INSTALLING OVERHEAD MICROWAVE

They Won't Believe Me [VHS]

Irving Pichel's They Won't Believe Me is the flashback unfolding of Larry Ballentine's (Robert Young) witness-stand testimony in his trial for the murder of girlfriend Verna Carlson (Susan Hayward). The flashback structure of this suspenseful film noir effectively creates a foreboding tension that mounts to a powerful final scene. While it contains a few too many echoes of true film noir masterpieces, especially Double Indemnity, They Won't Believe Me is a very satisfying crime thriller in its own right. It's heavily plot-dependent (not unusual for the genre), and that is both its blessing and its curse -- the twists and turns the plot takes are intriguing, but they're also somewhat contrived, and their artificiality will turn off some viewers. Some might also be bothered by the lead character, an amoral, self-centered, greedy bounder, but others will find his flaws quite interesting, especially in a film from this era. He's well played by a cast-against-type Robert Young, who delivers an extremely effective performance. He's matched by his trio of leading ladies, with Susan Hayward in especially fine form as the most fatale-ish of the group. Some will wonder what this group of ladies finds so irresistible in Young, who lacks the overt hardboiled sexuality and/or raffish charm of many noir leading men, yet that air of mystery hints that, in bed, Young has, shall we say, hidden depths that censors of the time wouldn't have allowed to be seen. Irving Pichel directs with surprising style and shows an affinity for the genre. They Won't Believe Me is especially recommended for noir enthusiasts who have exhausted the "big guns" and are looking for lesser-known titles. (AllMovie)

"I Won't Dance"
music by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Dorothy Fields, Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach and Jimmy McHugh
------------------

GINGER:

Think of what you're losing
By constantly refusing
To dance with me.
You'd be the idol of France with me.

And yet you stand there and shake your foolish head rheumatically
While I wait here so ecstatically.
You just look and say emphatically:

FRED:

Not this season. There's a reason.

I won't dance. Don't ask me.
I won't dance. Don't ask me.
I won't dance, Madame, with you.
My heart won't let my feet do things they should do.

You know what? You're lovely.

GINGER:

So what? I'm lovely...

FRED:

But oh, what you do to me.
I'm like an ocean wave that's bumped on the shore.
I feel so absolutely stumped on the floor.

GINGER:

Ah, but when you dance you're charming and you're gentle.
Especially when you do The Continental.

FRED:

But this feeling isn't purely mental.
For heaven rest us
I'm not asbestos.
And that's why...

I won't dance. Why should I?
I won't dance. How could I?
I won't dance, merci beaucoup.

I know that music leads the way to romance.
And if I hold you in my arms... I won't dance.

There are times in life when you think about doing something with or for someone. But it seems easier to tell yourself that you'll do it tomorrow rather than just get it over with. But before you ever get around to whatever it was you were going to do, Life decides to jump the gun and make it impossible.

I always think about the times I should have called my grandparents, but forgot. Or the times I was going to hang out with a friend, but it never happened. Now neither of them are around for anything.

So whoever you're thinking about right now, pick up the phone and call them. Don't text. Let them hear your voice. Even if you just let them know that you were thinking about them. Don't let moments like this pass you by.

(If you feel up to it. Post how your convo went.)

Global neo-soul rock superstars Maroon 5 are back with their much-anticipated sophomore album, It Won't Be Soon Before Long. The follow-up to the 10x platinum, Grammy-winning Songs About Jane will be "sexier and stronger," according to frontman Adam Levine, who looked to '80s icons such as Prince, Michael Jackson, and Talking Heads for inspiration. Recorded at home in Los Angeles with producers Mike Elizondo (Fiona Apple, Eminem), Mark "Spike" Stent (Bjork, Keane, Gwen Stefani), Mark Endert (Madonna, Fiona Apple), and Eric Valentine (Queens of the Stone Age, Nickel Creek), the album promises to be a louder take on the pop sounds of their first effort. "It's definitely aggressive, upbeat and pounding," says Levine.
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Maroon 5 Photos


Sometimes it's O.K.--even important--to put aside your reluctance to embrace artists who make teenage girls scream. It happened in 2006, when Justin Timberlake scraped the sludge off pop and left something shiny behind, and it's happening again in 2007 with Maroon 5. It Won't Be Soon Before Long, the L.A. band's sophomore studio disc, rode in on a crest of hype and crumpled expectations--fan reports had it that Adam Levine & Co. scrapped their signature pop-soul sound for something harder and darker. Not so. Shades of Prince, Hall & Oates, and Sting still color the Maroon sound (check out the spectacularly fizzy "Little of Your Time," as well as the first single, "Makes Me Wonder," a song catchier than fire), but they're made ever fainter here by the clamping down of five guys on what is essentially the most distinctive pop sound to emerge from a single band since the Bee Gees squealed into the mid-'70s. It Won't Be Soon squares hip-hop sensibilities ("Wake Up Call") with rock ones ("If I Never See Your Face Again") and stormy moods ("Can't Stop") with bittersweet ballads ("Better That We Break"). It's a disc destined to defy detractors and go on to greatness, elevating the credibility of teenage girls for years to come. --Tammy La Gorce