Renny Manne Cont 5 ...

Upon listing my 10 best loved movies (not in order, just as a group), there’s no big surprises;

Citizen Kane, Star Wars (Episode IV), 2001, Annie Hall, MASH, Casablanca, The BellBoy, The Godfather, Day For Night and The Searchers.

But it’s very difficult to separate those 10 from the next 100. Whether it be Taxidriver, Some Like it Hot, North By Northwest, Wages Of Fear, Singin’ In The Rain, The Cincinnatti Kid or Chinatown (as a downpayment) … just dim those lights, open those curtains and let the ‘play’ begin.

And don’t get me started about my favorite television offerings.

Obviously some of the classic black and white sitcoms, Luci, Phil Silvers (Bilko), Honeymooners, Dick Van Dyke, those that wrote the rules for the format … And then those that broke those rules like MASH, Soap, Gary Shandling and Frasier  … and of course all those in between.

And those iconic statements that have been part of forming our culture, ‘work!’ (Maynard G Krebbs), ‘missed it by that much’ (Agent 86), ‘I hear nothing’ (Seargent Shultz), ‘Beam me up Scotty’ (Kirk), ‘No soup for you’ (the Soup Nazi) and  ‘… and let’s be careful out there’ (Sgt. Phil).

Then of course there are those incredible moments of pure exhillerating pleasure exemplified by the example of the last episode of Newhart, where Doctor Hartley wakes up next to his wife, Emily, telling her about the strange dream he just had of running an Inn in Vermont.

Twilight Zone, Hill St Blues, Rockford Files, St Elsewhere, Prisoner, The Sandbaggers and Babylon 5 …just to name so few.

So, welcome each and every one of you to Screen Gems. The only guarantee I’ll make is that I’ll keep watching, I’ll keep listening … and I’ll keep giving you my two cents worth.

On a final note, I just want to make mention of some of the people, critics and appreciators alike, who have informed and entertained me with their ramblings about film and television;

Ivan Hutchinson; Jim Murphy; Pauline Kael; Peter Biskind; Debi Enker; Leonard Maltin; Brian Courtis; Richard Corlis; Janet Maslin; David Ansen; David Stratton; Peter Thompson

 … And very recently, Michael W. Geoghegan of Reel Reviews, who inspired me to create this program by just not making enough himself.