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Thurrrrghsday (May Edition)
May. 19th, 2011 10:30 amFirst day of something resembling sun in the last five. Last night's BodyCombat was great, but seems to have provided the last straw in that lingering "Man, you should probably go back to the doctor and A) get your anti-imflammatory prescription renewed or B) get him to change it, because they're not working as well as they used to." Unfortunately, I can't do that just yet because we managed to amass a huge clog somewhere in our kitchen sink array; Steve went at it with Draino and a hanger, wore a hole in the U-bend, replaced it himself, but the clog still hasn't gone away. So today I'm waiting for a plumber.
Otherwise, last night was "Junior" night on TCM: The Wolf Man (original, with Lon Chaney Jnr.), followed by The Prisoner of Zenda (Ronald Coleman edition, with Douglas Fairbanks Jnr. as Rupert of Hentzau). Both were very enjoyable, for strikingly different reasons. I'd never realized before that "Larry" Talbot was such a creepy stalker, macking on Gwen Conliffe long-distance through his Dad's telescope, but it's part of Chaney's weird characterization throughout--people keep talking about him as though he's mildly developmentally challenged, discussing him like a teenager ("Big boy, isn't he?" the local cop asks Sir John, played by Claude Rains, even though Larry's twice the size of both of them) and alternately shunning and protecting him. Rains in particular--Sir John is a scientist here, not a recluse/hunter/secret werewolf--seems bemused by Larry's ease with machinery vs. his unease with intellectual things, as well as the general size disparity (even though Larry's dead brother, the reason for his return, seems to have looked just like him). Away for twenty years, he's developed an American accent, says things like "I'm mighty glad" and calls his father "Sir". OTH, this doesn't set him apart from most people in this little "English" village, where all the older people have British accents and the younger people mainly don't.
The person who works all the way through, unsurprisingly, is Maria Ouspenskaya as the old gypsy lady, Maleva. "Your way was thorny, not through your own fault..." She's always popping up to give people good advice that they mainly ignore (stuff like "Don't run that way!" and "Keep that silver-headed cane with you, Sir John!"), and faces Rains down admirably--they, along with Bela Lugosi (crazily enough), come off as the only professional actors involved, though Chaney pulls out a weirdly affecting series of reactions at various points: When he realizes that the gypsy werewolf he killed was somebody's son, for example, or when he realizes that his father's just going to ignore all the evidence and won't try to stop him from killing Gwen, no matter how he begs him to. But again, these seem over-the-top for a thirty-plus year old guy, bringing us back to the "Is Larry Talbot, um, different? I mean, aside from the whole Wolf Man thing?" thesis.
I have less to say about Zenda, except to remind everybody that it is great, rocks, and you should go out of your way to see it. Swordfights! Treachery! Banter! Tragic true love! Young David Niven! Waltzing! Mary Astor as a Scarlet Woman hopelessly in love with Raymond Massey! And, of course, Rupert of motherfuckin' Hentzau, being all happily, athletically gangsta up in this Hapsburg/Balkans-inspired pocket country. Fairbanks is blonder and debateably more handsome than his Dad, but just as deft and daredevil--his Rupert is utterly charming, completely unreliable unless you count on him always screwing you over, and has one of the best exits ever. It's pure pleasure.
Okay, now I'm awake. Had some good ideas for "Furious Angels" last night that I think I'll input, and getting dressed would also be smart.
P.S.: My poem "Tantalus, Reaching Upwards" is up today at the latest iteration of ChiZine's Super-MegaGod Issue. Read it here (http://chizine.com/tantalus_reaching_upwards.htm).
Otherwise, last night was "Junior" night on TCM: The Wolf Man (original, with Lon Chaney Jnr.), followed by The Prisoner of Zenda (Ronald Coleman edition, with Douglas Fairbanks Jnr. as Rupert of Hentzau). Both were very enjoyable, for strikingly different reasons. I'd never realized before that "Larry" Talbot was such a creepy stalker, macking on Gwen Conliffe long-distance through his Dad's telescope, but it's part of Chaney's weird characterization throughout--people keep talking about him as though he's mildly developmentally challenged, discussing him like a teenager ("Big boy, isn't he?" the local cop asks Sir John, played by Claude Rains, even though Larry's twice the size of both of them) and alternately shunning and protecting him. Rains in particular--Sir John is a scientist here, not a recluse/hunter/secret werewolf--seems bemused by Larry's ease with machinery vs. his unease with intellectual things, as well as the general size disparity (even though Larry's dead brother, the reason for his return, seems to have looked just like him). Away for twenty years, he's developed an American accent, says things like "I'm mighty glad" and calls his father "Sir". OTH, this doesn't set him apart from most people in this little "English" village, where all the older people have British accents and the younger people mainly don't.
The person who works all the way through, unsurprisingly, is Maria Ouspenskaya as the old gypsy lady, Maleva. "Your way was thorny, not through your own fault..." She's always popping up to give people good advice that they mainly ignore (stuff like "Don't run that way!" and "Keep that silver-headed cane with you, Sir John!"), and faces Rains down admirably--they, along with Bela Lugosi (crazily enough), come off as the only professional actors involved, though Chaney pulls out a weirdly affecting series of reactions at various points: When he realizes that the gypsy werewolf he killed was somebody's son, for example, or when he realizes that his father's just going to ignore all the evidence and won't try to stop him from killing Gwen, no matter how he begs him to. But again, these seem over-the-top for a thirty-plus year old guy, bringing us back to the "Is Larry Talbot, um, different? I mean, aside from the whole Wolf Man thing?" thesis.
I have less to say about Zenda, except to remind everybody that it is great, rocks, and you should go out of your way to see it. Swordfights! Treachery! Banter! Tragic true love! Young David Niven! Waltzing! Mary Astor as a Scarlet Woman hopelessly in love with Raymond Massey! And, of course, Rupert of motherfuckin' Hentzau, being all happily, athletically gangsta up in this Hapsburg/Balkans-inspired pocket country. Fairbanks is blonder and debateably more handsome than his Dad, but just as deft and daredevil--his Rupert is utterly charming, completely unreliable unless you count on him always screwing you over, and has one of the best exits ever. It's pure pleasure.
Okay, now I'm awake. Had some good ideas for "Furious Angels" last night that I think I'll input, and getting dressed would also be smart.
P.S.: My poem "Tantalus, Reaching Upwards" is up today at the latest iteration of ChiZine's Super-MegaGod Issue. Read it here (http://chizine.com/tantalus_reaching_upwards.htm).
