Less Standard Christmas Movie Fare

Unlike the last post, I'm not going to bother with Youtube stuff. I just wanted to steer you to some pictures involving or set during Christmas that might interest you if you're burned out on Christmas Carol, A Christmas Story, or The Greatest Story Ever Told.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service: Over the yule tide holiday, James Bond tries to prevent Blofeld's deadly gifts from poisoning the world's food supply. He also meets the one and only woman he'd ever want to marry, and since she was played by Diana Rigg, everyone can understand why.

Eyes Wide Shut: Stanley Kubrick's final film follows a naive doctor (Tom Cruise) on a strange, dreamlike journey set on a night before Christmas.

Lethal Weapon: Because nothing says the holiday season like Riggs and Murtaugh interrupting their plans for suicide and Christmas dinner to hunt down a gang of ex-CIA drug dealers.

The Godfather: No, it's not all set during the holidays, but the scenes from Don Corleone's first meeting with Sollozzo to Michael's first murder in the Italian restaurant take place over Christmas. Sure, Santa can bring you a bicycle, but if you've slept with the studio boss's favorite young starlet and still want work in the movies, there's only one guy who can deliver that Christmas present.

Wrong Star Wars Character

Dick Cheney's recent interviews have led people to compare him once again to Darth Vader. I hate to get geeky about it, but if you want to compare Cheney, a man who spent a lifetime scheming and plotting in hopes of one day acquiring absolute power, to any Star Wars character, there is only one appropriate analog:

My Way of Saying Thanks

Lindsay Erika Crain, or Anna, as she's known in Diary of A Superfluous Man was kind enough to talk up the play on her weblog. It would be wrong of me not to reciprocate in the only way a penniless sod like me can, by linking to her blog.

Buy some of her photographs. Now.

Movies For a Snowy Afternoon

I'll include a list for those who love to wallow in snow, as well as for those who want nothing more than to get away.

For Wallowers:

The Shining (1980): For the person who loves snow, what could be better than being snowbound at home, watching a movie about a snowbound family whose patriarch is going mad? There is no time of year when The Shining isn't a favorite film of mine, but today seems like an appropriate day to watch Jack Nicholson get cabin fever.



Misery (1990): Snow seems to agree with Stephen King, or at least with those who adapt his work. This picture, done before Rob Reiner foolishly decided to stop shooting William Goldman scripts, made a star of Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes, the world's most psychopathic obsessed fan, (and that's up against some stiff competition).



On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1968): Yes, you'll have to endure some sun kissed beaches in the South of France, but don't worry. You'll soon be in the Alps, watching 007 perform some of his best ski moves as he tries to stop Blofeld's plan to unleash a biological weapon on the world.



Downhill Racer (1969): It's not my favorite of Robert Redford's films about competition--that would be The Candidate but if you like ski action, this is your film. (Sorry, no video)

The Empire Strikes Back (1980): The ice planet of Hoth. Need I say more.



For Would-be Escapees:

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981): There is a brief sequence in snowy Nepal, but the rest of it is in the South American jungle, Egypt, and the Mediterranean. See? You're warmer already.



Lawrence of Arabia (1962): Vast stretches of desert, shot in 70mm splendor, serve as backdrop for one of the greatest movies ever made.



The Spy Who Loved Me (1977): This one could be thought of as a present for both sides. It opens with the most spectacular ski stunt ever performed in a Bond film before moving on to beautiful, balmy locations in Egypt and Sardinia.



Duel 1971: When you need to warm up, Steven Spielberg really is your pal. He loves desert landscapes, and this one is about as deserty as you can get. You will, however, learn to treat truck drivers with greater reverence and respect when this movie ends.



The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) Clint Eastwood's most deeply felt western--with the arguable exception of Unforgiven--takes place, for the most part, in the deserts of Texas and Mexico. Exciting and thoughtful, The Outlaw Josey Wales is a worthy way to warm yourself up when the weather outside trends frightful.

Diary of A Superfluous Man Enters the World

Diary of a A Superfluous Man is out. Some very fine actors put up with me for way too long to get this made, so download it today from here or here.

The Day the Earth Stood Still Beamed Into Space

When a huge starfleet of pissed off aliens comes to Earth to carry on cranky, we'll know it's because 20th Century Fox sent them the remake instead of the original.

Who could blame them, really?

Speaking Your Peace

One of the disadvantages of podcast theater is that it offers few places for listeners to chat amongst themselves about what they've just heard. While I'm afraid I can't announce that the MMIP has purchased an enormous room where listeners around the world can gather, drink and kibbitz, I can offer a few options that will do both you and the MMIP a service.

1. You can leave a comment at our website.

2. Those of you who plant to be "Diary of a Superfluous Man" listeners can hop on over to The Stranger, Seattle's only functional alternative weekly, and leave a review of our upcoming show (or pick fights with the pinheaded lunatics who demonstrated their bad taste and bad breath by disagreeing with you).

3. Or you can visit the MMIP's location at the iTunes Music Store by typing "McCroskey" into iTunes's search field while the browser is pointed at the store. (Needlessly pedantic? Good.) There you can do much the same thing that you would at the Stranger, but play to an international audience of people who, rest assured, are desperate to know what you think about an obscure audio play.

Because I want to beat as many possible drums for our upcoming show "Diary of A Superfluous Man", I want to urge you towards methods 2 and 3 of expressing your opinions. Your posts, if placed in those locations, could help drive traffic to us and will, regardless of what you say, guarantee you infinite supplies of chocolate and leather bondage equipment in the afterlife.* So, after you've heard "Diary of A Superfluous Man", stop by those locations to let the world know what you thought.

*Existence of afterlife not guaranteed. Offer void in Tennessee.

An Endorsement (Insert Fanfare Here)

I've spent much more time than I'm ordinarily comfortable with promoting my work, and while I'm afraid I'm going to have to do a good deal more of that between now and the 12th, I do want to pause for just a moment from hawking my wares and wearing my hawks to pass on my endorsement, for the spectacularly miniscule amount that it's worth, of The New Adventures of Mr. Stephen Fry. I've been an enormous fan of Mr. Fry's since I saw his work in Blackadder II, many thousands of years ago, and through the centuries since, my appreciation for his wit and verbal dexterity has never waned. Go to his website. Listen to his podgrams. Read his blessays. Hope in sweet vain that you can someday nestle securely between his thighs. Live him. Love him. Be him. Stephen Fry.

What? Not fulsome enough? Fuck off.