Monday, January 31, 2011

"It Looks Like Stupid Shit to Me"

As my wife said about the new header, "I'm sure you and all your nerdlinger friends who know what edge numbering is will appreciate it." Also "I picture them saying, Hey! I can't get a date but I love your new header!"

John Barry


Damn. When I lived in England we used to listen to Barry soundtracks at work. His second wife was Jane Birkin, with whom he shares a daughter, Kate. Check out The John Barry Orchestra, The John Barry Seven, and his soundtracks for "The Knack...and How To Get It" and "The Ipcress File" for starters. He also scored "Boom."

Monday, January 24, 2011

Man w/a Camera

This just showed up on my hulu. Bronson punches someone out within 2 minutes. So far so great!

Friday, January 21, 2011

Don Knotts' Abnormal Sexual Magnetism

Répertoire Cinémas


Growing up in Boston we had an embarrassment of riches when it came to repertoire cinema. I have so many memories of going to see movie after movie... sometimes 3 a day, sometimes watching the same films 2 times in day. Each place seemed to have it’s own little world of film and specialities. Below, a small sample of some of the best.

The Orson Welles Cinema:
The name alone brought cinephiles in. Not only did it show a variety of classic and foreign films but was the centre of «midnight madness» for years, showing up to 3 cult films each Saturday night at the witching hour. Quite a few John Water’s film’s had their out of Baltimore premiers there. A class act all the way.

The Harvard Square Cinema:
2 or 3 films changing daily, usually themed in some way. Sure you might not want to see one or two on the list but it was a great way to see films you might not have otherwise or catch up on the last 3 Werner Herzog films all in one sitting. I can’t tell you how many people I actually met in line and by seeing them over and over again at say... the showings of «The Man Who Fell to Earth». Opening in 1926 and still going but not in the same format, The harvard Square also has a an envious amount of historic live rock shows in it’s roster. Click for the full history.

The Exeter Street Theatre:
This place became the home for decades of the Rocky Horror Picture Show so I spent 100’s of weekends here with friends screaming at the top of out lungs. I also saw films like «the Tin Drum» and «Querelle» here. Another class act place.

Brattle Street Theatre:
A small basement place that is still going strong. This is where I saw «Metropolis» and «Pandora’s Box» the first times. Click for more info.

The Off the Wall:
With several showing a year of «The terror of Tiny Town» and «Plan Nine from Outer Space», the owner Mike Peck (who I lost track of and wish I hadn’t) kept it interesting here. No theatre seats but café table and chairs for drinks and snacks as you watched the incredibly eclectic roster of films.

Remember these places were open long before video stores existed, there was no way to see these films except to get off your butt and go and sit in a dark place with hundreds of other film junkies... something I’ll miss as long as I live.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Directorial Math

Just saw Black Hawk Down for the first time, and it occurred to me:












You may commence disagreeing with me..............now

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

44 Inch Chest

No, I'm not talking about Jayne Mansfield! I'm talking about this movie starring one of my favorites, Ray Winstone, and-dare I even call them costars?- John Hurt, Ian McShane, and Tom Wilkinson. Crime drama? Not quite. Black comedy? Almost. Watch it? Most certainly.

Winstone's wife leaves him for another man.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Susannah York



On the set of Freud, John Huston’s 1962 film biography of the psychoanalyst (in which she played a hopeless neurotic), she was so outraged when Huston sarcastically suggested that Montgomery Clift should get a guide dog (after the actor confessed that his eyesight was failing) that she punched him.
Read her Telegraph Obit here.
and if you haven't seen X, Y, and Zee...

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Fabric Pattern/Animated gif

From The Fleischer Brothers' Betty Boop cartoon A Language All My Own. July 19th 1935.

Here's the animated gif- a cool, but money-saving cycle:


I also thought that it would be a good fabric pattern:

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Divine Perrine

The screen life of a sexy actress can go by in the blink of an eye- but occasionally they will appear in a film or two that will never seem to stop appearing on television. This is the case of Valerie Perrine. In the 70s and 80s, she was a staple sex-bomb chosen to play those hard-working babes (or gals working hard to keep that meal ticket) but Perrine projected a lady with smarts and determination beyond her curvy exterior.

She began her film career playing a soft-core porn actress Montana Wildhack in Slaughterhouse-Five (1972).
The Texas-raised Army brat turned Las Vegas showgirl turned Hollywood sexpot was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for the 1974 film "Lenny" and a Razzie for the 1980 Village People bomb "Can't Stop the Music."



She shined as Miss Eve Teschmacher - Lex Luthor's moll with a conscience in Superman (1978) and returned in the role for Superman II (1981). That year Ms. Perrine was on the cover of Playboy. Valerie never married- her fiancee, a wealthy Los Angeles playboy and gun collector whom she met while a Las Vegas showgirl, accidentally shot himself to death after a gun discharged in a tragic gun accident a month before their wedding.



During the filming of the first Superman in London, Perrine was dating millionaire playboy Dodi Fayed. She partied with the best of them (as in Alan Carr presents! piles of coke !!) and even dated Mick Jagger. One of her other ex-lovers "Love At First Bite" & "Mr. Mom" director Stan Dragoti served time in a German prison for cocaine possession. (He was also the ex- Mr Cheryl Tiegs).



Perine co-starred in the **always on cable TV** film "Maid to Order" with Ally Sheedy in 1987, and still continues to make the occasional public appearance at age 67. She was last seen on the big screen looking dynamite at age 57 in Mel Gibson's What Women Want (2000).



fun facts:
-------
Perrine has appeared on the covers of both Playboy and Playgirl.



Perrine told Playboy magazine in 1981 that she had her brass bed reinforced so her 4 large-breed dogs could sleep with her. Her dogs include Ching (Great Dane), Thurbur (Mastif), Oscar (Great Dane), Sasha (Mix) and Muffy (Great Dane).

Perrine said she experimented with many drugs including acid, mescaline, cocaine and opium.



Perrine is 5' feet 7.5" tall with measurements 38-24-35. A veteran Las Vegas showgirl, Perrine said she felt "dressed" in just a G-string and sent a photo of herself clad in one to Bob Fosse to help him recover from one of his heart attacks.

here is Valerie in 2010. Looking Great, Lady!

New old Faces in 2011



Wishing you all a happy 2011.

Here's a plug for a new daily pop culture blog by drag superstar/ cabaret fave: Jackie Beat. www.jackiebeat.blogspot.com

Read her fun take on the 1975 classic The Stepford Wives. She brings up an interesting point -- all Ira Levin's most gripping works feature women betrayed by their husbands (ie: Rosemary's Baby, The Stepford Wives). Levin's A Kiss Before Dying and Deathtrap are other examples.

Speaking of Deathtrap --I think my 1982 pre-teen crowd lost our sheltered little minds at the matinee showing when we saw our beloved Superman/ Christopher Reeve plant a big smooch on_____. Okay, no spoilers from me. Find the spoiler here if you like.

Deathtrap was released on Region 1 DVD as half of a two-pack with the Henry Winkler/Michael Keaton buddy film Night Shift.

check out the 1980s Rubik's Cube motif for the film poster...how timely of them.



Anyway, I highly recommend Jackie Beat's blog. Jackie's philosophy is "There is something wonderful and exciting and very life-affirming about allowing all the style and magic of the past into your life. This can be done through fashion, music, movies, literature and more."

She would fit right in at the Slammer.