posted by Henry Basenji at
9/17/2002 09:57:00 AM
Wednesday, September 11, 2002
Paper or Plastic?
In regard to your Hitchcock question, you might just as well ask your mom whether you or your sister turned out better. But in the interest of semi-lively debate, I'll respond, although I'll confess that it pains me on some level to do so. You see, for many years I listed Rear Window to in my top five favorite movies. It's still high on the list, but over the years has taken a backseat to a number of others...including North By Northwest. There are a number of reasons why I would consider the latter to be a superior movie.
1. Rear Window was basically a gimmick movie. A great gimmick movie mind you, a gimmick that served the story to a T, but a gimmick none the less. And in terms of a gimmick I'd say it's better than Rope but still not quite as good as Lifeboat (but that might have more to do with Tallulah Bankhead.) North By Northwest is a road movie, and as a former American Studies major (shut up, all of you) I will always be favorably inclined towards the American open road.
2. Better bad guys. Yeah, Raymond Burr was creepy and all, with his smoking in the dark and fake white hair, and he did kill Mr. Drucker's cute little dog, but c'mon, he's Perry Fucking Mason. Not only does N/NW have the incomparably oily James Mason, but a tour-de-force bad guy turn by Martin Landau. This movie also had mute, evil henchman. Rear Window had a sad little man being persecuted by a guy in a wheechair who didn't even have the guts to stand up to Thelma Ritter.
3. Eva Marie Saint. Hands down, the best Hitchcock blonde. (I'll entertain arguments on this one, but I doubt I'll agree.)
4. Cary Grant's scumbag Madison Avenue divorcee is actually a more identifiable everyman than Jimmy Stewart's aging-photo-journalist-with-society-girlfriend.
5. I've got nothing but love for Jimmy Stewart but I'll always like Cary Grant more.
6. Cary Grant is arrested for drunk driving by a cop named Emile and is only fined $3.
7. That flashbulb special effect in Rear Window is just awful.
Anyone else have anything to add?
By the way Andrew, you can always instruct Amazon to deliver to The Pad. I think it might have an address.
posted by Henry Basenji at
9/11/2002 12:00:00 AM
Tuesday, September 10, 2002
Beachbum Berry's Grog Log
Any of you guys heard of this
cocktail recipe book? From the publisher's description:
As John Glenn was orbiting the earth
for the first time, his fellow Americans
were deep into the long-lived craze
known as tiki. This gaudy life-style
package -- a blend of Polynesian kitsch,
fake island food and lethal rum drinks --
began in the late 1930's and early 40's
with Los Angeles restaurants like Don the
Beachcomber and Trader Vic's, and
gradually spread to the suburban patio
before fizzling out in the early 1970's.
It's back, of course. Jeff Berry and Annene
Kaye, serious students of tiki, have
compiled a serious tiki cocktail book,
"Beachbum Berry's Grog Log."
I was thinking of ordering it rush delivery from Amazon, but I doubt it would arrive in time for the Lost Weekend.
