Followers! Wow! I'm so happy to have you all! I'm glad we can all find such great love and admiration for Ingrid Bergman. The network of fans has become so intertwined, interesting and Ingridly. I can't tell you all how much it means to me.
Thanks for all of your contributions and loyalty. I hope to continue to make things interesting-- and I hope you do as well!
Sincerely,
Alexis

PS
I'm working on some Ingrid film reviews-- A Matter of Time and Adam Had Four Sons-- Should I do a minute by minute or just a review? You pick!

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Mother-Daughter-Granddaughter


I'll willingly admit to spamming people on twitter to try and get them to read this blog. But I do it with precision. I only go after people tweeting about Ingrid Bergman or Classic Film. They have a choice--to come and go as they please--if the blog is included, then YAY me! :)
One tweet, in particular, caught my eye. It was posted by @glamourbylbd and said "Ingrid Bergman, Isabella Rossellini and Elettra Weidemann http://shar.es/Lq05." So I check it out.

It's this really cool article on Delamina.com, a fashion website, about the beauty, tradition and style of the three generations of, let's call them, "Rossellinis." The article discusses the sustainability of the family and the differences between the generations. Incredibly interesting and I suggest checking it out.

PS
If you would like to follow me on twitter.com, my screen name is @alexis_morrell

Walpurgis Night


Does anyone have or has anyone seen Walpurgis Night? I just found it on ebay but I'm not sure of the quality and can't get it right now. I'm curious as to how difficult it will be to find again... if anyone knows, please let me know! :)

Montblanc Edition Ingrid Bergman Pen

I have found a piece of devine honorary craftsmanship that I would love to grasp if I had the $$. The Montblanc Ingrid Bergman Pen. That's right, this year they have released a limited edition pen (both fountain and ball point) that is inspired by Ingrid Bergman. The pen is GORGEOUS. I just wish I could find and buy the thing (hard to pin down).
The Ingrid pen is following sets that were in honor of Garbo, and Dietrich... This particular pen was inspired by Ingrid's "outstanding talent, riveting personality, sophisticated elegance and charismatic radiance."
The pen would be a remarkable gift for any Bergman fan or writer-- or a writer who also happens to be a Bergman fan *cough* *cough.* jk. Lol.


Maybe someday, if/when I make it big, I'll buy myself a fancy Ingrid Bergman pen. Lol. If you can buy it--please send a picture of the pen or of you writing with it. That would be amazing! :)

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Goldstein Reviews Write Up


One of my future USC SCA Trojans has written a doozie of a write up for my blog! Will Goldstein pens the blog Goldstein Reveiws-Balanced Film Commentary and this blog covers various aspects of film; reviewing, must-sees, classic hits, etc. It is a well articulated commentary based on Will's opinions but also his education in film. His point of view leaves room for argument and like any good author, he entices the reader to bring their POV to the table in an open forum. His blog is entertaining and informative--I suggest checking it out.


Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Casablanca Parodies

I have realized that the posts I've made today have all revolved around Casablanca. This is assuming everyone has seen it since you're here @ Ingrid Bergman Life and Films.
I want to now point you in the direction of Casablanca parodies that I have found on the internet. Feel free to point me in the direction of any other ones you know about, please! :)












These are all pretty ridiculous, but I think they're funny and related to the theme of the day. Lol.
Enjoy, lightheartedly.

!0 Year Old Classic Hollywood Prodigy



Friday night I was having dinner with the people I live with and their friends. Their friends have 3 children, one of whom, Thomas, is really into classic film!
The catch is: Thomas is 10.

This kid knows a ton about Classic Film. He has his favorites and is a total WWII buff. He and I had talked about Indiana Jones before, but on this particular evening he brought up Casablanca.
Thomas told me that he has a poster of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, from Casablanca, in his room.
I thought this was amazing. The kid could list off tons of movies including Gunga Din and The Maltese Falcon.



He was most interested in how the studio system conducted business, including the breakdown of the system and buy outs. Smart kid.

Thomas has a blog. Yes, can you believe it? He, a 10 year old, has a blog and it's about Classic Film. Well, let me be more specific; his blog is about Legos and Hollywood.
I have known about these shorts that Lego's does, involving recreating scenes and summaries of iconic films with Lego pieces. Thomas has made a blog discussing his favorite films, the Lego recreations, and it includes photos, write ups and video!

If you'd like to check out Thomas' work, blog, opinion or become one of his followers, please visit Legos-Hollywood. Keep in mind that he is 10, but also, that he is trying to learn all he can about film and the system.

Thomas, if you read this-- Check out this book that Sarah Case gave me for my birthday last year-- it's called Boom and Bust: American Cinema in the 1940s (click on the link and it will take you to what it looks like and prices on amazon.com). It might be a bit of an advanced read, but it explains the studio system, who bought who in the 40s and how it all worked. A dry, textual read, but extremely. informative.
Oh, anyone else can click that as well... just thought I'd tell Thomas first! :)

So True


My friend Adi sent me this page of her Marketing text book. The comment below the poster says,
"Consumers often feel dissonance when purchasing products or services. It is that uncomfortable feeling of mixed emotions-- the movie makes me said, but I love Bogart and Bergman."
Not only was it really cool of Adi to send me this photo, but it's also incredibly true. We overcome the knowledge of emotions that may cause us to be temporarily uncomfortable in order to see the better parts of things, including our favorite stars, directors and scenes. This short statement is making a simple analogy to try to appeal to the Marketing students who might read the text, but within this simple analogy is a deeper appeal to people who enjoy what is actually pictured.

We know that in order to be worth while, a film has to have conflict. In order for us to love Casablanca, there have to be parts which we don't necessarily love. A few key moments in Casablanca for example, most people say, "I would have done this..." or "I would have done that..." but what makes the film great, is that the moments of dissonance occur.

Granted, I'm taking this statement and running. I mean I'm sure the writer of the text was not thinking, "Oh, I'm sure some Classic Film geek will be blogging about this some day so I better refer to Casablanca in order to have my work vaguely referred." Doubtful.

Conflict and drama rely on the juxtaposition of emotions, situations, people, personalities or really any two things. Sometimes, more than two. I am not a big fan of the word juxtaposition when I am describing films. Though, I feel that we all use it from time to time, I just feel it an "any film person's" word and slightly pretentious. I digress.

The contrast, though it may make us uncomfortable, irritable, angry, sad or the opposite of those things, it is needed. You would never be happy if you didn't know un-happy. You would never know agitation without desire.

When a film has a blend of ups and downs, timed correctly and rightfully administered, it is inescapable and memorable.
When I film is too bland or too rough towards the senses, chances are, it will lose you at some point, you'll check your watch or reject what is being offered.

Casablanca is a film where you cannot look away. It never asks you if you're alright with the situation, but it captures you and won't let go.

The film has it's own initial contrast, which I constantly bring up because the irony is too good: The film itself was a happy accident. The actors weren't pleased with the movie while filming, the writers didn't have an ending (they shot two because they couldn't figure out what was best on paper), many people threatened, or thought about leaving... and yet it ended up #2 on AFI's Top 100 movies of all time.

The end result was worth the dissonance. So, don't reject dissonance until it completely loses you. Whatever is around the corner might be the best thing you could imagine.


About Me

My photo
An avid Ingrid Bergman fan, I am a student of her life and work as well as film, filmmaking and Classic Film in general. I have my M.F.A. in TV/Film Production from USC School of Cinematic Arts and have been making a living in the business they call show. Feel free to follow me on Twitter @alexis_morrell