Psych - The Best USA Network Show

I've been watching a lot of it this weekend. Such great writing. Comedic elements and drama mixed in. All of the '80s references are added bonuses.

Anyway, I wanted to share some cute images of Dule Hill and James Roday aka Burton "Gus" Guster and Sawn Spencer. The images aren't that new, in fact the promo image is promoting Season 2, I think.

I really think they have the best chemistry out of any couple currently on TV (of all the shows I watch anyway). The show is moving from Fridays to Wednesdays next year. Currently listed as Wednesday, January 27. I'm thinking about writing a post about my favorite television duos for another blog.

Simone Simone. What's in a name?

This weekend has been strange.  

Ben and I checked out the Manlius Art Cinema  yesterday.  We saw the Coen brothers' A Strange Man with a fellow library grad student Claire and her husband John.  Claire was brave enough to ask the owners of the theater what musician was playing through the speakers; I was just hoping Ben would remember some lyrics to Google (or Bing, if you prefer) later.  This tiny theater is sad and sweet, which makes me miss Ragtag and its slight elitism, yet introduced me to to Al Stewart. 

Stewart's "The Year of the Cat" was a song I think I've heard before.  And he name-drops Bogie and Peter Lorrie in the first few lines. He has a beautiful voice that I just figured out reminds me of the Pet Shop Boys, though the style of music is totally something I could see that influenced the Clientele. 

Check out a version of "The Year of the Cat" 

Today, on Halloween, I went to Fright Fest at the Syracuse Fairgrounds. Thankfully, the iSchool's Grad Organization paid/a portion of my tuition fee helped pay for my ticket. I went on a Haunted Hayride and into three of the five scary haunted houses.  The last haunted house, Frankenstein's Mansion, had little to do with Frankenstein and more to do with taxidermy.  There were way too many stuffed animal heads mounted on the wall.  A fellow libgradstu, Jessie, and I traipsed through this tiny maze made out of stacks of hay, before ending the night sharing funnel cake with other students. 

 

THEN came Cat People (1942)

 

Cat People starred a French actress whose given name was Simone Simone but went by Simone Simon in Hollywood.  What were her parents thinking? And what was she thinking that dropping an 'e' would make it all that better? Personally, I think Simone Simone has a better ring to it than her "stage name."  

At any rate, she wasn't terribly great in the mediocre "horror" film from '42.  Still, I'm glad I watched it.  Amazingly, she winds up in the sequel despite the terrible fate of her character. She seems to get attacked by a black panther aka a fellow family member.  She's a cat person afterall.  As an aside, she supposedly had an affair with composer George Gershwin. 

My Halloween will end with a nightman coming:  Peter Lorre's Mad Love (1935)

Shh Shh Shosanna

I didn't make good on my promise to blog about Greer (I do have films starring Greer that I plan to write about). And even this, post dedicated to a pseud0-strong female character, is way late. Better late than never. No regrets. Live like you've never lived before.

All things I'm telling myself. Cliche or natural? Cliches surround us to the point of common thought; public domain or what-have-you. Okay, I'll stop. This is the sort of stuff that floats around in my head.

Phil Collins blog title aside, one of my favorite artists of all time is Bowie. Ziggy. Thin White Duke. Jemaine as Bowie, etc. I've been having trouble focusing lately. The Kevin Nealon Special on HBO On Demand doesn't help either.

Props to Quentin Tarantino for his choices in music and score for the soundtrack. Who would have thought that music from Battle of Algiers ("Alegeri: 1 Novembre 1954") could be mentioned in the same sentence as Bowie's "Cat People (Putting Out the Fire)" ?

SHOSANNA DREYFUS + CAT PEOPLE = Delicious '80s video mini-montage in a period piece

Three of my favorite things in one formula! And from QT.

I loved the way her character was styled. There was no other choice but for Shosanna to wear red the night she takes her revenge. I love that she puts her make up on like war paint. Gushing too much.

The Vanity Fair photo has layers of symbolism in black and white; she was in mourning.

Youtube failed me. I couldn't find an appropriate link to merge song + film or even a proper Bowie-tastic video.

Be a Basterd.

So, I saw Inglourious Basterds a few days after its release. And, for the most part, I liked it. I haven't had time to write about the picture, but I did find time to look at the spread in Vanity Fair in the days between my first post and this one. I wrote a quick blip about it as soon as I saw it on Flixster ratings. 

I honestly wish Brad Pitt had a larger role and liked his comedic elements for the most part.  However, Ben and I were talking and wonder about the choice for his character's "attempt" at Italian. Not that it matters all that much. 

Brad Pitt and Diane Kruger's photos are from the VF spread by Annie Leibovitz (of course). 

My favorite character was Shosanna Dreyfus played by Melanie Laurent. The character seemed to do her own thing, which, in my opinion, is what Laurent herself does.  

Of course, I'm biased because Shosanna had an awesome moment with David Bowie as her soundtrack. More about that later (hopefully, tomorrow). 

Pride and Prejudice

Watching Greer Garson as Ms. Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice (1940) gave me inspiration to start blogging!  

My first memory of Greer is as the mom in The Happiest Millionaire. She was truly charming then. 

WIth her strong presence, skill and beauty she had quite a few choice roles in Hollywood early on. It's time for me to explore more of her roles...And I can admit to not realizing just how many times she was nominated for Academy Awards! 

The rest of August and part of September is all about Greer...and not forgetting.