Author: Stephen Quirk
Down The Rabbit Hole
If you haven’t noticed from my previous posts, I like going down rabbit holes with film and TV. There are some interesting overlapping stories between Hugh Hefner, Peter Bogdonovich, Dorothy Stratten, and Bob Fosse.
- Star 80 (directed by Bob Fosse)
- Cliff Robertson as Hugh Hefner
- Eric Roberts as Paul Schneider
- All That Jazz
- Roy Scheider playing Bob Fosse
- Fosse/Verdon
- Sam Rockwell as Bob Fosse
- Lin Manuel Miranda playing Roy Scheider playing a fictionalized Bob Fosse
- Welcome to Chippendale’s
- Nicola Peltz as Dorothy Stratten
- Dan Stevens as Paul Snider
- Other
- John Ritter as a look-a-like Peter Bogdonovich in They All Laughed (directed by Peter Bogdonovich)
- Peter Bogdonovich as a fictionalized Hugh Hefner in Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Star Trek vs Strange New Worlds
I’ve pretty much been a lifelong Star Trek fan, right down to watching Star Trek: The Next Generation when it first premiered in 1987 and all the way through to when it ended in 1994. It’s also my go-to TV show to have on in the background since I know it well. While some of the newer Trek shows have been a mixed bag (I’m looking at you, Picard seasons 1 and 2), Strange New Worlds is pretty solid and the closest to older the older formula. Surprisingly, I had a hard time finding sites with comparisons between the cast of the original series and Strange New Worlds. Well, here you!
All images are the property of CBS, Paramount+, etc.
The Bear
Hey, have you watched The Bear? I started watching it shortly after it premiered last year and was hooked right away.
The music alone was enough to sell me! It’s stacked with artists I’ve seen live; Wilco, Brian Wilson, The Decemberists, Pixies, R.E.M., Van Morrison, The Psychedelic Furs, and Smashing Pumpkins (and plenty more I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing). If you have a show with multiple songs by The Replacements in a single episode, that’s reason enough for me to watch.
But it’s not just the music. While I’ll say the first couple of episodes are a little repetitive, by mid season 1 you could tell this show was headed away from the expected. Filming in a real Italian beef shop in Chicago was a nice touch – the creator of the show grew up with the owner of Mr. Beef. While Marty Mathewson is a lot in real life (or at least what I’ve seen on YouTube), he’s a welcome addition to the show.
Season 2 changes this up a bit and the frequent “yes chef” exclamation feels more at home. The Christmas episode of Season 2 pretty much had my jaw on the floor from the casting. If I were to make a list of 20 people I’d want to see guest star on a show, about half of them are in that one episode.
Anyway, check it out on Hulu if you haven’t had a chance!
Different Drum
I’m always intrigued when I discover someone wrote or was a part of a movie or song and I had no clue. When watching Better Call Saul, I was excited to hear a Monkees song I didn’t know (‘Tapioca Tundra’). In reading about it, I also didn’t realize Mike Nesmith had written the song ‘Different Drum,’ made famous by The Stone Poneys/Linda Ronstadt.
It should be known that one of my first musical purchases was the audio cassette of the Monkee’s album Then & Now… The Best of The Monkees. I watched the show regularly, listened to my father’s copy of their first album on vinyl, and even watched the movie HEAD at far too young an age. While I (clearly) don’t know everything about the band, we’ve spent some time together.
Anyway, the song was offered to The Monkees, but rejected by producers and later released by a band called The Greenbriar Boys. However, it wasn’t until Linda Ronstadt sang the song with The Stone Poneys that it became a hit.
Below are all of the versions, including a short version from an episode of The Monkees, a full Mike Nesmith recording, and more.
You can read more about “Different Drum” on Wikipedia.
Bonus:
Peanut Noodles
This is one of those meals I’ve been cooking for decades. I’ve served it at birthday parties, made it when I’ve randomly had the ingredients sitting around, etc. Since I’m made this last night, I thought I’d post the recipe.
- 9 tbsp chunky peanut butter (or smooth topped with peanuts)
- 6 tbsp honey
- 6 tbsp water
- 4.5 tbsp soy sauce
- 4.5 tbsp sesame oil
- 4.5 tbsp rice wine (i.e mirin, sake)
- 4.5 tbsp white vinegar*
- 2.25 tsp garlic cloves, chopped
- 2.25 tsp grated ginger
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper
- .75 to 1 lbs spaghetti or linguine
- Chicken breast (optional)
Directions
- Cook pasta following the instructions on the package
- Cut chicken into smaller pieces and cook in neutral oil
- Combine honey, water, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine, vinegar, garlic, and ginger in a medium saucepan and heat on low until combined
- Toss chicken and noodles in peanut sauce
- Serve in bowls and top with scallions and peanuts
Synchronicity
Oscar Nominated Shorts: Animated
This weekend I saw this year’s Oscar Nominated Animated Short Films. I’ve seen most of the animated and live-action nominees since 2009 (though Covid may have interrupted the last couple years).
Four of the five films from this year are available online for free on either YouTube or Vimeo. I’ve ranked the films below from what I think is best to worst. The first two are maybe some of my favorites from all of the years I’ve seen these shorts and I would love to see either win. My third and fourth picks are more typical of what one would see for nominations.
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse won the BAFTA over the weekend. If it wins the Oscar, I’ll lose my faith in humanity. Don’t get me wrong, it’s beautiful looking and well executed, it has Idris Elba and Gabriel Byrne providing voices, and Woody Harrelson and JJ Abrams produced it. It’s written like a first-year philosophy student in a bad creative writing class. Maybe it works better in the original book, but it doesn’t here.
- An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It
- My Year of Dicks (it’s not for the kiddos)
- Ice Merchants
- The Flying Sailor
- The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse (trailer only)
The Haunting
Last night I was lucky enough to catch a screening of a 16mm print of the 1963 version of The Haunting. It had long been on my list of my films to see. It’s one of three adaptations based on Shirley Jackson’s original novel, The Haunting of Hill House.
Dr. Markway, doing research to prove the existence of ghosts, investigates Hill House, a large, eerie mansion with a lurid history of violent death and insanity.
Letterboxd description
The story was adapted again in 1999, albeit loosely.
Mike Flanagan also adapted the story, though changed the characters to a family with some aspects of the original characters.
Dario Argento II
In my last post, I talked about watching Dario Argento’s Suspiria, Opera, The Bird With the Crystal Plumage, Inferno, and Deep Red. In addition to those films, I’ve since watched Tenebrae, Cat o’ Nine Tails, The Stendhal Syndrome, Phenomena, Dark Glasses, and even both Demons films! Because they aren’t streaming, I’ve also ordered Four Flies on Gray Velvet and a couple lesser-known of his films.
I’ll spare breaking down the films one by one, but I do have some observations. The most interesting part of this process has been watching someone direct films starting in the early ’70s all the way to this year. Other than Sam Raimi, Spielberg, and Scorsese, there are very few people who have directed across that many decades (Argento’s been writing films since the ’60s).
I want to be kind here – I will say the films have lessened over the years. I won’t even say in they’ve lessened in quality; Dark Glasses looks great and it’s interesting to have Italians speaking Italian. There’s something about a lot of his films in any decade that make me think “it’s so close, but not quite there.”
Demons and Demons 2 were co-written with others, including director Lamberto Brava. There’s something fun about these films; including the ’80s rock and pop music and cast members playing different roles across the two films.
While I’ve been at it, I’ve watched a few films by Lucio Fulci (Zombie, City of the Living Dead, and The Beyond). My free trials of Shudder and Mubi, where I’ve watched most of these films, have been worth every penny!
Stephen Quirk 