Che: Part One, The Argentine [2008]
1. Extreme closeup of Che’s cigar; a Cuban label.
2. Stretching before us: wall after wall with a hole in the center of each one. Looking through the series of holes from room to room. To get to the church they have to smash through the buildings one by one.
3. Che is having an asthma attack. He lies on his back on the floor while two men hoist him up and down with their hands on the small of his back, forcing air into his lungs.
Latcho Drom [1993]
1. The girl spinning round and round. Her bare feet stomping the hardened dirt.
2. An old woman holds a matchbox with Vaclav Havel’s picture on it.
3. Barbed wire in the snow intercut with footprints in the snow.
Experiment in Terror [1962]
1. He pushes aside the rack of empty clothes hangers, kicking up clouds of dust.
2. The "twist" version of the main theme which is playing over the radio at the swimming pool.
3. Ross Martin’s tongue, teeth as he yawns deeply, then begins wheezing from his asthma.
BONUS: The villain’s name is Red Lynch, and the residential neighborhood where Lee Remick lives is Twin Peaks.
Last night’s PBS series on the history of American comedy was fun. Not amazing, but really entertaining. And I learned something: Dr Seuss invented the word NERD. Why did I not know that?
EDIT: Or did he?
I graduated from college at the age of 21. I’m now 33.
Ladies and gentlemen, today I made the final payment on my student loans.
The Lady Eve [1941]
1. Barbara Stanwyck, annoyed: "Oh, go peel an eel!"
2. Two shot: she’s reclining, he’s sitting on floor. She’s mashed her face close to his and calmly plays with his hair. A long take. The more relaxed and casual she becomes, the more tightly-wound he becomes. His bowtie looks as if it might strangle him.
3. She drops her half-eaten apple from the upper deck and it lands squarely on his pith helmet.
The Fall of the Roman Empire [1964]
1. A car chase with chariots.
2. Alec Guinness forgets the name, snaps his fingers and waits for James Mason to provide it for him.
3. Christopher Plummer laughs maniacally. The rings on his fingers are positioned in such a way that, as he covers his face with his hands, the two rings look like two green eyes.
John Waters: This Filthy World [2006]
1. “Even Divine had his limits. The first time he met Richard Simmons, he felt homophobic.”
2. “When I was growing up, ‘Art’ meant ‘dirty,’ which is the way it should be as far as I’m concerned.”
3. “It’s not a good sign when you go to see a movie and there’s sawdust all over the floor of the lobby.”
Several years ago (some of you might remember) I participated in NaNoWriMo, and my resulting novel was A BLUE FOG THAT YOU CAN ALMOST SEE THROUGH. It was about being jobless. And looking for a job. And the anxiety, and the boredom, and the restlessness. Seems like it might be a good time to go back and work on that again. People could certainly relate to it now …
