Revealing My Crush #1573903268

I'd be lying if I said I love Robert Bresson's "Pickpocket" for its Dostoyevskian theme or for all those things for which people worship Bresson. I watch "Pickpocket" for Marika Green and I am not ashamed of it :) The crush may not be jeannemoreauesque in proportions, but still. (Yes, I noted the irony. "Jeanne", Jeanne.)

























(images from this terrific site. The guys running that site also "curate" four sites devoted to Bresson, Ozu, Tarkovsky and Dreyer. On the Bresson site is this page full of posters. Go forth and drool.)

Quizzin' Python

Courtesy Mental Floss, a cool little Monty Python quiz.

I am ashamed to say I got two questions wrong (and it's not a particularly difficult quiz). That's epic FAIL, as they say these days.

What Works Better Than Steam Inhaler But Can Break Your Heart?

There's a song on Elvis's Sun Sessions called "When it rains, it really pours". The song is not that memorable but one line from it really stands out:

You know what you did to make me love you
You really opened up my nose.
You got what you wanted, now you left me.
That's the way the story goes.

The rest of the song, sadly, does not mention any miracle cures for other blocked orifices.

"Dear Abby" To Merge With... The "Penthouse Forum"?

Think you have family issues? Then you simply must read this "Dear Abby" letter.

I've Kissed You, Now Shut Up

We've all seen this scene before. The lovesick hero is finally alone with the girl but he is too scared to "do" anything. He stutters and blabbers on, trying hard to conceal his nervousness. Finally the girl, tired of the man's milquetoastish ways, takes the initiative and whispers (some variation of) these magic words: "shut up and kiss me". They lock lips while the rest of us roll our eyes at the cliche.

I've lost count of how many sitcoms and romcoms have employed that situation. But which film first featured this routine? I think I have found the answer to that question.

It is Ernst Lubitsch's masterpiece comedy, "Trouble in Paradise", a film he and the great Samson Raphaelson wrote in 1932. I've included the hero and the heroine's conversation below, but you simply *have* to watch the film on screen to truly understand the phrase "Lubitsch touch".

Here's the other thing about the sequence. All the crappy romantic films made in the last seventy six years have not diminished one bit the tenderness and the sheer startlingness present in the "shut up, now kiss me" situation. That's an example of just how great Lubitsch and Raphaelson are. Fucking Cinema Gods!

And now for the dialog:

Mme. Colet: Monsieur LaValle, I have a confession to make to you. You like me. In fact, you're crazy about me. Otherwise, you wouldn't think about my reputation. Isn't that so? But incidently, I don't like you. I don't like you at all! And I wouldn't hesitate one instant to ruin your reputation - (She snaps her fingers) - like that! (As they talk about their reputations, their mouths are only inches apart)

Gaston/LaValle: You wouldn't?

Mme. Colet: No, I wouldn't!

Gaston/LaValle: (snapping his fingers) Like that?

Mme. Colet: (snapping her fingers again) Like that!

Gaston/LaValle: I know all your tricks.

Mme. Colet: And you're going to fall for them.

Gaston/LaValle: So you think you can get me?

Mme. Colet: Any minute I want.

Gaston/LaValle: You're conceited.

Mme. Colet: But attractive.

Gaston/LaValle: Now let me tell you...

Mme. Colet: Shut up - kiss me! (They kiss) Wasting all this marvelous time with arguments...(They kiss again)

(From filmsite.org)

Ten Years Old And Dead

What if you knew her and found her dead on the ground, how can you run when you know? ("")

They killed her. It was an accident, they say.

We don't even learn her name from the news reports.

1000 [____] to [_______] before you die

Someone kill the bastard who first came up with the "1000 [____] to [_______] before you die" thing. It's now staler than "[_____] from hell".

(Re this list of The Guardian's "1000 albums to hear before you die".)