Mr. Cellophane

In a location adjacent to a place in a city of some significance, what comes out of my head is plastered on the walls of this blog.

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

My Favorite Themes - Part II

I've definitely decided to make this a monthly series; just once more excuse to not let this blog die.

Score: North by Northwest by Bernard Herrmann (The Trouble With Harry; sure I could've said Psycho, but I just wanted to be different)

About the film: A case of mistaken identity can be unfortunate for anyone, but for ad man Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant), it gets him tangled with spies, secrets and murder. From Saul Bass' title sequence to the cheeky final shot, this is a truly entertaining thrill ride from Alfred Hitchcock. If you've seen it, you know what I mean. If not, why the hell are you wasting time reading this?!

Title: "Roger O. Thornhill". In case you couldn't guess, this melody is associated with the main character. Though it is absent from the film until "The Station", the unused cue "The Streets" introduces the theme, a bustling tune mainly for fluttering woodwinds, though the string section gets a nice workout every now and then. In the 'sneaking around' moments, the melody is slowed down and played by the strings ("The Pad and Pencil", "The Auction"), but my favorite rendition has to be "The Airport", where the brass takes over, almost threatening the listener with its deliberate playing. For me, it works every time.

Other theme(s) of interest: Well, there's the exciting main theme, the Vertigo-inspired love theme and the George Kaplan theme, which sounds like a sort-of demented waltz. There's also a neat string motif which plays counter to the 'Roger sneaks around' music (the beginning of "The Question").

Availability: Rhino Records released it in 1995. Chances are that it's out of print, but it is well worth tracking down.

Friday, November 25, 2005

Good food, good meat...

Had a pretty good Thanksgiving (well, once you get past the fact that, even though it was a mere three-hour shift, I had to work).

I have come to sometimes feel that my family (my parents and two younger sisters) and I are strangers who happen to live in the same house, but we actually sat down as a family and dined and conversed. It went very well. I really like to be alone, but I would like us to do more things together.

Thursday, November 17, 2005

'Kiss' the sky.

I had seen the trailer for Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and was instantly drawn to the film. I promised myself that I'd go to see it. I was granted an opportunity when it came to a local theater. Unfortunately, 'a' meant 'just one' and 'local' meant 'way the hell out of my way'. You see, I am a life-long native of Western New York. I live in Buffalo. The movie theater was in Clarence. I don't have a driver's license. Even if you pretend to be familiar with the geography, you can imagine that the journey would have a few bumps.

After four buses, I arrive on Transit Road. The theater is up the street, away from the nearest bus stop. I go to a mall first; one that I don't usually go to. I look around, get some cookies and continue on my way. I walk up the road which has no sidewalk, but as long as there are guidelines and a dirt (or, in this case, mud) path, I'm good. I make it to the theater, but first stop at Media Play to check out the CDs. I walk away with the soundtracks of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Macross Plus, both sound investments.

I get to the theater. The film, about a thief-turned-actor (Robert Downey, Jr.) and a gay private eye (Val Kilmer) investigating an unusual crime, is terrific; the well-tuned directorial debut of Shane Black (Lethal Weapon). It's perhaps one of the best films I've seen this year.

Even though I missed my bus back to the city and had to wait about 40 minutes for another, this turned out to be a terrific day; one of those days I wouldn't have traded for anything.

Thursday, November 10, 2005

"Arrest" warrant.

Of all the circle-jerking...

The geniuses of Fox strike again...

A change will do you good.

Today, I attended what was advertised as a job fair, but in actuality, was a job...placement. This firm in my town is looking for various people to plug a number of holes in their clerical dyke (too purpley, I know). It may have been impulsive, but a) I'm not known for doing this impulsively; each detail (with occasional variations) is micromanaged within an inch of its life and b) after the unpleasantness suffered at work on Monday and Tuesday, I need this; seriously, if my mind had an asshole, it would've been bleeding on both nights.

Just need to hear back from them...and make arrangements to get the fudge out of my current job.