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)
What did you think of A Serious Man? I saw it a couple weeks ago and liked it, not quite as much as some of the other Coen bros. movies, but it was still good.
ReplyDeleteThat song is pretty interesting... I have a soft spot for anything that references classic cinema. I could see the possible influence on The Clientele too. I've been listening to Dead Man's Bones (a.k.a. Ryan Gosling's band) to get into the Halloween spirit.
I love Peter Lorre and am pretty stoked about Mad Love being on.
I liked A Serious Man. I mostly enjoyed all of the Jefferson Airplane references and music...I made Ben listen to JA's greatest hits quite a bit on the move to Syracuse. Ben's mom was spared because she listened to books on tape. I also liked the use of repetition with the kid running home/away from the bully. That kid was made to be in old-school Woody Allen films fo' sho (okay, I admit to not really knowing how that is spelled). The trailer made it seem somehow more mysterious than it actually was. Neurotic character on the fritz more than mysterious Jew with ethical dilemmas...if that makes sense.
ReplyDeleteI'm obsessed. I want one of his albums.
I think the Lovely Bones would have benefited more if Ryan Gosling was in it, however I am almost glad he isn't. He's too pretty. I'm not sure what I listen to anymore. It's so random. I just bought Shakira's album.