The L-Shaped Room (1962)

I was very pleasantly surprised by The L-Shaped Room, which is an early-60s kitchen sink drama set in a cheap boarding house. It has an intriguing, beautiful cast of characters that are played beautifully (including – and this was very surprising – an older lesbian actress who is wonderful). Leslie Caron is excellent, but really the whole thing is very good!

The Slipper and the Rose (1976)

I didn't know this musical existed - or rather, I knew The Slipper and the Rose: the Story of Cinderella existed, but I hadn't realized it was a Sherman Brothers musical from the 1970s!

This film, however, is fairly terrible. The songs are fine, and it has some great performances; Michael Hordern as the king is particularly funny and clever, and Edith Evans is always a pleasure to watch. But the singing is not so great, and although I was really sold on this film at the 60-minute mark or so, the film is about 160 minutes – easily 40 minutes longer than it ought to be. There is an entire third act that is unnecessary and has no songs to justify its existence. I blame Bryan Forbes, who made some excellent films in the 1960s (Séance on a Wet Afternoon, The Whisperers, King Rat) but who can't make this musical sing.

There is one highlight in the film – the song "Protocoligorically Correct", which is performed by Hordern and a chorus of advisors. It's hilariously staged with brilliant comic timing and absurdly wonderful lyrics.

This film is scored by Angela Morley, who was a trans composer working in film in the 1970s.

Bovine on a Wet Afternoon

Steve isn't here.  God Bless America.

Last night was the monthly HOA meeting.  I swear, these meetings are the most boring things ever.  It's a wonder no one goes.  These are the people who attended: the 6 board members who usually go (Margarita, Sally, Charles, Dean {hot}, John and Jim) me, Ann & Mark from my floor, this other old guy from my floor, Delgadillo (he goes every time, too) and then this lady from the first floor who wore sunglasses the entire meeting: these enormous Elton John sunglasses.  The meeting was pretty painful.  We talked about the trees and then the parking garage.  Snore.  Plus, Dean announced that he wasn't going to be president of the board anymore because he's selling his unit.  What a shame.  In addition to being really hot, he is young and as president he's been great.  Oh well.  What can you do?  This lady in the sunglasses kept nattering on and on about how she'd been in the building 18 years la la la.  Who the fuck cares, lady?  I own my piece of property same as you.  It really doesn't matter how long you've owned yours, bitch.  Shut up.  She had severe halitosis as well.  I wanted her to stop breathing as well.  Because you know the bitch had to sit just up-wind of me and send her smelly breath in my direction for two hours.

After the meeting, Kristen picked me up and we went to Bodega, this wine bar in the Paseo.  It was really nice.  I love that girl. 

No more bitching.

                                                                  

I wanted to tell a story about watching this Bryan Forbes movie, Séance on a Wet Afternoon.  It starred Kim Stanley and Richard Attenborough.  The movie's okay.  Kim Stanley is this medium who is fucking nuts who decides she will get Richard Attenborough (her henpecked husband) to kidnap this kid of a wealthy family and then "figure out" where the kid is in one of her trances.  Then she will be a famous psychic and be in all the papers.  Nuts, right, but kind of a nice thriller.  The issue is that the whole time... I mean the whole movie, I kept thinking about COW.  I mean, Kim Stanley is seriously a dead ringer for that bitch.  Same attitude, same slight obesity, same de-voicing, same "I'm a bitch but I think I'm sexy" idea about herself, same unhinged/deranged personality.  I think we were supposed to like Kim Stanley's character, or at least pity her.  Not me, man.  All I could think of was pushing her down the stairs.