Monday Musings: Winged Monkeys, Artsy Tarot, My First🍷, New ‘Fatal Attraction’ Trailer

Streaming is in the cards for you….

Happy Monday Everyone! 

Just thinking how weird it is that one day you’re starring in your school’s 6th grade production of The “Wizard of Oz”, in the small, but mighty role as the winged monkey and the next thing you know Warner Bros. is celebrating 100 years. Where does time go? Luckily we can all live in this cinematic time capsule as TCM (Turner Classic Movies) is honoring 100 years of Warner Bros. with a special collection of films airing this month. I love Turner Classic Movies, it reminds me of my grandparents when we would watch old movies all day — Sabrina, Casablanca, Singin’ in the Rain. Here are some of my favorite classic WB films streaming this month in a special WB 100 Years Anniversary Collection on HBO Max (you can also find the TCM channel hub on HBO Max). 

• The Wizard of Oz

• Rebel Without A Cause

• Cool Hand Luke

• High Society 

• What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? 

• The Maltese Falcon

• To Have and Have Not

Wizard of Oz Movie Fact 🎥 During the Haunted Forest scene, several actors playing the Winged Monkeys were injured when the piano wires suspending them snapped, dropping them several feet to the floor of the sound stage.

🙈 Luckily Harbor View Elementary had zero budget for any wire effects.

Not really an old classic, but a new classic — one of my favorite films of all time (also a Warner Bros. film) streaming on HBO Max…

The Witches of Eastwick 🍒🍒🍒

I’ve watched this film countless times and listened to John Williams’ score on repeat. Jack Nicholson was brilliant in this film as the devil and Michelle Pfeiffer, Susan Sarandon and Cher as the Witches couldn’t have been more perfectly cast. Here are some fun facts about the film: 

• Composer John Williams’ own whistling was dubbed in over Jack Nicholson’s for the scene at the ice cream counter

• Anjelica Huston originally auditioned for the part of Alex (Cher’s part), but described her audition as horrible only to land the role in Roald Dahl’s 1990 film The Witches years later. 

• The white church seen in the film is the First Parish Meeting House, built in 1746 located in Cohasset, Massachusetts (where most of the film is shot). The film production made a donation to help restore the historic building. 

• In the scene with the balloons, Jack Nicholson is wearing purple and yellow sneakers in honor of his favorite sports team — The LA Lakers. 

From Witches to Tarot Cards 🃏

This past Christmas, my sister gifted me a beautiful deck of very unique cards. They are a Taschen special edition of Salvador Dali-designed tarot cards. I had no idea until there was a question on Jeopardy last week that this tarot deck from Salvador Dali was specifically designed for the 1973 James Bond film, Live and Let Die. Sadly, the cards ended up not being used in the film due to Dali’s enormous fee he wanted for his art. I decided to break open the deck today and draw a card…I drew the Emperor. The accompanied book gives a very detailed account of each card and offers practical advice. 

The Emperor: Practical Advice

Put your pioneering spirit to use. Explore your current situation. Don’t imitate, innovate! Create your own facts. Be the master of your own game. 

Live and Let Die is currently available to rent or buy on Apple TV+ or Amazon Prime. 

New Trailer: Fatal Attraction (Paramount+) 

A new trailer for the upcoming series Fatal Attraction just dropped today. I have such mixed feelings about Paramount rebooting this “classic” thriller as a series. Obviously this is a reboot for a new generation, but I hope that the new generation will revisit this film (streaming on Paramount+) to see Glenn Close’s chilling performance that almost won her an Oscar (Cher won that year for Moonstruck). 

I Saw Fatal Attraction In The Fourth Grade 🐰

My friend and I were in fourth grade and we were both obsessed (in a healthy way, not a boil-a-bunny way) with Michael Douglas (ok we probably had daddy issues) and wanted to see Fatal Attraction which had just been released in the theaters. We couldn’t get in of course because you had to be 17-years-old or accompanied by an adult. That’s where my grandpa comes in. He drove us to the theater, having no idea what this movie was about and went up to the ticket booth and said, “I give these two girls permission to see Fatal Attraction.” The ticket booth attendant was like, “Are you sure?” My grandpa had no clue and replied yes. With that, we were able to go to the theater by ourselves and see this film. Of course we also had no idea how explicit this film was, so our immature selves spit out our theater-sized fountain drinks at the first NSF-fourth-graders-scene and began cracking up. Apologies to whoever was in the audience way back when.

My First Sip of Wine 🍷

I was 11 and it was my mom’s baby shower when she was pregnant with my youngest sister. I sneakily took my first sip of wine which I thought was next level nasty. Of course it was Sutter Home Chardonnay. That was before my mom had a Cakebread palate and showed me the finer wines in life. Still rate this wine 1/10 - won’t drink again.

What was your first wine?

Happy Birthday Matthew Goode! 🥳

If you haven’t seen Matthew Goode’s performance in The Offer, I highly recommend checking it out on Paramount+. He was brilliant in his portrayal of Robert Evans, the head of Paramount Studios at the time. Seriously, uncanny! I also love him as host of The Wine Show, now streaming on AMC+. 

Now Streaming: 📺

Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields Documentary

I’m looking forward to seeing this documentary on Hulu. If you were an 80s kid then you knew Brooke Shields was the “IT Girl” of Jordache Jeans. I even had a Brooke Shields Barbie doll that I totally loved because she had brown hair like me and it was way fuller and had more volume than the stick straight hair of generic blonde Barbie so it was more fun to brush and style. None of my little friends wanted to ever play with my Brooke Shields barbie because of her thick eyebrows, but I thought they were different and cool. The documentary explores Shield’s life becoming a model in her teens and revealing both the dangers and triumphs of becoming famous in the hostile world of modeling. 

Also Streaming Today and Tomorrow: 📺

April 3

• Magic Mixies: Season 1 (Netflix)

• Surviving R. Kelly Part III: The Final Chapter Season 1

• Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields - Documentary Premiere (Hulu) 

• Royal Crackers: Season 1 (HBO Max) 

• Love Island: Spain (Peacock)

• The Brokenwood Mysteries: Season 9 Premiere (AMC+/Acorn TV) 

April  4

• My Name Is Mo’Nique (Netflix)

• Signing (Netflix)  

• Redefined: J.R. Smith (Amazon Prime)

• Bros (Amazon Prime)

• Craig of the Creek: Season 4E (HBO Max)