Weekend Work
Jul. 8th, 2007 08:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
randy_byersWell, yesterday was much like last weekend: hauling water to the cedar tree and weeding the traffic circle -- in the HOT sun -- watering wilted plants around the yard, picking raspberries, cleaning the bathroom, and working on wedding words. The neighbor loaned me a useful book in the latter cause: Sacred Threshold - Rituals and Readings for a Wedding with Spirit by Gertrud Mueller Nelson & Christopher Witt. Helped me get a sense of the traditional structure of the ritual. In the evening, carl and Scott stopped by on the way to Vanguard, and carl and I went over the latest proof of Chunga. I watched a couple of episodes of FLCL after they left, and then to bed, weary from the more than usual physical labor for me.
Today I'm seeing the Technicolor noir Desert Fury at the Noir City festival at the SIFF Theater with Craig and AP. One of the commenters on IMDb describes the film this way: 'Back in the forties, when movies touched on matters not yet admissible in "polite" society, they resorted to codes which supposedly floated over the heads of most of the audience while alerting those in the know to just what was up. Probably no film of the decade was so freighted with innuendo as the oddly obscure Desert Fury, set in a small gambling oasis called Chuckawalla somewhere in the California desert. Proprietress of the Purple Sage saloon and casino is the astonishing Mary Astor, in slacks and sporting a cigarette holder; into town drives her handful-of-a-daughter, Lizabeth Scott, looking, in Technicolor, like 20-million bucks. But listen to the dialogue between them, which suggests an older Lesbian and her young, restless companion (one can only wonder if A.I. Bezzerides' original script made this relationship explicit). Even more blatant are John Hodiak as a gangster and Wendell Corey as his insanely jealous torpedo. Add Burt Lancaster as the town sheriff, stir, and sit back. Both Lancaster and (surprisingly) Hodiak fall for Scott. It seems, however, that Hodiak not only has a past with Astor, but had a wife who died under suspicious circumstances. The desert sun heats these ingredients up to a hard boil, with face-slappings aplenty and empurpled exchanges. Don't pass up this hothouse melodrama, chock full of creepily exotic blooms, if it comes your way; it's a remarkable movie.'
Wheeeee! After that, the pubmeet, Fans with Bheers.
Today I'm seeing the Technicolor noir Desert Fury at the Noir City festival at the SIFF Theater with Craig and AP. One of the commenters on IMDb describes the film this way: 'Back in the forties, when movies touched on matters not yet admissible in "polite" society, they resorted to codes which supposedly floated over the heads of most of the audience while alerting those in the know to just what was up. Probably no film of the decade was so freighted with innuendo as the oddly obscure Desert Fury, set in a small gambling oasis called Chuckawalla somewhere in the California desert. Proprietress of the Purple Sage saloon and casino is the astonishing Mary Astor, in slacks and sporting a cigarette holder; into town drives her handful-of-a-daughter, Lizabeth Scott, looking, in Technicolor, like 20-million bucks. But listen to the dialogue between them, which suggests an older Lesbian and her young, restless companion (one can only wonder if A.I. Bezzerides' original script made this relationship explicit). Even more blatant are John Hodiak as a gangster and Wendell Corey as his insanely jealous torpedo. Add Burt Lancaster as the town sheriff, stir, and sit back. Both Lancaster and (surprisingly) Hodiak fall for Scott. It seems, however, that Hodiak not only has a past with Astor, but had a wife who died under suspicious circumstances. The desert sun heats these ingredients up to a hard boil, with face-slappings aplenty and empurpled exchanges. Don't pass up this hothouse melodrama, chock full of creepily exotic blooms, if it comes your way; it's a remarkable movie.'
Wheeeee! After that, the pubmeet, Fans with Bheers.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-07-08 04:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-08 05:08 pm (UTC)Desert Fury is not available on DVD, which is one reason I'm so stoked about this chance to see it in the theater. I'm not sure if it ever had a videotape release.
M is terrific, with a wonderfully raw performance by Lorre. I have the older Criterion release without the second disk of extras. Coming out next week is Lang's Woman in the Window, which I've never seen before and am really looking forward to.