Fifty years ago this week, Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" opened in theatres. Despite a lukewarm critical reaction, this film about a real estate secretary on the lam who makes a fateful stop at the Bates Motel was embraced by audiences and became one of Hitchock's biggest hits.
This weekend, Kurt Anderson's Studio 360 did a few stories on the film's anniversary. They even did an interview with the former Playboy bunny who claims she was the one who got knifed in the shower. Marli Renfro has for years said that she was Janet Leigh's body double for the majority of this iconic scene. However, Leigh has stuck to her story that she was there for all 77 camera setups, shot over the course of 6 days in December 1959. But Marli makes a good case in her interview. Also, given Hollywood's long standing use of body doubles and any actors natural inclination to complain about standing naked in a shower for a week, I'm inclined to believe Marli's story.
If you'd like to read more about the making of this extraordinary film, the Wikipedia entry is very comprehensive. And there are a number of books on the subject, notably Donald Spotos' "The Dark Side of Genius", "Alfred Hitchock and the Making of Psycho" and the The Truffaut Interviews which are probably the best in that you get to hear everything direct from the director himself.
I used to have an aversion to the NY POST. More like an allergic reaction, especially during the Bush era with it's jingoistic headlines and far-right angle on all the news. Lately, I have realized while picking up the stray copy on the subway, that the POST can actually be quite amusing. Sometimes even intentionally.
Yesterday's POST had an explosive undercover investigation of how strict the velvet ropes were at a bunch of clubs in the Meat Packing district. The newspaper hired six actors, dressed as stereotypes (i.e. guido, suburban dad, geek) trying to get into the six clubs. Who had the most success? Suburban dad, of course. I say of course because he is the only one who looks like he could easily afford an $18 martini.
Two enterprising female reporters for the Washington Examiner had an idea; they created a fake profile and signed in on Grindr while in the White House press room. Grindr is an iPhone app which is like GPS-aided personals and a high-tech tool for cruising. Apparently, they found more than a few gay men in the West Wing looking for some action. Not to the mention the Senate. And, of course, they hit the motherlode standing outside the Pentagon. Go figure.
You can check out their YouTube video report below. Though there style is a little rough, their idea was crafty. Next stop...the Supreme Court. Quick before David Souter leaves.
Last weekend, I hit the BK for a field trip to Green-Wood Cemetary. Set amongst some gorgeous hills near Brooklyn's Bay Ridge neighborhood, it's one of the oldest cemetaries in the city and easily the most beautiful. It's home to many celebrity graves for folks like Leonard Bernstein, Fred Ebb, Peter Cooper and Jean-Michel Basquiat, just to name a few. Founded in 1838, Green-Wood was recently designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006 not just for it's role as a cemetary but also for the Battle of Brooklyn. This was a famous fight during the Revolutionary War between the British and colonial troops on the highest natural point in Kings County....a hilltop with stunning views of the city and the Harbor, thus a site that was strategically essential.
Anyway, here's some photos I took in my wanderings. As you can see, it's definitely one of the creepier cemetaries around. Lots of mausoleums and statuary, as was the custom in the 1800's.
In 1982, CBS aired a quirky high school comedy starring a teenaged Sarah Jessica Parker called "Square Pegs". Created by Anne Beatts (one of the original staff writers on SNL) it was critically well-received but had trouble getting decent ratings and was cancelled after just 20 episodes.
When this show originally aired, I was fairly obsessed with it and even wrote a letter to CBS when word came down it was not going to be renewed. I recently heard SJP being interviewed on Studio 360 and the host played a clip from the show which sent me into a nostalgia-spin. I immediately searched for it on NetFlix and found the one and only season of the show now on DVD.
Despite all the 80's "fashion" and references (remember the Budweiser "Taste Buds"?), the show holds up pretty well and is very entertaining. Then again, given my love of GLEE, this show is pretty much my sweet spot. As for SJP, she is totally adorkable. She almost didn't get cast on the show as the lead geek because she was too pretty. But when she put on a pair of the casting directors big owl glasses, a sitcom star was born.
The other standout in the cast is Merritt Butrick as Johnny Slash. Watching it now, he is pretty much the gay guy on the show before you were allowed to say it. It's pretty funny the various ways they telegraph this....like everyone think's he's punk but he keeps insisting he is "New Wave", leading to his catch phrase: "it's a totally different head, man...totally." Yeah, totally. He also has a nicely braided rattail.....god, remember those?! And the coolest moussed-up hairdo. Sadly, despite going on to star in "The Wrath Of Khan" and "Star Trek: The Next Generation", Merritt died suddenly in 1990 of complications from AIDS. He was just 29. It's a tragic footnote to what has been a truly joyous viewing experience.
So if you're desperate for a goofy look at high school in the 80's, this show may be geeky at heart but it's a winner in my book...and the rare TV show that is laugh-out loud funny too.
I found this amazing photo on Towleroad today. It's a shot of last month's launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, taken from the unique perspective of a pair of F15 fighter jets patrolling the Kennedy Space Center. This was Atlantis' last flight, with the entire Shuttle program set to end next year. A truly stunning shot...
One of my favorite local history blogs, Jeremiah's Vanishing New York, has posted part one of a two-part mystery surrounding the location of the diner which inspired Edward Hopper's painting "Nighthawks". For years, the rumor has been that the diner was located at the intersection of Seventh Avenue and Greenwich Street, where the MTA currently has a fenced in lot for vehicles with controversial plans to build a ventilation plant there. However, after some diligent research, Jeremiah has found pictures of a gas station on the site from the 1930's. And no evidence of anything else being built there since, other than the MTA's fence.
Hopper has said the diner was inspired by a place he saw on Greenwich. But Hopper has also been known to take liberties with his inspiration and was not exactly a documentary painter. If you tune in tomorrow, Jeremiah says he'll reveal where the real diner was located. It would be amazing if he even found a picture. I wouldn't put it past him....this guy really knows his stuff.
This adorable ad is airing in France apparently. So sweet....it's like a little piece of a French indie art movie that happens to take place in McD's. So when do we get to see the American version of this ad? They could certainly buy some time in GLEE and maybe some more of The Gays would actually go buy Big Macs. No fries though. Carbs. :)
Sex And The City's Kim Cattrall was one of more than 1300 people who sat across from performance artist Marina Abromovic in her 3-month marathon show at MOMA. It ended on Monday afternoon to the applause of a filled atrium and the relief of Marina's back, which she was having some difficulty with after sitting 8 hours a day.
The Village Voice's website has put up photos from the Flickr stream of another artist, Marco Anelli, who took a picture of each person who stared down Marina for periods ranging from 1 minute to more than a couple hours. Other celebs who sat were Lou Reed, Isabella Rossellini and Antony Hegarty. There is also a priceless photo of a young girl who's 6 going on 60, a true city-kid skeptic of this whole performance art thing.
I was at MOMA last week and it was fascinating to watch the different reactions of people as they sat to face the stone-faced Abromovic. It was amazing to me that many people waited for more than 8 hours to have a few minutes in the chair opposite her for what some described as a religious experience. Some wept, some smiled and one woman even whipped off her clothes only to be removed by security. Only in New York, kids!
Twice a year, there is a phenomenon unique to New York where the sun lines up with the city's east-west street grid, creating some beautiful conditions for photography. It's informally called Manhattanhenge and the first one of 2010 happened at sunset on Monday. I found out about this on a blog called Animal, which has posted Manhattanhenge pictures for the last couple years, like the one above. The next opportunity for anyone looking for a unique picture of the city will occur on July 11th at 8:42pm. Mark your calendar, bring your druid necklace and I'll see you on 42nd street with my Lumix.
", "Alfred Hitchock and the Making of Psycho
" and the The Truffaut Interviews 
which are probably the best in that you get to hear everything direct from the director himself.
