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.

Product Placement: The Movie

Two blog posts in one day? Aren't you lucky!

As previously mentioned, I went to see Derrick Borte's directorial debut with THE JONESES tonight. The film dares to ask the question: what if the family down the street that you're trying to keep up with isn't a family at all?

The Joneses; Matriarch, Demi Moore and newly added patriarch, David Duchovny are the heads of a family unit deployed to a small, upscale community to get their neighbors to want what they have. Companies sponsor them, and they in turn, for lack of a better word, pimp the product to their unsuspecting friends and neighbors. A gorgeous Amber Heard and Ben Hollingsworth (of the quickly canceled "The Beautiful Life") round out their family unit. Each member has their own problems, of course, with no real family members to turn to. As their lives unravel, connections form and their lie catches up to them, our ideal family has to determine whether it's worth it or not to live (and sell) the American dream.

The quality of the film isn't the greatest, but David Duchovny and Demi Moore's performances more than make up for that. Truth be told I had forgotten about both of them for some time and am glad to see them back on the scene (if it only be the limited release screen). Moore is the most developed character and brings a wonderful depth to her facade.

Next to Moore and Duchovny, Glenne Headly shines as Summer, a neurotic and broken spirited neighbor who finds herself victim of the American dream. She steals every scene she's in (yes, even the dramatic ones).

It's dark, timely and entertaining, but one can't help but feel that the ending was slapped on to appease the shmuck that goes to the movie for a happy ending. Borte clearly wanted to make a darker film than his studio allowed. The film succeeds, but it's interesting to image what could have happened if Borte would have gotten his way.

Keeping Up Appearances

So much of what we do is looking like we do something. So much of work is looking like you're doing work. So much of success is looking successful. You can never play the game if you don't look the part.

Take, for example, the idea of assistants. How many of us are necessary? And how many of us are here simply to make our bosses look for official/powerful/higher on the food chain? Sometimes quite literally, we find ourselves shopping for our bosses outward appearance. Commenting on their outfits. Making them feel good about how they look (so they in turn, don't rip our heads off).

We're here, not because they can't answer the phone themselves (although, at this point many cannot because they're so used to us) but instead to make it look like they're so busy that they cannot pick up the phone.

What about your room? Is it clean? Why do you clean it? Sure there are sanitary reasons to. Sure it makes it easier to find things. but many of us can live in our messes. We don't, because it hurts our appearance. Invite someone over and you clean. Need to look the part, after all.

Speaking of looking the part, let's think about fashion. An industry dedicated to how we appear. Make-up. Plastic Surgery. Hair Salons. Boutiques. Designer Clothes.

So why do we do it?
Because if you don't appear like you care about yourself. No one else will either.
So clean that room. Buy those jeans. Hire that assistant.

Play the game.



So with that, I'm off to see THE JONESES (a movie, quite literally about keeping up appearances, keeping up with The Joneses.)

Rock for Equality

After an exhausting night Saturday, I woke up bright and early (except it wasn't that bright, given our gloomy weather [it was early though: 845!]) and went to the Rock for Equality rally at the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center. But first - COFFEE!

Here's some pictures of the event:

(Mikey was there!)

(Barbara Boxer was there!)

Here's some facts:

-The federal government requires Americans in same-sex relationships to pay into Social Security like everybody else. These people are then denied key benefits that make up a crucial part of the safety net Americans rely on for their economic well-being in their latter years, or upon becoming disabled. In tough economic times, like those gripping the country today, these benefits are all the more critical.

-The Social Security Administration does not recognize any same-sex relationships, anywhere, including couples in states that afford same-sex couples the right to marry or the right to register as domestic partners.

-In some instances, the Social Security Administration affords certain advantageous benefits to divorced individuals that it does not provide to same-sex couples: even when the same-sex couples are married or registered as domestic partners.

-$ 2,046,872,071 is the current amount of money denied to same-sex couples and the number keeps growing.

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.