fajrdrako | Entries tagged with donald strachey

Today was a day to watch movies. I was ensconced on

maaseru's sofa from an early hour, watching movies with

josanpq,

maaboroshi and

lunacy_gal.

We watched:

Ice Blues, the fourth Donald Strachey movie, which I'd seen before;
Big Eden, which I'd also seen before, but which I think I enjoyed more the second time round, knowing what to expect. I certainly enjoy watching Eric Schweig!
Shakespeare Retold: The Taming of the Shew, with Rufus Sewell and Shirley Henderson. Rufus Sewell is one of those actors I adore and would watch in anything - and Petrucchio just might be his best role yet. Shirley Henderson was Ursula in the remarkable Doctor Who episode "Love and Monsters" and Moaning Myrtle in Harry Potter. This adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew was magnificent, in my opinion: it is in so many ways one of Shakespeare's more problematic plays for our time, and yet, done right, is exceptionally clever and funny.

Actually, the more remarkable thing about Henderson's performance here is that she reminded me of the first woman I ever fell in love with. I imagine that gave me an extra bit of identification with Petrucchio.
Theatre of Blood, with Vincent Price and Diana Rigg, from 1973. A wildly lurid and somewhat silly story about an actor who, driven mad by critics' opinions of his play, become a serial killer enacting revenge upon the critics by killing them in the manner of murders in Shakepeare's plays. It was a real treat to see the young Diana Rigg again. In one scene, a man's beloved poodles are brutally murdered; I couldn't help thinking of Captain John Hart.

Then

maaseru and I actually ventured out into the world to see The Dark Knight at a movie theatre. I had many thoughts on the movie. As always, I'm fussy about movies based on comics, especially comic and characters I love, and I certainly love Batman. The movie Batman is not the comic book Batman, and I generally prefer the one in the comic - with the caveat that there is no one comic book version of the character. None of the Batman movies capture what I most love about Batman¹, but I do like Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne. ( A few specific thoughts, and too bad I don't have time for more. )

This morning

maaseru and I watched the new Donald Strachey movie, On the Other Hand Death, based on the novel by Richard Stevenson.

maaseru discovered last night that it was being aired today. I made an emergency phone call to Rogers - which means, being on hold for twenty minutes - and ordered the channel that carries the Donald Strachey movies. (Superchannel 1, it's called.) Looks as if they have some interesting things - lots of TV shows and movies I never heard of. Irregular fare. Good! I can't afford to keep it long, but no harm in keeping it till the next Donald Strachey movie, Ice Blues, comes out in June.

So On the Other Hand Death was aired at 9:15 this morning.

maaseru and I made a fannish occasion of it. We got up early and went to Kettleman's, where we bought a bagel breakfast, and watched the show on her large screen.

I think it's one of the best-written of the novels, though they are all beautifully written. This one had maybe a little extra punch.

They changed the plot for the movie, though they retained the general theme: an aging Lesbian couple is being pressured to sell their home and the developers behind the scheme are crooked. And an old boyfriend of Timmy's comes to town. Quite frankly, when the climax came and the who-did-what-to-whom explanation was proffered, I was totally confused. Who killed the guy in the barn and why? And they added an excellent subplot of young troubled gay teenagers.

It was fun. The dialogue - especially between Timmy and Donald - was great, and Donald's assistant Kenny was put to good use, though he remains my least favourite character on the show. Disappointingly, though the relationship between Donald and Timmy remains delightful, there are no onscreen kisses - except the occasional peck - just when we think we're getting a good one, Donald and Timmy see they are being observed, and back off. Which makes for a cute scene, but I'd rather have the kiss!

Interestingly, the movie strongly makes the point that Donald and Timmy are monogamous, and Donald refers to himself as married - not just a change from the books, but a dramatic contrast. Even more a contrast than the change of setting from hot summer to snowy winter!

As with all the Donald Strachey movies, it's beautifully photographed and choreographed, and the music is great.

Today was both lovely and frustrating. I am falling behind in my NaNoWriMo writing. On the other hand, what I have been writing has been going well - better than I anticipated. So. Catching up tomorrow, maybe?

There's a write-in at the library tomorrow, which I find incredibly useful. There's also a scrabble part at a friend's place which I find... enticing and tempting. And two people who will be present there - no, three people - have things for me that I rather desperately want. Well. Life is full of complications. I'll sort things out somehow.

Today, despite the frustrations, was fun. My friends Marion and Vicky met me and

maaseru at Von's for brunch, and I ate their delicious potato latkes. Then we went back to

maaseru's place and I watched the beginning of the Donald Strachey movie Third Man Out before going back to my place to write for a bit.

We talked, a little, about

maasru's potential plan to put out a Donald/Timmy fanzine. (I think she's okay about me talking about this in public now. You are, aren't you

maaseru?) I have story ideas. I'd love to write for it. I really hope she does it.

We also talked about moral and cultural implications of issues raised in the Strachey movies. Fun.

Then we went to dinner at Sacred Garden Thai Vegetarian Restaurant. My friends insisted on ordering non-spicy dishes so I could share them all, which was very kind, though it made me feel just a little guilty. On the other hand - I couldn't believe how good the food was. The vegetables were perfectly cooked, the flavours subtle, and everything tasted far better than I'd dared to expect. This place used to be Mitzi's, the best Chinese restaurant in town. I still miss Mitizi's. But it's nice to know that this is a worthy replacement.

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Entries tagged with donald strachey

Movie day...

On The Other Hand Death... a Donald/Timmy movie...

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