The Girl in Alfred Hitchcock's Shower

I started reading it and, for a while, couldn't put it down. I brought it into work and read it between phone calls. I will admit that I have a slight obsession with Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. It is by far my favorite movie. A complete masterpiece. I read what I can on it and this was a story that I didn't know. You don't know it either, which is reason enough to read this book.

Graysmith cleverly sets up chapters that bounce back and forth between Marli Renfo (Janet Leigh's nude body double) and Sonny (a killer, that we can only presume is Renfo's). He talks about Renfo on the set of Psycho, being sliced with the knife, only to then jump back to Sonny's story and compare him to Anthony Perkins's Norman. It's a smart way to capture an audience that would otherwise ignore this run of the mill true-crime novel.

After a huge set-up, and some fascinating scenes; after Marli's history with Playboy and nudie cuties, and repeating himself way too much, Graysmith finally delivers the twist. And then the book ends. No falling action, nothing. The twist. The end. I felt jilted, after all, it had been set up to be much more. Of course this Hitchcockian story would have a twist - but in all honesty - it would have been so much better as fiction. There were places I wanted this story to go, that it didn't because they just didn't happen. It could have been fascinating, but instead it fizzled out. Once we're off the set of Psycho, I stopped caring - but pushed through to see if the ending I imagined is the ending that occurred. It isn't.

Graysmith is caught between a nonfiction thriller and a biography of Renfo. The boring part of any biography, I think most will agree, is the garbage about where the subject is born and what life was like for their parents. I get it. Its shapes who they are, but this captures 0% of my interest, especially when you've disguised the book as a noir thriller.

He was smart to do one thing though, since he did feel the need to include it, at least he did it in the middle of the book. If he had jumped right out with her birth history I would have put this book down. I don't know who Marli Renfo is, and telling me where she's born does nothing to improve upon that. Smart to start with her naked in the shower. It's what the readers want, anyways.

Should you read it? It's an interesting enough story. Marli is a fascinating person, and despite Graysmith's tendency to repeat himself (a lot) there is some really interesting stuff (especially when it comes to Hitchcock's set).

Is it a story you could get somewhere else though? Better written and with the same good stuff? Probably. Do I regret reading it? No.

Netflix!

That's right. It gets an exclamation point. How has it taken me so long to jump on the Netflix train? I was perfectly content going to Blockbuster and roaming around for hours on end, deciding to rent GREY GARDENS, and then finding it's already rented and settling on THE NET.

But now, I have Netflix! (and consequently, GREY GARDENS sitting on my bedside table).



Queue: I have been judged because a short week after obtaining Netflix my queue already has over a hundred movies. But come on, how many times are you like "shit I need to see that movie," only to forget what it was a month later? Put it on the queue. It's less a list, in order, of movies I'm renting, and much more a to do list. Also, it gives me an opportunity to see all those movies that I should have seen by now, i.e) SUNSET BOULEVARD, FARGO & THE APARTMENT.



Instant Viewing: I'm never going to get anything done. Ever. Instant viewing is amazing. Not only do they have a multitude of movies I want to see at my fingertips, but there are also movies I didn't even know I wanted to see! Anytime I'm going to get something done on my computer, I'm actually just going to end up watching things like Woody Allen's WHATEVER WORKS (which actually wasn't that bad). Jeff and I were joking though, that the new "eh, wait until it's out on video" is "eh, wait until it's available on instant viewing." (This was in reference to HOT TUB TIME MACHINE, which is not only not good enough to see in theaters, but also bad enough to not be worth renting.)



Predictions: The more movies you rate and rent, the more predictions Netflix gives you. It's secretly getting inside my brain, knowing the movies I'll like before I do. I give Netflix a challenge because my movie renting pattern is ridiculous. SOPHIE'S CHOICE one day, JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH another. It doesn't even know what to do with itself. Sometimes It's spot on - I liked LARS AND THE REAL GIRL, and LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, so I should like WAITRESS. But then other times it's smoking crack. I'm sorry Netflix, but it's true. Just because I loved PSYCHO (the original) does not mean I'll love THE STEPFORD WIVES. Those two do not belong in the same category and I'm offended you even thought so. It's okay though. I'll forgive you. Because you're amazing.



Anonymity: Another nice thing about Netflix is that it allows you to rent shitty movies and not be judged. I know, I shouldn't worry about such things. But how do you seriously walk up to the movie aficionado with ALL ABOUT STEVE in your hands? Don't worry, it's on the queue.

A Single Frame

I promise this won't turn into a blog of JUST movie reviews- but I just saw Single Man and feel the need to encourage anyone who gets a chance to witness Tom Ford's brilliance to do so. Don't do it for the story. Don't do it for the actors. Hell, don't even do it for me- do it for the part of you that loves to flip through magazines at the check stand of the grocery store and look at all the hyper-stylized fashion photographs.

Every single frame of this movie could be paused, printed and put in a fashion magazine. It's beautiful. The costume, the lighting, the placement of every detail. Ford's use of color is exactly how color should be. Colin Firth's life is muted. He's invisible, until he's passionate about something. Characters faces and outfits come alive with bursts of color when Firth comes alive. I want to live in this hyper stylized world that Tom Ford has created.

Okay, maybe I don't.

This movie is heart wrenching. Colin Firth is haunted by the past. Julianne Moore's future is living in it. I don't want to give too much away, but it's tough.



The depiction of the era is perfect. Colin Firth stepped in front of a Psycho poster wearing a skinny tie. I was sold.



And I lied. Totally see it for the story and the actors. Julianne Moore is terrifyingly good. No one does train wreck like her. Colin Firth is phenomenal. Old favorite Matthew Goode, new favorite Nicholas Hoult, and all time favorite Lee Pace (in too little screen time) all help model Tom Ford's latest spread.



Do yourself a favor and see it. Then go home and hug the ones you love.

Or go skinny dipping.