Tuesday's Overlooked A/V: Down with Love

I always want this to be a better movie than it is. A loving tribute to the Doris Day/Rock Hudson films of the 50s but with the latitude of a modern film. Down with Love *should* work, yet it doesn't quite. Nonetheless, it's a fun frothy little romp and for once, Renée Zellweger doesn't annoy too much as her squinty cherubi doll-like face fits the hyper hip fashions and the bouncy feel of it. Ewan MacGregor plays the Lothario part note perfect and with great glee. Sarah Paulson does great as Vikki Hiller, the would be tough editor who can't quite stand up to the old men and really just wants to get married, and of course, the always delightful David Hyde Pierce shows why he should be inundated with roles in the Tony Randall vein. So funny! And yes, terrific to have Randall show up in a cameo, too.

The costumes, the sets -- all perfect. Peyton Reed's direction for the most part maintains that light touch needed for the story, but the script churns to a halt when switching gears. Like a lot of nostalgia production these days, it tries to have it both ways: reveling in the old times and the hilarity of women's lives sucking (-_-) but also 'updating' for a modern audience. And it's the latter part that doesn't quite work. In the end the script is not clever enough to overcome that challenge. It's a difficult thing to do, but I can't help wishing they'd worked harder to do so.

But it has ample charms and it would make a great double feature with Pillow Talk, so give it a whirl. And then drop by Todd's to see other recommendations.


  

Tuesday's Overlooked A/V: Abed

My post is actually over at The Girls' Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse -- Abed (The Film):

What would you do to keep your family alive?

Watch the trailer to see if this is something you'd like to check out (i.e. not for the faint-hearted!)




Or just buy Beth's story for 99¢ on Amazon:





And be sure to pop over to Todd's to see the round-up of overlooked sights & sounds. Busy week: news soon! So little time, so much to do...

Tuesday's Overlooked A/V: The Third Man

Phone pics off the screen

Hold on there, cookie! The Third Man, that classic Orson Welles film -- overlooked?! Well, yeah, I dare to say it. I say it on the basis of so many people who are not film geeks who've either never heard of it though they might recognise the title or those who maybe know Welles from advertisements only or are geeks and have been meaning to see it for years (o_O) hmmm?

This time around I saw it differently, too, because it marked the first time I consciously watched it as noir (and for the cats). So many things I have in the back of my head about noir, it's good to make a conscious effort to consider the building of scenes and the building of the story in Greene's script (I have to read the novella!). Cotton's stumbling 'pulp' writer [in scare quotes because Todd will tell me he's not pulp at all but I don't know exactly what is textbook pulp and what is not because it seems a handy designation for a vast range of writers who wrote for cheap paperbacks in the early 20C and if it only turns out to be people who wrote for specific publishers who printed on PULP™brand paper during the odd months of the year 1935, I'll never remember that, so -- scare quotes] gradually uncovers a mystery when he thought he was just coming to a funeral and then things get weird as he finds out his good friend is nothing like the man he thought him to be.

(Somehow this relates today's thoughts on Dunning-Kruger, too -- not sure how).

This film has such amazing and utterly gorgeous shots, not as distinct frames like so many current films that scream "Look at this shot!" but as an organic whole that tells a story. A compelling story: how to deal with competing views of a man you've trusted? How to deal with a woman you love who's still in love with your best friend? And a very Greenean quandary about making moral choices when the options are not the black and white ones you were taught to distinguish between.

I ended up paying much more attention to the look of the film but the narrative kept pulling me back in. It remains a classic not just because it is a superbly directed film, but also because it tells a compelling story. And while it makes you despise the smug Harry Lime (whether or not he was right about cuckoo clocks and Borgias), you can see how he represents a very common type -- the ones who looted their way through half the economies of the world with every belief in their right to do so.

Could you walk away from such temptation?

See the round-up of overlooked A/V over at Sweet Freedom.

The Secret to Life, the Universe and Everything

My Ballardian dwelling

Well, it sounded better than "Just another manic Monday." But that's what it is and already afternoon here. I have the excuse of going very late to bed -- mostly due to the nice weather which means Club Karma has their "garden" seating now (can it be a "garden" if it's just tables in the alley?) so thumping bass wafts out along with drunken hooting and hollering conversations that get funneled up to the cul de sac outside my bedroom window and into my Ballardian dwelling.

So I go to bed late.

A few quick things: if you haven't checked out the photos from last week's trip to Brigit's Garden with the lovely Maura, do! It was a grand day out.

My flash story "Biscuits" now appears at the wonderful Postcard Shorts site. Drop by and give it a like or a share and get a chuckle out of it. I've been writing a lot of flash fiction lately because it's a nice break in between longer works. So much of writing and publishing is scraping away day in and day out with no visible results. Nice to write a story, send it out, have it appear sometimes within a very short space of time.

Who knew there was an official Flash Fiction Day? I'll have to assemble links to all mine.

If you need some entertaining, read Anne Billson's hilarious free "My Day by Jones" AKA Alien as told by the cat onboard the ship. Read my write up over at the Girl's Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse.

I've got a short piece on writers' colonies over at the blog for the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop; drop by and leave a comment or share it with your friends.

So in addition to keeping busy, pursuing the life you want for yourself, replacing fear with hope and living fully in the now, the secret to life, the universe and everything of course remains 42.

Tuesday's Overlooked A/V: Algol

Pressed for time, so I'm pointing you to a sublime blog called Strange Flowers, who has a write up of an absolutely amazing film, Algol: Tragödie der Macht (or is it Nacht? That's what the title cards say) which is Algol: Tragedy of Power (or Night). UPDATE: James confirms that other references to the film use Macht, so the title card is likely wrong. More fitting for the theme anyway.

Wow, just wow: an SF German silent that pre-dates Metropolis by seven years and features the amazing decadent Sebastian Droste. Do yourself a favour and read the whole write-up, then watch the film. I'm still making my way through; I cheated and watched the last reel so I could see Droste dance. I think you can make your way through it fairly well even if your German isn't that good; that's the beauty of silent films. Watch out for the eye of the devil!

As always, check the round-up of overlooked gems over at Sweet Freedom. And if you want a preview of what I was up to yesterday, take a gander here (you may need to be logged into Facebook but it's a public album).

Tuesday's Overlooked A/V: What is Creativity?

Sculpture by David Batchelor at the McManus

Rabbit, rabbit! First of May and sumer is icumen in, lhude sing cucu! If you're out protesting in the streets, I hope you're enjoying a fine day. My film today is a bit of an odd choice, truly in the spirit of the "overlooked" like no other I've written on.

I *think* it's called What is Creativity? At least that's how I've remembered it all these years. I suspect it was an hour or less long, as it was shown to me in junior high art class in 6th and again in 7th grade. The only 'name' in it was John Astin, but it doesn't appear on his list of films in IMDB. The three things I remember from it are seemingly indelibly fixed on my memory -- however, given my proclivity for 'adjusting' quotations to suit me and never quite getting them right (a habit I gave to Ro in Owl Stretching) I'm sure I may have adjusted them somewhat. But they're so vivid! And as it was on creativity, I was sold from the start.

So, what I do recall of this elusive film: there's an animated sequence that covers the history of the world through art. The "dark ages" literally blackness until the 'Renaissance' comes along with a light [insert medievalist eye roll]. There's an exchange between Michaelangelo and someone else: "What are you doing?" "I'm painting a ceiling. What are you doing?" "I'm painting a floor."

There's another part that's a parable told with ping-pong balls almost Jonathan Livingston Seagull-ish, with one non-conformist ball who decides to try to bounce as high as he can, with an inconclusive ending, "Some say he never came down..."

My favourite bit was the part with John Astin, who played an artist who wasn't doing very well then suddenly had an inspiration to put together mannequin parts and gears and whatnot in a kinetic sculpture. He debuts it to a crowd of critics and suddenly he's dressed as a gunslinger as the potshots come in. He shoots back in vain until at last there's one positive voice in the noise: "I like it!" He leans forward, encouraging the comment, until he hears, "I mean the materials alone must be worth something!" Bang! And he goes down.


So, am I the only person who remembers this?

As always, find the complete round-up of neglected works over at Todd's.

Tuesday's Overlooked A/V: Beckett's Film

Beckett is funny: people seem to often overlook that fact. Productions of Waiting for Godot that get that fact tend to be much better than those with dour seriousness. You put his craggy mug up there and suddenly it's art with a capital Arrrr! Slapstick is a fundamental element of his work however, so no surprise that he worshipped Buster Keaton. Yes, Keaton by 1965 suffered the effects of his dissolution, but it suits the haggard bemusement of his character in this short film. Beckett himself referred to Film as "an interesting failure"; considering how many dull successes fill the theatres at present, that seems infinitely preferable.



Even newly anointed big-stuff-with-a-show-at-the-Tate-Mod Damien Hirst has done Beckett.

As always, check Sweet Freedom for the round up of other gems. If you watch this on t'Tube you'll see a bunch of other videos featuring both Beckett and Keaton; indulge yourself. Another great resource for arty indulgences, if you don't already know about it, is UbuWeb.

Flash Fiction Challenge: Zoo Story

Patti Abbott has challenged folks again on the topic of the zoo: here's mine with apologies to Edward Albee and William Shakespeare and Bruce Robinson as well. So there.
 

Zoo Story

"So, this is the place."

"This? Why?"

"I thought it would be dramatic."

"Dramatic? Why? Wolf howls make it dramatic?"

"Not exactly. That scene was filmed here."

"What scene?"

"From the movie, you know the one."

"No. You mean…no. Which one?"

"The funny one, with those two guys and the drinking and—it's very funny. You liked it."

"It's not coming to mind."

"But there's that scene where he quotes from Shakespeare."

"Who does?"

"Whatsisname…Grant."

"Cary Grant?"

"No, not Cary Grant. The other one."

"Hugh Grant?"

"No, whatsit—Richard! Richard A. Grant."

"Don't know him."

"You do! He was in that movie and in lots of other ones. Tall bloke, gaunt looking, theatrical. He was in the Spice Girls movie."

"What did he play?"

"I don't remember. Anyway that's not the point."

"What is the point?"

"He was giving that speech from Shakespeare, right here, by the wolves."

"What speech?"

"Oh, you know the one."

"Obviously I don't. 'Wherefore art thou, Romeo?'"

"No, not that one. The one with 'quintessence of dirt' in it. Oh, you know, it's a famous one. Macbeth maybe."

"No, not ringing any bells."

"About the nature of man…"

"All the world's a stage?"

"No, not that. Oh, you know it—I can't remember now. It was raining down and he was reciting it to the wolves."

"Why to the wolves?"

"Because they were there. His friend had gone."

"What was his friend's name? Maybe that will remind me."

"I can't remember his name. I'm not sure the friend ever gets named."

"In the whole movie? No one ever says, 'Hey whatsyername, answer that phone' or something like that?"

"No. I mean, I'm pretty sure. The film's from his point of view. They go see the uncle and he gives them the cottage and they go on holiday."

"Oh, yeah, I kind of remember that one."

"Anyway he has that speech—"

"He does? Or the other one?"

"The other one, all right. But he gives that speech at the end of the movie and his only audience is the wolves and it's very significant."

"Why?"

"Well, because he goes on to be a great actor and you can see it in that moment. It's the beginning of better things."

"Oh."

"So I thought it would be appropriate—"

"What's the speech again?"

"It's about man's place in the world, the sky above, the ground below and how grand it all is. Quintessence of dirt."

"What does that mean anyway?"

"Like the epitome of dirt, I guess."

"Wouldn't that be a bad thing though?"

"No, not really—I think you're missing the point. It's poetry like."

"But it must mean something. If you're the epitome of dirt, you're still dirt."

"But don't you see—I mean, it's Shakespeare. Poetry."

"Ironic, you mean?"

"Well, not necessarily ironic but poetic. What's the word? Metaphor."

"Metaphor? That's when you compare things?"

"Sort of."

"So, what? The wolves respond to metaphor? Oi, wolves! Metaphorse for me."

"You're thinking metamorphoses. That's changing."

"Evolving. What would wolves evolve into?"

"Don't change the subject."

"What was the subject? This stupid movie?"

"It's not the movie, it's the speech."

"What about it anyway? You can't even remember what Shakespeare it's from."

"The play isn't important."

"The play's the thing—isn't that Shakespeare too?"

"Probably. But what I was saying—"

"Every famous quote comes from Shakespeare, doesn't it? Why is that?"

"I don't know. But the speech—"

"All the world's a stage, the play's the thing, the face that launched a thousand ships…"

"Yeah, but what I wanted to say—"

"Are they all from Hamlet? No some must be from comedies. Wait, Hamlet—that's the one. It comes from there."

"What does?"

"Your speech."

"Right, that's it. I'm sure it is. And the reason I—"

"Lots of good ones come from that play—isn't it bad luck to say the name? 'Bare bodkin': we always had a giggle at that one in school."

"Look, I wanted to say—"

"And there's a joke about privates, too. Miss, we'd say, could you read that part again, we didn't understand it. Hilarious!"

"Never mind that. I was talking about—"

"Do you suppose writers do that on purpose? Put in jokes like that?"

"I don't know. I don't care."

"What was that?"

"What?"

"That little box you threw into the pen."

"Nothing."

"Look, that wolf is trying to eat it. What is it?"

"Nothing. Never mind. Let's go have a drink."

"You're funny today."

"Yeah. Maybe Shakespeare wrote me."

"Ha, that's funny. So what was that box?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

Review: Hunger Games

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Interview & Friday's Forgotten Book

Hey, that's me over at Book Reel talking about book trailers, my prodigious output and where I get my ideas (not Schenectady!). I had a terrific time answering the questions, so stop by and leave a comment if you're of a mind to and feel free to share the link where you can. Help me claw my way out of obscurity!

If you haven't already heard, the fabulous Alessandra Bava has a bilingual collection of poetry out, Guerrilla Blues. Her work is amazing: passionate, vivid, fearless. I can't wait to get my copy!

FRIDAY'S FORGOTTEN BOOK: Somebody Owes Me Money

Talk about prodigious outputs! Donald E. Westlake is a legend. Over a hundred novels, many under pseudonyms, mostly in crime but also in other genres as well. He was in the back of mind from some conversation this past week, so when I went to the library this week to return books I checked to see if they had any Westlake and sure enough, they did (not that my shiny shiny iPad Rook isn't groaning with books to be read >_<). This one looked like fun.

First published in 1969, Somebody Owes Me Money got this shiny new edition from Hard Case Crime in 2008. The main character is the hapless Chet Conway, cab driver and inveterate gambler. Not the sharpest tool in the shed, but he generally catches on eventually. There's something fun about writing a character that's going to be less swift than the reader and Chet fills the bill. The brilliant opening line plays with the gradual reveal: "I bet none of it would have happened if I wasn't so eloquent."

What happens is that Chet gets the tip of a lifetime, scores big, goes round to his bookie Tony and finds him dead. And then Tony's wife arrives and eventually the police and things don't look so good. Chet manages to get the police to believe he didn't kill Tony, but the next thing you know the bookie's sister Abbie arrives with a gun in hand, sure he did murder her brother and ready to get revenge.

Chet and Abbie make a winning pair, bickering and working at cross-purposes; she's way out of his league and Chet's constantly surprised to find her in the vicinity. If it weren't for Abbie, he'd have bought it in the first few chapters, which brings out his chivalrous desire to protect her, though as even he realises, "Abbie McKay was no helpless damsel in distress. She could take care of herself, that girl, I was sure of it."

Fun stuff: suspense, twists and turns as well as laugh out loud moments. Full of those nice little touches that give a richness to the story and fill in its world, like everyone arriving out of breath from the long walk up to Jerry's fifth floor apartment or the insane insurance calculations that obsess Chet's dad. Well worth a ride.

See all the FFB recommendations over at Patti Abbott's blog.

BitchBuzz: Hour of the Wolf

Hour of the Wolf

K. A. Laity

There's been something in the air for a while; while the first glimmer goes all the way back to Angela Carter's Bloody Chamber and her trio of wolf stories, including "The Company of Wolves" later to become the first in a film rebirth of the werewolf genre which grew out of the development of realistic prosthetic makeup, seen in that film, An American Werewolf in London and The Howling.

The wolf moved from monster to lover, a theme Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods touched on and more recently there was Catherine Hardwicke's Red Riding Hood (which I didn't see because the reviews savaged it). We've also had woman as werewolf in the terrific Ginger Snaps films and just lately Ruby/Red Riding Hood in Once Upon a Time.

Today Jezebel linked to a new Red Riding Hood film, an animated short that seems to tap into the current zeitgeist in a surprisingly evocative way. As the animators' Vimeo page puts it:

RED is an animated short film, which presents a new version of the classic tale ¨Little Red Riding Hood¨ by Charles Perrault. The directors Jorge Jaramillo and Carlo Guillot explore more thoroughly the drama, horror and realism of the story. A journey of feelings and moments, with visual and musical elements existing only to carry a clear and strong narrative.

It works well as a horror film, an evocative shadow play of grim terror. But it also resonates as a metaphor for our times: the determined young girl goes after the wolf. The fight is bloody; there's no softening of the battle and its costs to both combatants.

The return of Red's hood becomes visually powerful as the whitened cloth becomes once more red. The grisly sight of what's left of grandma and the resolve with which the girl drags it homeward once more offer a gut-punching power to the images. Manuel Borda's music enhances the emotions vividly.

As women battle daily for control of their bodies—whether it's for reproductive rights in the US or for their very lives in Guatemala—and grimly to hold onto the rights their grandmothers fought so hard to secure, a sharp little reminder like this film offers a picture of triumph that reminds us why we retell fairy tales over and over again.




RED from RED on Vimeo.

Tuesday's Overlooked A/V: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

This blog takes its name from my first film, Un Amor Peligroso or The Wombat's World. I joked about my anticipating the success of The Artist by making a silent film back in 1978, but then there was also Mel Brooks' Silent Movie about then, so I can't take much credit. There may be something in the air at present that provokes a longing for wordless -- or at least speechless -- entertainment. Maybe it's the 24/7 shouty news cycle. Maybe it's social media and the endless blaring of words, words, words (and pictures, pictures, LOLcat pictures). Perhaps it's simply the awfulness of movie dialogue created by a "creative" process that really means each producer who passes through has to change something just to be able to point to it and say, "That's mine." A process that has contempt for its audience, so it spells out every action with words and makes good actors speak horrible lines.

So here's the Academy Award winning animated short, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. It's got plenty of words, but they're mostly flying away. It nods to Buster Keaton in its main character and to The Wizard of Oz and takes place (at least initially) in lovely New Orleans. It will make any book lover cry and sigh. And it's only 15 minutes long. You've got time for that in your busy schedule. Take a break and be delighted.




And in a bizarre and completely unrelated space in Glasgow, a most unusual performance takes place. Dare you attend An Appointment with the Wicker Man?

As usual, see the round up of fine recommendations over at Sweet Freedom (I forgot to add that earlier, D'oh!).

Tuesday's Overlooked A/V: Thirst & Linear Obsessional Recordings

A bit of news first: my story that asks the question "what if Christopher Marlowe wrote like an Elizabethan Hunter S. Thompson?"AKA "Fear and Loathing in Deptford," is featured at the World SF Blog. World SF is dedicated to posting links, news and original content related to science fiction, fantasy, horror and comics from around the world, so check them out for a wide variety of tales you won't see elsewhere.

THIRST: I'm slowly catching up on my Korean horror films. I am fond of Park's films and glad to have finally seen this one. It was part of the vampire run on Film 4 this past week. I'd seen just about everything else, so this was a nice surprise. In Thirst Kang-ho Song plays a priest who inadvertently becomes a vampire in his attempt to try to heal. He's driven to try to rescue the beaten-down Tae-ju, but saving the damsel in distress turns out to be a lot more complicated than he anticipates. Ok-bin Kim gives the orphaned outsider bride a mercurial character that reflects the deprivations of her marginalised life and her greed for excess that cannot be quenched. A very entertaining take on the vampire mythos.




LINEAR OBSESSIONAL RECORDINGS: Social networking brings you into contact with unexpected delights. Facebook connections brought me to Linear Obsessional Recordings and their coalition of experimental musicians. You'll find everything from a deconstruction of J. G Ballard's "The Atrocity Exhibit" to music for barges to found sounds as well as collages of loops and various improvisations. If you enjoy experimental work and ambient sounds, you'll find plenty to interest you there. You can stream all the music and download many for free (donations also accepted) -- some you can even remix as they're under a Creative Commons license. I spent all day yesterday listening to their recordings while writing. Good stuff. A lot to enjoy here.

Support indie music!

Tuesday's Overlooked A/V: Red Cliff

O for a muse of fire that would ascend / the highest brightest heaven of invention / a kingdom for a stage, princes to act / and monarchs to behold the swelling scene...

There aren't many pieces I can quote from memory (I gave the habit of misremembering every quote to my main character Ro in Owl Stetching; trust nothing she says!), but this is one. Yes, I just double-checked it. Okay, one word off. That's rather good for me.

Anyway, surely this is the emotion swelling in John Woo's bosom that urged him to make this epic battle film. Or this half of it, anyway. The three hour film I saw, Cultural Gutter tells me, is only the condensed version of the complete five hour movei. Wow. Epic indeed.

The narrative follows an historical battle, no surprise. For the man made famous by a film with the tag line, "Two men. Ten Thousand Bullets." Woo has stepped up the munitions even more here: let's say a million billion arrows, lances and swords. And that's not even mentioning the fire bombs.

I had my doubts when the film began with an awful American voice over: fortunately it disappears too quickly. Once again Hollywood assumes people are too stupid to just pick things up from the narrative. Woo actually does the zoom-in and highlight with title card when we first meet the key players.

At the center, the always patient world-weariness of Tony Leung as Zhou Yu, who would rather there were no more wars, an opinion shared by his impossibly radiant and artistic wife, Xiao Ciao (Lin Chi-ling) but they're both mindful of the greater good. Zhang Fengyi gives the power-hungry Cao Cao a realism despite his embodiment of the arrogant man of power. Zhao Wei gives a plucky performance as the cross-dressing Sun Shangxiang -- they actually make her look androgynous enough in costume to be somewhat believable. You never for a minute believe anyone could mistake Brigitte Lin for a man ("But she's wearing a man's hat!"). The young but clever strategist Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) comes up with some of the most bizarre and yet effective plans that often seem divinely inspired -- or at least inventively creative.

There's a great cast and all kinds of pyrotechnics, flying arrows and spurting blood. There's nothing you haven't seen before if you've watched a lot of wu xia, but it's an enjoyable epic that hits all the high points and feels satisfying if you've got nowhere to go for a few hours. Here's the trailer, so you can see it is chock full of stunning visuals (and yes, a patented Woo dove -- and yes (>_<) Don LaFontaine doing the voiceover).

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: Ken Russell's Elgar

The BBC has been pulling out a bunch of Russell films from the vault in a grudging sort of admiration for the filmmaker's passing, including a doco on his life, A Bit of a Devil. So my DVR seems to be filling up with an assortment of things (which means I'll finally see The Boyfriend). I actually watched this in real time and plan to re-watch it soon. We're all used to thinking of Russell as the bad boy of excess (who, having seen it, can get the giant penis of Listomania out of their eyeballs?). Certainly a number of his films live up to that surreal excess.

But there is a range to his work -- even within his most excessive films (what would qualify for that? The Devils?) there are quiet enigmas. Elgar, a short film made for Monitor shows a restrained Russell at work but one who (as the doco tells us) delighted in dancing naked to extraordinary music. People tend to remember Elgar most for the song they hear at graduations, but there's so much more. Another one of those weird confluences of the zeitgeist: the events in Penda's Fen hinge on Elgar's Dream of Gerontius and the composer makes an appearance as the story takes place in the same location, the hills of Malvern.





I was talking about this on Twitter with a friend about how sensitive and deft the film was, how it put the music at the center. It tread the line between documentary and re-enactment without falling into the silliness that usually means. As Susie said, this was in sharp contrast to the slickness of current documentaries "and no silly camera work, no 'acting' Loved shot of Elgar walking into room of draped chairs to his draped billiard table." The film is full of striking images that encapsulate significant moments of Elgar's life (some of which reappear in Russell's work, but they're integrated into Elgar's story well). The music is the real star and Russell allows the audience to embrace the music full on, giving us space to really listen with visuals that compliment but never intrude on that experience. You can watch it in pieces on YouTube: not ideal, but worthwhile nonetheless. Excellent work.

See the roundup of recommendations over at Sweet Freedom.

Teaching tomorrow: eek. So much to do! Fortunately it seems as if the zeitgeist has taken the initiative to come up with a PR campaign for my forthcoming novel Owl Stretching, so that will save me some time.

Don't forget: enter to win a free copy of It's a Curse: Drunk on the Moon 7 over at Goodreads.

Haunted, Spies & a little Melancholia

Angela Carter: she's been a kind of spiritual mother to me since I first read The Bloody Chamber and knew I'd found a kindred soul. This week I finally started writing the novel that's been brewing in my head for some time now inspired by Carter and to some extent also by Kingsley Amis. Hard to imagine two writers more diametrically opposed, but there it is. They fit together in this project. So my head snapped back a little to see this story in the Guardian about Carter's postcards to her friend and literary executor Susannah Clapp. All kinds of resonance from the details in that story from her love of sending postcards to other coincidences that make me wonder just how much of Carter's life will intertwine with my story. Maybe it will only be at the start. Owl Stretching began the day I realised there would be no more sad, funny novels from Kurt Vonnegut, but his ghost only hung around now and then to remind me. He didn't really poke his nose into the proceedings much. Carter died far too soon (and about the age I am now). I feel a responsibility to write the kind of stories she might have written -- or at the very least, as fearlessly as she always sought to write. It's a goal. There's a slide show of the cards. Check it out.

I've got an interview up over at Ben Sobieck's blog, where he suggests I might really be a spy. It's funny how that theme keeps recurring: the first novel I ever wrote -- way back in high school -- followed the adventures of a wannabe spy. The title I'm sorry to say was Ace Spies Incorporated and the plot followed a similar path to just about every film from North by Northwest to The Man Who Knew Too Little with the innocent main character getting caught up with the real thing and quickly getting in over her head. The novel also featured thinly veiled versions of my teenage crushes, the Beatles (ah, that 70s resurgence of second wave Beatlemania). I don't think I have a copy of this anymore, although my old friend Carla might.

I finally saw Melancholia, but I'm not ready to write it up. Harrowing, I can say that much. Amazing, incredible visuals and powerful drama, yes -- but harrowing. And I start teaching Wednesday. Eek!

What the Dickens?!

Hey, join me at the party! The Writer's Party, that is, where I do my Auntie Mame impression. I talk about inspiration and writing and whatnot. Not quite as crazily as I did at Mr B's but it's not possible to maintain that high level of madness all the time.

A decent showing in the Preditors & Editors Poll. I think I made it to #15 last year with "High Plains Lazarus"; this year It's a Curse made it to #16 and four other Drunk on the Moon titles ended up in the top 20 (imagine if our votes were combined!). Dark Pages: International Noir with my story "Mandrake and Magpies" made it to #13. With some real stiff competition, the fabulous Queen of Everything's cover art rose to #12. All in all, an excellent showing!

And just under the wire: the Pornokitsch interview with all of us at The Girl's Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse is up: check it out!

Those of you in the States may not be getting the same inundation that we are on this side of the pond, but even if you aren't deluged by Dickens, I stand by these recommendations:

Sick of Dickens? Here are Some Alternatives...

By K.A. Laity

It's the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens. If somehow the news has escaped you, surely you could tell from the deluge of BBC productions assaulting us from every side (even if they don't always seem to be enjoying it).

It's only the second week in January and already we've had a new version of Great Expectations and fleshed out finish to The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and Arena has offered a neat recap of this most-filmed author whose works have filled cinemas since its first stuttering steps.

Meanwhile on the radio you can find adaptations of The Old Curiosity Shop, Hard Times, Little Dorrit and David Copperfield running at present. There are over 200 hits when you search programmes for Dickens (you get almost double that when you search sports, but that's seldom due to Charles).

Suppose you want costume drama but you're sick of Dickens? Where to turn? Let's assume for the sake of argument you've likewise had your fill lately of both Austen and Downton Abbey—after all you can't swing a dead urchin without hitting one or the other. Here are some suggestions that may be less well known to those of you who hunger for  yet more bonnets and waistcoats (I'd say hit the books, but we know that's not going to happen, is it?)...

Read the rest, as always, over at BBHQ. Despite my grumbling, I think Gwyneth Hughes did an admirable job of wrapping up Dickens' unsolved enigma and the second half cracked along. If some of the outcomes were predictable, others definitely were not! Nicely done. Spoilers in this recap.

Budapest and Switzerland in May: a distinct possiblity...

Tuesday's Overlooked A/V: Penda's Fen

Big birthday wishes to my li'l brother, Bertie. He wouldn't want me posting a picture that was not pre-approved or artfully touched up, so I will refrain from posting that pouty school photo from when he was about seven...

Much as I might be tempted.

Today's overlooked A/V owes a big thanks to Mr B, who pointed me to where Iain Rowan blogged about this film (and more owls -- awesome! [wait, not supposed to say that anymore; what did we come up with? Prodigious! I don't think it's going to work out though...]). Ahem.

Let's go back to a magical time: 1974. Okay, no so much magical as really really weird, especially when you consider British television. And not just scary PSAs, just really weird programs -- often aimed at kids! I give you Penda's Fen, which you can watch in its entirety online [so sorry the video freeze frames on an instance of animal cruelty! not intentional but I guess that will warn some of you away -- apologies!].





This is a film that would have trouble airing now in the States. Never mind that it deals with Elgar's Dream of Gerontius and Manichaeism (o_O) and homoeroticism, it also deals with the relationship between paganism and Christianity; not simply as atavistic past threatening its 'evolutionary' successor, but with a faith in the power of that pagan past and with a view of Christianity as a corrupt reflection of mechanised modernity.

Wow.

Among the things that would doubtless give many fundies apoplexy, there's the suggestion that Joan of Arc might have been a follower of the Old Religion. The titular pagan Anglo-Saxon king offers a positive model, too. One of the real knock-outs of the film are the dream sequences which are truly unsettling in a very simple way. Two words: uncanny angel! Really creepy! I suspect this film alone may have warped a generation. Wonderful!

As always, catch up on all the recommendations over at Sweet Freedom.

And yes, it's the last day to vote in the Preditors & Editors Poll...

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: The Long Kiss Goodnight

I got into a discussion on Twitter with Anne Billson about Finnish music and films, and we both lamented the lack of love in Hollywood for Renny Harlin when people like Ridley Scott continue to be trumpeted. I suppose I have a weakness for a Finnish director who always manages a little nod to his homeland in the midst of a blockbuster, whether it's a pirate ship flying the blue and white flag in Cutthroat Island or the Finlandia vodka prominently served in Deep Blue Sea. I find it hard to believe that I have not written about this film here before, but I searched the blog and turned up nothing, so let's assume it's true (yes, I did mention it in a column on holiday films for BitchBuzz).

I love this movie.

A lot of this is down to Geena Davis' winning performance as the amnesiac suburban mom who discovers she's really a lethal weapon. Davis has done a lot of work behind the scenes since then with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media and while promoting the film she spoke about how her then-husband Harlin would balance the punishment she took on screen with therapeutic massage at night. She takes a beating in this film, but she's also warm and funny as well.





Samuel L. Jackson is great fun of course: Shane Black's script (written before repeating Lethal Weapon films sucked a lot of life out of him) sets him up as fairly hapless and yet always hopeful, though he can't get song lyrics right (heh!). Brian Cox is terrific (of course) in a small role and utters one of the funniest lines in the film (although the humour is due as much to his dry delivery as to the line). Craig Bierko makes for a fetching psychopath. David Morse and Patrick Malahide offer terrific performances as well in supporting roles. But this is Davis' star turn and she makes the most of it.

Chefs do that.

See the round-up of overlooked films, television and other audio-visuals over at Todd's blog. And if you haven't seen this film? Do. Look, it's really cheap. And it totally kicks ass.

Know-vember: Peg Aloi

My movie buddy! Peg and I have seen a lot of movies together, good and bad -- and have often argued about which was which (hee)! Peg is also a writer and academic as well as an amazing cook and baker (mmmm, deliciousness). I haven't gone to the movies yet in Galway, surprisingly. The good theatre is a bus ride away (I may eventually rent a bike), but I think part of it is not having someone to go to movies with in the middle of the afternoon (AKA the best time). Miss you, Peg! Hope you can make it over here :-)

1. What's the first thing you do upon waking in the morning?

Nudge the dog to get off the bed.

2. What's a song you might be persuaded to dance to?

Was enjoying "Get Down Tonight" by KC and Sunshine Band at the dentist's office today...but I like to dance and to all kinds of music, generally.

3. Where in the world do you live?

Albany, New York.

4. What's a great night out for you?

Great food and drinks with friends, a film premiere, a super hot play ticket in London or New York, a walk along a sparkling city street, sitting in chairs beneath a starry sky in the country, a bonfire, I am easy.

5. What's a great night in?

Steak and a TV marathon of The Tudors...or having friends over for food and drinks.

6. If you were offered an all expenses paid trip anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Good question...probably Paris.

7. What book do you wish everyone would read so you could talk about it?

The Children's Book by A. S. Byatt, or Harvest Home by Thomas Tryon.

8. What movie makes you cry?

The ones where sad things happen. [Ed: hahahahahaha]

9. What makes you laugh?

The Colbert Report, at the moment.

10. Are there fairies at the bottom of your garden?

I should hope so.