Saturday, January 8, 2011

All Good Things 2010 Year In Review

I decided to do a post reviewing my first full year on All Good Things. 2010 was a great year if I must say so. To all of my followers who didn't know, I started All Good Things in October 2009 and it really took off in 2010. It was fun blogging about classic movies and meeting fellow fans as well. I did a mammoth 325 posts in 2010 which I thought was a lot. I will break down my review of 2010 by months. So here we go.

JANUARY - I continued my Classic Movie Goddess Series with Grace Kelly, which turned out to be one of my best choices. I love Grace Kelly. I also spotlighted the underrated actress Gail Patrick. I also had my first annual awards selection called The Monties, choosing my favorite films and TV series along with actors and actresses of the modern era. I only did 13 posts in total for the month of January as I had an accident coming home from West Virginia during a snowstorm. But I still thought January was a good month. Next month would be a much more productive month. Oh I also posted a review of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, a terrific screwball comedy with my favorite actress of all time Carole Lombard and directed by the master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock? Yeah, Hitch's only true comedy.

FEBRUARY - The shortest month of the year yielded 37 posts by me as I was very busy blogging away. Elizabeth Taylor was my CMG (classic movie goddess). And I wrote a piece about one of her legendary screen performances in Who's Afraid Of Virgina Woolf? And another review of Cat on A Hot Tin Roof. I started a new series simply called Good Morning, which featured a photo of an actress simply saying Good Morning to all my followers. Some of the actresses included Ann-Margret, Paulette Goddard and June Allyson. I also posted Happy Birthdays to such notables as Jack Lemmon, Lana Turner, and Kathryn Grayson. In honor of the Oscars, I did a post on great actors and actresses who were never nominated for an Oscar which included such shockers like Joseph Cotten, Errol Flynn and Myrna Loy. I did a post on Dirk Bogarde as thanks to my friend Kate Gabrielle of Silents and Talkies for introducing me to this wonderful actor. I also did reviews for These Three (1936), The Lady Eve (1941) and Five Came back (1939). Whew! Like I said I was quite busy in February but I enjoyed every single minute of it.
MARCH - My birthday month came in like a lion with a total of 29 posts including Ann Sheridan as my CMG of the month. I did reviews on Rio Bravo, Bringing Up Baby and the new film The Blind Side, starring Sandra Bullock. I also started a new series called Iconic Photos which featured fondly remembered pics from well known classics. I kicked the series off with the classic Marilyn Monroe comedy, The Seven Year Itch. And I did a poll asking the question who were your favorite movie pair? And I had an awesome response of 51 votes and the winners were Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

APRIL - Myrna Loy kicked off the month of April as my CMG. I reviewed her wonderful Thin Man series that starred her and William Powell. I wrote a piece called Why Cary Grant is my favorite actor. I continued my iconic photos with Rita Hayworth as Gilda.  And my latest poll asked the question if it wasn't for Gone With The Wind winning Best Film of 1939, what other movie from that year would you have chosen. It was a landslide victory by The Wizard of Oz with a whopping 68% of the vote. WOW! And I had a couple of good mornings from Betty Grable and Esther Williams.

MAY - The weather was starting to warm up and things were started to heat up on my blog. I chose Bette Davis for my CMG. And I posted a list of her 8 essential films along with other facts and pictures. I did birthday shout-outs to John Wayne, Anne Baxter and Jeanne Crain. I started yet another series called Be My Guest and which I asked guest bloggers to answer some questions about their favorites. My first guest was my new friend Kori, who writes the fantastic blog Blonde Episodes. Be My Guest would soon become one of my favorite attractions on here. I did a memorial on the recently passed Lena Horne. Had a good morning from Donna Reed. And I wrote a piece on That Girl, one of my favorite TV comedies of yesteryear.

 JUNE - The start of summer began in full with Donna Reed being my CMG. I did birthday tributes to Marilyn Monroe and Rosalind Russell. My poll of the month asked the question from what movie did modern audiences know Grace Kelly from and to my surprise a whopping 30% had no clue to who Grace was. Unbelievable. Anyway I started yet another new series called FUN SUMMER MOVIES, which focused on those summer films that I recall fondly seeing at the theaters while growing up. First up was Back to the Future and Raiders of the lost ark. My guest blogger for the month was my best blogging friend Dawn, who handles other wonderful blogs such as Noir & Flick Chicks, Betty Grable, Saddles and Spurs, Esther Williams and more. And I aslo posted my favorite 30 classic actresses list, one of my best posts ever.

JULY - A scorching summer continues into the month of July with the ever perky Debbie Reynolds as the main attraction of the month. My guest blogger was Tracy aka Gilby37, who I met on the blog What We're Watching on TV. Fun Summer Movies continued with Jurassic Park, Soapdish, Star Wars and Big. A load of birthday tributes included Olivia de Havilland, Harrison Ford, Barbara Stanwyck, Ginger Rogers, Natalie Wood and Sandra Bullock. And I wrote a review of my favorite Alfred Hitchcock film, The Lady Vanishes.

AUGUST - Rosalind Russell led the way in August as my CMG. Fun Summer Movies continued with The Goonies and Single White Female. I had birthday tributes for Myrna Loy, Rhonda Fleming, Norma Shearer, Ella Raines, and Esther Williams. My guest blogger was Laura of Laura's Miscellaneous Musings. I did my favorite 25 Cary Grant films. I wrote a great review of Stage Door. And I started another series of comparing two similar films. Up first was Breakfast at Tiffany's and Butterfield 8.
SEPTEMBER - If I had to list my favorite CMG that I have done so far, this month's actress Natalie Wood would be at the top. While she may not be my favorite actress, I had a wonderful time writing about her the entire month. And for the record, Natalie ranks 17th on my favorite classic actresses of all time. My guest blogger was Sarah from And..Scene. I did birthday tributes to Raquel Welch, Margaret Lockwood, and Deborah Kerr. And I wrote reviews on Peyton Place and Waterloo Bridge.

OCTOBER - I did something different for this month as I focused on the women of Hammer Studio Films instead of one particular actress for my CMG. I wrote about Hazel Court and Joanna Lumley. I also chose a classic horror movie a day and wrote about it. Included were Cat People, The Innocents, Psycho, The Uninvited, The Wicker Man, I Walked with a Zombie, Rosemary's Baby, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? and lots more. I also started a new series dedicated to all things Grace Kelly entitled If It's Tuesday, Then It Must Be Grace Kelly, which has been a lot of fun to do. I did birthday tributes to Rita Hayworth, Janet Leigh, Miriam Hopkins, Catherine Deneuve and Constance Bennett. And I did another films comparison between The Best Years of our Lives and Since You Went Away.

NOVEMBER - Things got back to normal this month as Ginger Rogers was the CMG. My guest blogger was actually me. I decided that most of my followers don't know all about me. So I took the guest spot to answer my own question. It was kind of weird but still fun to do. I did a tribute to my grandmother who recently passed from Alzheimer's. Birthday tributes included Grace Kelly and Vivien Leigh. The poll of the month asked the question what was your favorite Fred and Ginger movie. The winner was Top Hat. I wrote reviews for The Chalk Garden starring Deborah Kerr and Hayley Mills and Make Your Own Bed with Jane Wyman and Jack Carson.

DECEMBER - The year winds down with the month of Christmas. Barbara Stanwyck was my CMG. I joined in on Sally's 12 Days of Christmas event on her blog Flying Down To Hollywood. She asked friends and fellow bloggers to write about a favorite Christmas movie and I chose The Man Who Came To Dinner. My poll of the month asked the question what was your favorite Stanwyck Christmas movie, Remember the Night or Christmas In Connecticut. The winner was Connecticut by 3 votes, which is my favorite Christmas movie of all time. Anastasia of Lily Lemontree was my guest blogger for the month. I did birthday tributes to Frank Sinatra, Lee Remick, and Denzel Washington. I posted my favorite Christmas movies of all time. I wrote a review of the great film Golden Boy. And another review of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. And that will wrap up my 2010 review. Thanks to all my followers for reading my blog and I hope 2011 with be even better.



4 comments:

  1. What a year!! And this one will be great too - I am sure of that!! :")

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  2. Monty, What a great year!! I'm really looking forward to another year reading what you have planned for 2011.

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  3. Congrats on a great year, Monty, and best wishes for 2011!

    Best wishes,
    Laura

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  4. Wow cool year 2010..Very impressive .Do so well in this year also. Monty best wishes.

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