Movies and Camp

I sent my baby away this week.

Yes, the beloved RC, my clarinet, needed an overhaul. And he's getting one next week, courtesy of Mr Grabner. Now, I have no qualms whatsoever about Mr Grabner fondling my clarinet, for he knows his clarinets and no mistake. But still. I had to send him away. In a box, like so much other postal chattle.

And so I'm acting very much like a mother whose baby is leaving her for the first time. I've cushioned the blow of loss by telling myself my RC is going "to camp." I'll imagine him there in Chicago (home of the official Chicago Symphony windbreaker), swimming, singing campfire songs (don't get too close to that campfire!), and climbing ropes. Sandwiches and Kool-Aid. It's a lot better than imagining FedEx carrying his disjointed self, in a box, to a stranger to have keys pulled off and oil baths given.

"Camp" (and oil baths) are to occur next week. Then he gets sent home. I'll have to be careful not to hit myself in the head with him too hard after that. Camp doesn't come cheap.

So, I did promise I'd do Jellybean's Movie Meme. And I wouldn't be a very nice person if I broke my promise, would I? And so without further ado....

The Movie Meme

1. Movie that you can watch over and over:
Well, don't all the podcastees know that there are in fact three, count them, I know you won't, movies that I can watch over and over. But I'm going to limit all my answers to one movie, so I have to choose. And I choose "The In-Laws," starring Peter Falk and no less a person than Alan F Arkin himself. Makes me laugh every time, and if I watch it a thousand more times in my life, which is a distinct possibility, I've no doubt it still will.

2. Movie you liked more than you expected to:
"Layer Cake." I picked this up at the vidie store one Friday last year, simply because I remembered it getting some good reviews. I was expecting your "Trainspotting"/"Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels" hip, groovy camerawork, violent sort of schlock. And it was hip and had groovy camerawork, but no schlock. It has a great storyline, twists and turns, a great lead in Daniel "Why Don't People Want Me To Be Bond" Craig, and a wrap up that rocks.

3. Movie you liked more than it deserved:
"Prelude to a Kiss." I mean, come on - Meg Ryan? Alec Baldwin? Together? In a love story? This goes against everything I'd normally like, but there's something about this movie that just makes me incredibly happy. I'm a sucker when Alec falls for the offbeat Meg, and for the idea that, if you love someone enough, you can see the "inside" them even though they seem to be someone else on the outside. I haven't seen it in a while, but generally if I find it on cable, I'll watch.

4. Movie you wanted to like but couldn't:
"Wings of Desire." I saw this movie when it came out, at the "artsy" theatre my cousin Jacob and I used to go to. (The one I almost got thrown out of, but that's another story for another time.) I'd heard such wonderful things about "Wings," and couldn't wait to see it, so we drove down one weekend for a viewing. I was bored stiff, and ended up occupying myself through the second half of the film by making fun of it. "When the child was a child..." I kept saying, in my best foreign accent (which probably sounded like a nazi, even then). Jacob wasn't amused. I've since found out that many, many people love this movie. And I've thought of giving it another chance, but can't bring myself to do it.

5. Movie you were excited to see when it first came out, but never saw:
I can say this about many movies. I mean, many movies. For some reason though, looking at the question, "Return of the Jedi" comes to mind quickest. Never saw it. Now don't care.

6. Movie you love, but can't watch:
Wow, that's kind of like "song you love that you disagree with completely" on the CD challenge. I think of being able to watch any movie I really love. But I'm sure there's one out there, so let me think. Well, it pains me to say it, but "Auntie Mame," one of my top movies of all time, has been sitting on my shelf unwatched for a very long period. Once she meets Uncle Beau, I just seem to lose all interest. And that means I miss Agnes Gooch!! Maybe I'm like Stennie and "Bringing Up Baby." I'm all Mamed out for now.

7. Movie you liked when you were 5-8 that you still like:
"101 Dalmatians." Gotta love all those doggies. And Cruella, for my money the best villian in the movies.

8. Movie you liked when you were 12-15 that you still like:
Now, it came out when I was a mere 6 years old, but I was around 12 or so the first time I saw "The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming," or as I affectionately refer to it, "The Russians Are Coming²." I didn't even know who Alan F Arkin was, but Jonathan Winters and all his kids cracked me up, and what kid couldn't love, "Emergency! Everybody to get from street!"

9. First movie you saw in the theatre without your parents:
Wowie zowie. This shall be hard. See, in our little town, every Saturday the parents would drop their kids off at the movie house and let them watch movies while the folks were off having a few hours of peace and quiet. So as a kid I saw all kinds of movies without them, just me and the sister and a thousand other screaming kids. Three come to mind, "Blackbeard's Ghost," "The Love Bug," or "The $1,000,000 Duck." Let's consult imdb and see which came first. Well, those first two both came out in 1968, so I'll pick "Blackbeard." And to be honest, there were probably a few before it. (Hahaha - Mel Cooley was in "Blackbeard's Ghost.")

10. First movie you saw on a date:
"Animal House." It went very, very badly. He didn't like it as much as I expected him to. I got quite angry over that.

11. Favorite literary adaptation:
Yes, this says more about me than you probably want to know. "Clueless," "Emma" brought to 1990's Beverly Hills. Boy, I love that movie. "You mean to tell me you argued your way from a C+ to an A-?" "You proud of me?" "Honey, I couldn't be prouder than if they were based on real grades."

12. Favorite TV adaptation:
Ewww. Let me think. I honestly can't think of one. Get back to me on this one.

13. Favorite movie from a genre you don't usually like:
Well, since the "Animal House" and "Stripes" days, I'm generally very wary of the "Big Comedy With Lots of Dirty Words And Sex And Today's Stars In It" genre, and for that reason I was also very wary of seeing "The 40-Year Old Virgin." But Judd Apatow ("Freaks and Geeks") and Steve Carrell were involved, and people I trusted kept telling me to see it. And so I did. And so I liked it, too.

14. Favorite Obscure Movie:
There's a movie I caught on Sundance once, and then one more time, it's so obscure I don't even think it has a distribution deal. Which is a shame, cause it will make you laugh at while feeling sorry for more people than you'd ever dreamt. It's called "Rockumentary," and is a documentary all about those odd folks who are in "tribute bands," and impersonate stars like Kiss, Queen, and the Monkees. If you ever get a chance, don't miss it.

15. Movie you watch when you're home sick:
Probably "Blazing Saddles." And if snot wasn't already coming out of my nose, it will be by about the 4th minute in.

16. Movie you wouldn't want to watch with your parents:
There's a Japanese movie I'd heard a lot about, and found it really cheap at a video store, so I bought it. It's called "In The Realm of the Senses," and Jesus Christ, it as an actual woman giving actual oral sex to an actual man. And actual stuff comes out of her actual mouth. I was apologizing profusely, and I was watching it alone.

17-20. Four movies you haven't already mentioned:

17. "Matewan."
John Sayles wonderful film about the West Virginia coal mining wars. Was the first time I ever saw David Strathairn. This is, for me, a perfect movie. Nothing in it that shouldn't be there, and he didn't leave anything out that should have been in. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

18. "The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter."
I mention this one because not only is it a great movie, and not only did Stennie do the right thing by keeping completely silent about anything in it, but Alan F's performance in it was so magnificent that it was the film (you can check my movie list, it's so!) that earned him the title of "Alan Fucking Arkin."

19. "The Music Man."
Stennie and I just quoted this in last week's podcast - "Pure Boys!" I love this movie, I love the songs, I love Robert Preston, hell, for once I even love Buddy Hackett. But I mainly love Mayor Shinn. There better be some by-God tootin' outta them horns.

20. "Dig!"
The second of my "three movies I watch in every 20 movies." (And I love you too, "Catch-22," I just didn't mention you this time.) The musical documentary of the rise and fall of two rock bands, it's like the most magnificent car wreck in history that you just stop on the side of the road, pull out a beer, and have to watch. And contains one of the last 50 years' most quotable lines, "Broke my fuckin' sitar."

There you go.

Betland's Olympic Update:
* I was supposed to go to Taytie's baseball game tonight but it rained, and I wimped. So I stayed home and made this week's recipe du jour. Don't get excited though, the pictures didn't do it justice.
* The newest Huckle-bug is up! Go subscribe to us from iTunes, or hit http://hucklebug.blogspot.com to hear. It's better this week - no echo!