But no woman was there and I don't believe in ghosts

[sovay]

I realize it would be funnier if I saw Psycho (1960) twice in one day and then got nervous of showers, but I am afraid I came out of the shower just fine and talking about Psycho II (1983) and III (1986)—sorry, Hitch. My early birthday present actually totaled seven hours of Anthony Perkins: I sat through the triple feature and then stayed for the evening re-run of Psycho. It was like a miniature marathon. teenybuffalo came for the evening show. spatch dropped by II on his break. The streets when I went outside between the first two movies were filled with HONK! and I count myself lucky that I managed to purchase a macaroon from the Diesel, because any place that sold actual food (or, God forbid, ice cream) I wasn't getting near without siege machinery. I didn't manage to eat dinner until eleven o'clock tonight, but I had a wonderful time. Review definitely forthcoming, albeit after I finish some major work. Unrelatedly, I promise, I wish I were in D.C. to see this exhibit on Frances Glessner Lee.

Comments

[thawrecka]

That sounds delightful.

[thisbluespirit]

Aw, I'm glad you had a good time!

[teenybuffalo]

HE WAS LOVELY. This is what I was trying to articulate last night: Perkins was so damn charming and funny and human that, during his first couple scenes, I forgot to think about what was coming. That was what made me go :D

It was awesome, in retrospect, that the movie managed to do away with my sense of experiencing-the-end-before-the-middle. It wasn't quite like my cultural context for the film was removed, just that I didn't have room to think about it. And it's all down to Perkins.

It was completely plausible that, sure, he's angry and dysfunctional and has mood swings, but, hey, lots of people go through bad family stuff, and he's just trying to stay optimistic. ("We were the victims of circumstances.")

[alexxkay]

sorry, Hitch

Do you think he actually wanted to make the world less hygenic?

(When I was much younger, I spoke to an older librarian friend who informed me that, after she saw Psycho in the theater, she didn't shower for weeks.)

[selenak]

Speaking of the shower scene, did you know that Alma Reville, Hitchcock's wife and creative partner, had to convince her husband to use Bernard Herrmann's music for that scene;, because Hitchcock at first wanted the scene to be silent. (And Bernard Herrmann was mortally insulted about that.) Can you imagine it without those iconic screaming strings? They're there because he deferred to Alma's judgment.

[gwynnega]

I'm glad that your waiting for just the right opportunity to see Psycho paid off so beautifully!

[choco_frosh]

Mostly unrelatedly, advance happy birthday, since I don't seem to actually have it in my calendar, but suspect in any case that I'm going to be too busy/drunk/in Maine to remember to congratulate you on the actual day. At some point you will get a birthday present, though it's looking like it's gonna so late as to also qualify as an early Hanukkah present.

[asakiyume]

Whoa, an exhibit on Frances Glessner Lee--excellent!