Thank the Godz!

 

Bob Ross' Birthday and Sandy Comes to Town

Thanks for the morning chuckle, Google.

 And now for something not so funny....

Anatomy of a Murder

I was on fire to watch Anatomy of a Murder again. Turns out, Netflix does not have a streaming version available, so I had to "buy" it from Amazon. This movie is the perfect beast - Spot on acting, fantastic on-location filming, and interesting characters. Title sequence graphics by Saul Bass and an opening song by Duke Ellington (who plays a cool cat in the movie) set the tone that continues through out the entire film. You are in for a visual treat and some of the best film dialogue between characters and court room scenes that will have you on the edge of your seat. Lee Remick as Laura Manion just ooooooozzes sexuality.

Lee Remick is not the only one who sizzles; Ben Gazarra just smolders as the jailed murder suspect. Holy smokes, he has a cigarette holder!

Confession: I saw the movie version of Tell Tale Heart. zzzZZZ and that's all I'm going to say about that.

The Naked City

Filming "The Naked City"

I saw "The Naked City" via Netflix @ home Saturday night. This 1948 movie by directory Jules Dassin is a gem. Jules is famous for directing the sumptuous black and white Rififi. 

The voice over commentary, shooting on location, and semi-mocumentary style make "The Naked City" a must see. A beautiful model is found drown in her bathtub by her loyal cleaning lady and a murder must be solved. Barry Fitzgerald stills the show as Lt Muldoon. The locations chosen for filming have frozen in time a NewYork filled with busy dinners, quaint horse drawn delivery carts, and really sharp dressed people.

Now you know what movie produced this memorable line:

"There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them."

Therese Raquin

I had to get the images of Fear and Loathing out of my system, so I decided to finally watch Therese Raquin @ home. The picture above is deceiving; all is not so good. This movie had everything I like about European films - tragic characters, tragic situations, and a not very happy ending. The play turns out to be even more tragic.

Not Working

Been there, done that.  It really was an everyday struggle  not to just stay in bed. I was one of the lucky ones who were able to reinvent themselves. I want to emphasis the word luck.

I heard a bit about DW Gibson's new book, Not Working: People Talking About Losing a Job and Finding Their Way in Today's Changing Economy. , on NPR. Rumor has it he interviewed folks from Indy too.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Gimme Shelter

 On the bill for movie night @ Alex's - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. One of the worst movies I've seen in quite sometime. Really bad script -  I'm taking drugs...again, oh...more drugs....again...got old fast. The camera work  didn't do much for me either. It's always funny when they try to use a camera to give the audience the feel of taking drugs. Yes, drugs make you see dinosaurs and army jeeps. Yep.

Yes, I get the whole -Gonzo journalism thing. That's the point; the joke is on them/him. Hunter S Thompson hit the nail on the head. His own head, in fact. He was a product of the failed sixties movement himself. He was a product of the failed American dream. He just couldn't see it through the self induced, me-so-hip, I-can-afford-lots-of-drugs haze. I do lots of  drugs, ergo, I can see the truth.  Riiiight... This kind of hipper-than-thou life style made a show like Behind the Music so fascinating.

I've always liked Ralph Steadman's art. His style was pretty much ahead of the curve at the time. There are so many folks now who are clearly influenced by him. 

Anyway...the best part of the movie (no, not Dr. Gonzo's shining like the North Star gut) was hearing Gimme Shelter at the end. It made me think about Let It Bleed, the last Stones' album with Brian Jones. Brian had become so lost in his own drug-world, that he only played on two tracks and was replaced by Mick Taylor. He was sacked by the band, and died a few months later. Let It Bleed was released in December of 1969 and it is probably the best Stones' album ever. I download it from iTunes when I got home last night and I can't quite get the opening riff of Gimme Shelter out of my skull. Keef can play.

It's quite clear from the above picture that Mr. Jones has some dependency issues. Back in the day, it was cool to be considered elegantly wasted; people turned a blind-eye to drug abuse. Today, a quick trip to rehab would've been in order. Maybe we would've got a few more years out of Janice, Jimi, or Jim.

Speaking of drug abuse, I stumbled (sorry, (I couldn't resist) onto this picture of Courtney sporting a rather nice bit of ink work on her arm.