Happy Late Night, Sweet Baby. I hope your day was good. I didn't see any posts today until just a little while ago, via your friend Morgin, about a photo shoot. I don't know if you meant it as a message to me, but if you did, maybe you meant that you were doing a photo shoot yourself today. If so, I know the results were good. :)
I can't remember if I mentioned it last night, but we've had a really gross fly infestation here at Pearl's. It started on Tuesday, when a plumber came to unclog the main drainage pipe at the house. At first, when I saw about a dozen flies, I thought, "oh, they came in because he had the door open". But by Tuesday night, there seemed to be more, and by Wednesday (yesterday), there were a lot, in both the kitchen and Pearl's bathroom, two places that involved the plumbing job. I don't know if the plumber uncovered a bunch of fly eggs or what, but suddenly we had a whole bunch of flies in those two places. It wasn't Totally Gross, like what might be observed in a Third World outdoor meat market, but it was Bad Enough To Not Simply Call It "A Few Flies In The House". We probably had about fifty, all told in both rooms. So I went to Home Depot and got a bunch of fly tape and glue boards, and put 'em up all over the place. As of this writing, about half the flies have been caught.
Sorry, Flies. But it wouldn't have happened had you not come into the house.
Man, there are a lot of bugs in this world. Trillions, easily, or even Quadrillions. (yeah, gross I know)
Tonight's movie was exceptionally good : "Man On A Swing" (1974), starring Cliff Robertson and Joel Grey. Robertson is the Sheriff in a suburban Connecticut town. He is investigating the murder of a young woman who has been found in her car in the parking lot of a mall. He and his officers run down the local list of suspects and give lie detector tests to one or two. But then they get a phone call from a strange man (Joel Grey of "Cabaret" fame) who claims to be clairvoyant. He gives them a lot of detailed information, supposedly psychically received, that coincides with what the police know about the murder scene. From there, the plot, and the movie, really take off.
Man, this was one creepy film. At first, when Joel Grey's character is introduced, you find yourself getting ready to cringe because the character's behavior veers all over the place. He goes from seeming to be a credible psychic to being a pretentious drama queen faking psychic ability, all in a single scene. So at first you go, "man, I hope this doesn't become ridiculous".
It doesn't. Instead, it becomes very serious as the character begins to unravel. Cliff Robertson doesn't trust him in the first place, but he needs him because, as a psychic, he has the only available info on the case. The murderer left no clues. But I must say, the way this movie plays out is really spooky and gripping. It has a different feel than most thrillers, just because Robertson's police chief drinks a lot of beer and walks through the case in an almost somnambulistic manner. He doesn't feel like the Type-A Steroidal Policeman we know of today. But you have to remember this is the 1970s, when everybody was laid back. All the cops have longish hair. But Robertson is still 100% For Real, as a Skeptical Cop, because he isn't buying Grey's act. There is also an Occult Influence at work (just like in "Child's Play," which was reviewed the other night), and Robertson, who knows nothing about the occult, has to research that aspect too. His conclusion is that it's a "crock of....." you know what.
But is it? Is Grey for real as a clairvoyant, or not?
His performance slowly begins to lose all trace of the ridiculous foppishness with which he was introduced, and in the last 40 minutes or so he takes on a truly chilling quality that is reminiscent of Anthony Perkins in "Psycho".
"Man On A Swing" is a realistic murder mystery that I found very affecting. When it ended I found myself thinking, "Whew! That was one creepy flick". It has a twist ending, and while I'll not give any spoilers, I will say that it is a precursor to "Silence Of The Lambs" in it's end result.
Cliff Robertson, though terse, is solid in his lead role. He really was an excellent actor (who also brought about the downfall of a lot of Movie Industry crooks in a scandal that took place when I was working at MGM, Google the name David Begelman. It was Robertson the actor who blew the whistle on his embezzlement, a huge scandal after which Robertson was more or less blacklisted for telling the truth), and......sorry about the digression.....Joel Grey is absolutely mesmerising in his role, which is challenging because he must walk a fine line between chewing scenery and being downright evil.
The film was directed by Frank Perry, not a household name, but who also directed other psychological classics such as "David And Lisa" and "The Swimmer", both of which I own on dvd.
I give "Man On A Swing" 5 Stars. You have to let it get going, but after about 20-25 minutes it gets going big time, in ways you will not expect. A movie that will stay with you for sure.
I've gotta get up early to try and score Sparks tickets. They are putting them on sale at 7am! Oy! Who the heck decided that ingenious move? Sparks fans are fanatical (and so are Sparks scalpers) so I'm afraid if I don't wake up in time, that all three shows will sell out in a few minutes, and I will be Toast.
So wish me luck in waking up on time. Then I will be toast anyway, running on little sleep. But at least I will be going to see Sparks.
Tomorrow I will try to write about more Metal, or something. I just wanna get rid of all the flies. :)
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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