sovay: (Rotwang)
sovay ([personal profile] sovay) wrote2019-01-23 11:51 pm

Two different houses surround you

I wish to thank my past self for buying a jar of borscht, knowing I would feel like eating it some night when it was not feasible to visit a restaurant and/or New York. I had it tonight with sour cream and dill; it was delicious. The cats tried to interpose themselves. I explained that I don't think either of them can digest sour cream. They pointed out that said nothing about beets. They did not win the argument.

After dinner I met [personal profile] teenybuffalo for the late show of The Wolf Man (1941) at the Brattle. It was the last major Universal horror movie I had left to see; I may try to write about it not because it's my favorite but because it really shouldn't have held together—I'm genuinely not sure in what country or century it's even supposed to be taking place—and yet it has all the right resonances under the surface to hit the audience in the id and pull off an ending I actually find devastating, like the twist in the last verse of a murder ballad. I had managed to forget that I'd seen Lon Chaney Jr. before, but he's very good and looks startlingly like his father, which can't have helped. I would watch Claude Rains and Maria Ouspenskaya read their respective phone books and instead they shared a terrific scene.

I am not convinced I have finished recovering from Arisia, but I don't think it hurt that our internet went down for most of Monday and therefore I had nothing to do but curl up on a couch with books and cats. We celebrated [personal profile] spatch's birthday with pho and George Herriman. I am already looking forward to the weekend, when I am seriously contemplating doing nothing at all.
yhlee: sand dollar against a blue sky and seas (sand dollar)

[personal profile] yhlee 2019-01-24 05:07 am (UTC)(link)
Happy birthday to [personal profile] spatch!

I hope you have a restful weekend.
gwynnega: (Basil Rathbone)

[personal profile] gwynnega 2019-01-24 06:21 am (UTC)(link)
I'm always amazed at the cast of The Wolf Man: everyone you mention, plus Bela Lugosi, Warren William, and Ralph Bellamy! Sometimes I joke about emo Larry Talbot in sequel after Universal sequel, but Lon Chaney Jr. really is heartbreaking in this one (as is the father/son tragedy enacted by him and Rains).
alexxkay: (Default)

[personal profile] alexxkay 2019-01-24 07:01 am (UTC)(link)
I love George Herriman! Yet I hope the celebration did not involve bricks to the head ...
alatefeline: Painting of a cat asleep on a book. (Default)

[personal profile] alatefeline 2019-01-24 07:09 am (UTC)(link)
Silly cats, trying to upset their tummies and stain their whiskers. They make good movie buddies though.
thisbluespirit: (hugs)

[personal profile] thisbluespirit 2019-01-24 09:14 am (UTC)(link)
We celebrated [personal profile] spatch's birthday with pho and George Herriman. I am already looking forward to the weekend, when I am seriously contemplating doing nothing at all.

Aw, well, happy birthday to [personal profile] spatch, and may the weekend be as restful as you need! <3
strange_complex: (Chrestomanci slacking in style)

[personal profile] strange_complex 2019-01-24 10:48 am (UTC)(link)
therefore I had nothing to do but curl up on a couch with books and cats

Ahhh, this sounds blissful! How do I apply?
moon_custafer: ominous shape of Dr. Mabuse (curtain)

[personal profile] moon_custafer 2019-01-24 12:25 pm (UTC)(link)
The Wolf Man aka Curt Siodmak Invents Everything Everyone Thinks Is Traditional Werewolf Lore.
choco_frosh: (Default)

[personal profile] choco_frosh 2019-01-24 06:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Happy birthday, Spatch!
moon_custafer: ominous shape of Dr. Mabuse (curtain)

[personal profile] moon_custafer 2019-01-24 07:30 pm (UTC)(link)
I suppose the bit about the wolfsbane being in bloom also fits with it being seasonal.

Also, why does everybody in one small English village seem to know so much about werewolves? Do they teach that poem in the local school or something?
Edited 2019-01-24 19:31 (UTC)
lemon_badgeress: basket of lemons, with one cut lemon being decorative (Default)

[personal profile] lemon_badgeress 2019-01-24 07:55 pm (UTC)(link)
He slow-blinks at the screen.

that’s wonderful
moon_custafer: ominous shape of Dr. Mabuse (curtain)

[personal profile] moon_custafer 2019-01-24 08:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Have you ever seen The Scarlet Claw (1944)? It’s one of the Universal Rathbone/Bruce Holmes movies – not a particularly good one, but I bring it up because it’s set in Canada, or rather, in the Universal Pictures version of Canada: it’s shot on their standard Little Europe backlot, everyone wears plaid flannel shirts, and about half the supporting cast have English accents while the other half attempt French-Canadian accents. I can see what Canadian stereotypes they’re building on, but the way they’ve been combined is… really weird.
thisbluespirit: (s&s)

[personal profile] thisbluespirit 2019-01-24 10:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Btw, I made a thing for you. It's not as close to your description as I'd hoped, but I hope you like it anyway.
dramaticirony: (Default)

birthday greetings

[personal profile] dramaticirony 2019-01-25 03:51 am (UTC)(link)
Best birthday wishes to Spatch!
thisbluespirit: (Default)

[personal profile] thisbluespirit 2019-01-25 09:12 am (UTC)(link)
As you know, I've answered this elsewhere - but thank you, I'm glad!
gwynnega: (Basil Rathbone)

[personal profile] gwynnega 2019-01-25 11:21 pm (UTC)(link)
I like The Scarlet Claw a lot, but Universal Canada is indeed weird.