TCM's 31 Days of Oscar

I am currently enduring one of the worst colds I can remember, and while I'm completely miserable, I do have something to look forward to: 31 Days of Oscar on Turner Classic Movies.

They do it every year, but it's always so exciting - you know the good ones, the "real good" ones are going to be coming some day soon.

Tonight's lineup? Funny Face, followed by To Catch a Thief, and Black Narcissus. Yes, today's theme is devoted to winners and nominees in the Best Cinematography category, and those three are indeed some beauties. 

I'm not such a fan of Funny Face - Fred Astaire is far too old for Audrey Hepburn and the pairing is just never comfortable, but some of the shots of Paris are phenomenal. (It's odd that Charade - the other Audrey Hepburn-in-Paris-with-an-older-man film - works so well with Cary Grant where Fred Astaire couldn't do it. I suppose "Cary Grant" is synonymous with "chemistry"...) Speaking of Cary Grant, I first saw To Catch a Thief when I was a girl and my seventh-grade French teacher rented it for our class as a little treat. It's purely opulent costume-and-innuendo dribble compared to the rest of the Hitchcock oeuvre, but it's still beautiful, and I always watch it. Black Narcissus is the arty-est of all of these, showcasing the genius of cinematographer Jack Cardiff. The colors and stark landscapes lend themselves perfectly to the characters' obsessions and madness.

So, Friday night with 31 Days of Oscar. Even if I weren't so sick I'd consider staying in!