RandomCha

The Scarlet Letter [1973] 

1. The wildly inappropriate funk-lite theme music that repeats several times during the course of the movie. What were they thinking? It was Valley of the Dolls bad. In fact, Dionne Warwick would have been an improvement.
2. The film is a marked improvement over the novel, which I have always strongly detested. They’re more or less believable people on screen at least, complex characters instead of just walking metaphors. Chillingworth especially: he seems to have gleaned some insight from his time with the Indians and yet he still has this irresistible instinct for vengeance.
3. Amazing shades of blue, sky and sea, as Pearl plays on the shore.

Children of Men [2006]

1. The blood splattering on the camera lens during the second, extraordinary long take. Jaw dropping. Horrifying.
2. Radiohead playing softly in the background as they get stoned.
3. “Britain Soldiers On.”

It’s that time of year. That time of year when I make my mix CD!

If you’d like a copy, leave your name and mailing address as a comment (all comments will be screened so no one will seeit but me). Ho ho ho!

OK now THAT is freaky …

I am playing iTunes right now, on random. First it played “Dream” by George Shearing. And NOW it is playing “Dream” by Jimmy Scott. One track right after the other.

What Would Jesus Buy? [2007]

1. The laying of hands on the Victoria’s Secret cash register.
2. Reverend Billy: “We don’t have the answers, but we have the questions.”
3. Woman: “This credit card came in the mail today and by the end of the day it’ll be maxed out.”

The Deer Hunter [1978] 

1. Meryl Streep: “Can’t we just comfort each other?”
2. Rolling Rock. Everywhere. I think when I first saw this movie in college it was my first encounter with Rolling Rock.
3. I’d forgotten that they sing “God Bless America” at the end. Ugh. Heavy-handedness that spoils an otherwise moving conclusion.

Slither [2006] 

1. Name of the neighboring farm: Castavetes (reference to Rosemary’s Baby).
2. The man getting sliced in half, his insides spilling out.
3. Worm in the bathtub, like Cronenberg’s first movie.

He Walked by Night [1948]

1. Darkest of noir. The killer stepping past a streetlight, very similar to the famous shot in The Exorcist.
2. The killer extracting the bullet from his own wound. Needles. Like in No Country for Old Men. But it’s mostly offscreen, which makes it more tense. Sweat on his forehead.
3. Final chase through the storm drains. Wow.