Well, it seems like it might be a while before I get around to Lisztomania: my friend Anthony Blampied emailed me with the warning that:
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I felt this was the one occasion when he really fell flat. It's as though Ken was ill and an assistant director stepped in and tried to make a "Ken Russell-type extravaganza". And Roger Daltrey, so effective in Tommy, is charmless and embarrassing here. (No complaints about Ringo as the Pope, though.)
Like me, you'll no doubt find it impossible not to want to see it -- all the more so when you're warned off it! But I can't guarantee much pleasure ahead.
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And just so you get this into perspective, this is coming from the only man in the world who loves Anthony Newley's Can Hieronymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness? as much as I do. So that really is bad news for Ken.
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Anyway, on to more important matters. Kate at Silents and Talkies (look out for my guest post on Roland Young over at Kate's in September!) has tagged me.
Thus...
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Eight things I look forward to:
#1. June 20th, 2073.
#2. Owning every film Fay Wray ever made. (Anybody got a copy of Captain Thunder?)
#3. Saying 'I told you so' when World War 3 starts.
#4. Finally finishing my book Pre-Code Horror.
#5. Never seeing another Tom Cruise film as long as I live.
#6. My first drink of Coke every day. Seriously, I love this fizzy brown American liquid. I cannot sleep in a house where there isn't any should I need it in the night.
#7. The abolition of television, cars and performance art.
#8. Madam Satan 2.
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Eight things I did yesterday
#1. Hung out with Henry Winkler - the Fonz himself. (You think I'm joking?)
#2. Drank a whole bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon while watching Rumpole of the Bailey. (Highly recommended.)
#3. Decided that the only way determinism can be reconciled with a modified form of free will is by admitting the non-existence of time as it is commonly understood. (Possibly connected with #2.)
#4. Watched My Date With Drew, a documentary about this dorky guy who films his attempts to get Drew Barrymore to go on a date with him. Does he succeed? Watch the film.
#5. Started on the first disc of The Dick Cavett Show: Comic Legends, a mouth-watering 14 hour box set of complete and unedited Cavett shows featuring the likes of Groucho Marx, Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Woody Allen, Gina Lollobrigida and Mark Frechette & Daria Halprin from Zabriskie Point!!!
#6. Had quite possibly the hottest curry ever prepared by human hands (vegetarian of course).
#7. Read some more of Pedals and Petticoats by Mary Elsy, a memoir about four British girls on a cycling tour of Europe in 1950. It's so charming.
#8. Received another fascinating email from the woman in Florida who shares my love of bit part actor Cyril Ring.
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Eight TV shows I watch
#1. Hancock's Half Hour
#2. You Rang, M'Lord?
#3. Man About The House
#4. You Bet Your Life
#5. The Jack Benny Program
#6. Q8 (Spike Milligan)
#7. The Fall & Rise of Reginald Perrin
#8. Cheers
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Eight things I wish I could do:
#1. Live perpetually in 1931, so that at midnight every December 31st 1931 it becomes January 1st 1931 again. I would never, ever get bored.
#2. Have one of those matter-transportation box device things from The Fly (1958). But rather than accidentally let a fly enter it during the transportation process, I would put one in there deliberately, and then use my time machine (did I mention I'd have one of those too?) to collect interesting people and see what they'd look like with a fly's head, starting with Dana Andrews.
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(If you'd like to see a film star with a fly's head as a result of a horrible accident involving a matter-transportation device, just let me know and I'll try to arrange it.)#3. Know every surviving film star of the thirties and forties personally, drop by for tea and listen to their stories.
#4. Play the piano like Chico Marx.
#5. Get a new pipe: I was just getting the hang of pipe-smoking and the damned thing broke in two.
#6. Travel back in time to two minutes before the moment George Lucas got the idea for Star Wars and distract him until he forgets all about it.
#7. Teach the world to sing in perfect harmony. (Just kidding about that one.)
#8. Make a living from this stuff.
8 comments:
I love that you're doing a post on Roland Young! He's one of my favorite actors and so unappreciated!
Your lists were very funny! We seem to have a lot in common. Not the bit about the fly-headed actors thought, but if that's your thing... ;)
Where did you get Q8??
From a friend of a friend of a man and his dog. Originally, I believe, from Australian television. It was rare indeed when I got it (along with all the other Qs), which was getting on for ten years ago. Now I think fairly good pirate copies do the rounds on E-Bay.
What Elizabeth said: waiting for your post on Roland Young... He's terribly funny in Ruggles of Red Gap!
As for wine... May I suggest to try a Penedés, a Priorat, a Montsant (cheaper than Priorat, but quite similar) or a Somontano for further TV-watching delights? (promotional Gloria ;p)
Ooh, I can't wait for Roland Young! He's such an adorable man. The Topper films would be nothing without him.
Your lists are hilarious. That photo of Dana Andrews with the fly's head actually made me jump when I scrolled down. I love that photo and have it on one of my school notebooks, so it was quite unexpected to see it so bizarrely altered. :) Tell you what though, it's very good Photoshop.
I would totally go with you for #3 in the stuff you wish you could do category. With you though, it's actually something that could happen! Oh and I love the idea of stopping Star Wars. What a better place the world would be now if you could do that. ;)
Gloria: All in one go is that?
Casey: Glad Dana gave you a turn... I'm thinking of making it a regular feature: Famous People with Flies' Heads. Could be a winner.
Elizabeth, Gloria, Casey: Nice to see my eccentric love of Roland Young is, it would seem, not so eccentric after all.
Wonderful! Hey, that's a really good idea for a frequent blog contest: Once a month you add a fly head to a celebrity, and everyone have to guess who it is! (Am I brilliant, or what?)
I might just do that...
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