I was at a noisy party, and my friend Mary was on one side of me, while Joyce was on the other, and we started talking about what fantastic hair Joyce has. And I dunno, I ended up touching her hair and saying “Wow, you really have a lot of hair!” And Joyce said “Yeah, my tub drain hates me.”
And Mary said “What!?”
And I repeated it to Mary, and she said “Oh! I thought you said your tangerine hates you, and I couldn’t figure that out.”
And Joyce said “My tangerine hates me, too.”
Okay, I have like no time today. Should have prepared this yesterday. So today, we’re posting trivia questions in a round robin.
If you answer a question, you can post a question. Here’s the twist: Every movie must have a place name in the title. I’ll start:
Based on a true story, which became a fictional play, which became a movie with one or two songs (but not really a musical), which became a musical play, which became a musical movie.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) 10/10
Harry Lockhart (Robert Downey Jr.) tells the tale of how he got flown to Hollywood for a screen test. There he runs into his childhood sweetheart Harmony (Michelle Monaghan) and is introduced to a detective known as “Gay Perry” (Val Kilmer). Gay Perry is supposed to teach Harry about real detective work for his upcoming role. Soon Harry, Perry, and Harmony are embroiled in a complex murder mystery that hearkens back to the Johnny Gossamer detective stories that Harmony adored as a child.
I was completely surprised by Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. First, because I had a mistaken impression of what I was renting—the title, and the reviews I’d quickly skimmed, gave me the impression it was a spy movie parody (“Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” is a phrase associated with James Bond). But in fact, detective movies are a very different genre than spy movies, and this film plays in the detective realm. I’m not even sure I’d call it a parody. Certainly it is a comedy—a very witty one—that plays with Raymond Chandler and Mickey Spillane sensibilities, but it’s not interested in sending up those movies. It’s really just interested in having fun, while commenting wryly on the difference between reality and the movies.
And this movie is tremendous fun. Starting with the opening narration (“My name is Harry, and I’ll be your narrator”), it whips along at breakneck pace, tossing off bon mots faster than I can look up the correct way to pronounce them. Downey and Kilmer have terrific chemistry, and Monaghan, while not a great actress, keeps up with the twists and turns gamely. In fact, this is more a screwball comedy than anything else, with Monaghan and Downey providing the romantic banter, with a second (and more prominent) layer of banter between Kilmer and Downey. Monaghan is no Rosalind Russell, but she makes a fine Girl Friday.
Through Harry’s narration, KKBB tells you about detective stories (particularly the fictional Johnny Gossamer) while contrasting them with real murder mysteries. Inevitably, you know you’ll find the plot becoming increasingly like the fictional sort, to Harry and Perry’s chagrin. There are a few small missteps—the “aha” moment that you expect at the end of any detective story was too opaque, and an obvious joke about “there are always exactly sixteen deaths” could easily have paid off with sixteen deaths (instead there were about ten).
Still, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a movie full of charm, wit, and good will, while still having a satisfying sense of menace.
The equinoxes hold a sort of nebulous place in Wicca. The Fall Equinox is the middle of three harvest festivals. The first harvest, Lammas, has strong associations with bread, wheat, sacrifice, John Barleycorn, and Lugh. The third harvest, Samhain, is the Celtic New Year, the Day of the Dead, and Halloween. Both of these have a wealth of imagery, ritual, and custom. The second harvest, not so much.
Fall Equinox is sometimes called Mabon or Harvest Home. Both of these are modern names, and more traditional Wiccans simply call it Fall Equinox. (See? It’s kinda boring.) Rich folklore is kind of lacking.
The two most interesting ritual contexts for this holiday are as a Thanksgiving festival and as a commemoration of the Rites of Eleusis. Thanksgiving makes sense because of the harvest, because of the changing of seasons, and because equinoxes are a time of astrological stasis, and therefore a good time to stop, reflect, and give thanks. A Thanksgiving approach is more in keeping with traditonal Wicca, because it is agriculturally-based and oriented around issues of abundance, fertility, and seasonal cycles.
The Rites of Eleusis were held annually at this time for two thousand years. They have a profound place in Pagan history, both because of their longevity and because of their profound influence on Pagan Greek philosophers, artists, and poets. By the late Classical period, when Greek myths were told in a way meant to mock the Gods (hence Zeus’s exaggerated infidelities and Hera’s outraged jealousies), the mysteries of Demeter, Persephone, and Hades were treated with utter reverence. Modern Pagan groups such as Reclaiming have created powerful ceremonies based on modern recreations of these rites.
Some folks kind of combine the two, shifting the Descent into Hades into a more explicitly agricultural context (which is always a part of the Greek rite) and sometimes using British or Celtic deity names.
So I haven’t watched my winsome Serenity DVD straight through yet, but I did watch with the new commentary track on. Whedon did a cool thing, which was to watch his original commentary track before recording the new one so that he was sure not to repeat himself.
Anyway, the commentary was good, except that with these group commentaries, you can’t always tell who’s talking. Adam Baldwin is especially tricky because a Firefly fan is used to his accent, and that’s not real, so he sounds nothing like Jayne.
Anyway, Joss was saying that the original script was 190 pages, and he had to get it down to 120, and Nathan Fillion asked him what was in the 190 page version (Ron Glass said “Me! Me!”) and Joss said “Basically, all of Season Two” and one of the guys asked “What about the second half of Season One?” And Joss said, “Good point! But no, I always pictured Miranda as being at the end of Season Two.”
Which is, like, amazing to me.
I have to say, when I saw the movie (and I guess I shouldn’t spoil it by saying what Miranda is or anything), I didn’t have the sense that Miranda was planned as the solution to certain series mysteries. It felt like it was the movie version. So I’m stunned to learn that, indeed, the answers to so many of our questions were intended to be found there all along.
Probably the coolest tidbit on the commentary. My respect for Whedon just grows and grows.
Another one without a flash; love that morning sunlight. Mingo is so CUTE I could just wiggle.
Hofstra University’s Cultural Center will be hosting Bond, James Bond: The World of 007. The event takes place November 6–8 at Hofstra. I will be appearing on a panel called "Writing Bond" from 2:30–4:30 on November 8, and will be signing books afterwards.
I hope to see you there!
AND I got friends and relatives who’ve longed to hear me say that for years.
Holy Mother of God! All solved in under 90 minutes!
