TV Bites: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

THE SNACK:
Boiled Edamame (枝豆 - Soybeans in the Pod)



It's part deux of the "of the" double bill!

So, it's been up and down this last month or so. First, my cat Rocky came down with skin cancer in mid-April and I had to put him down about two weeks ago. It was initially a blow as with Chazz (my cat who died last year) gone, me & Rocky really started to develop a strong relationship. Originally he was my neighbor's cat across the street where I used to live. His owner was a very sweet little old lady who was so gracious my first year in Austin that she invited me over to spend Thanksgiving dinner as I really didn't know anyone much there then. Her name was Ophelia. Rocky and Chazz hated each other. But when she passed away and there was no one to really take him in, I did. He wouldn't come inside unless it was below 65*F or raining, otherwise he wanted to stay outside. So when I moved I took Rocky with me and he and Chazz operated under these very complicated rules of détente they had formally agreed upon. So for the last year, Rocky and I have been pretty chummy and I was expecting that to continue for a time. But so it goes. We did it here at the house. Actually outside. On this tree that has a big dip in it which he used to hang out on.

And now I'm looking forward to getting me some new kittens. 'Cause everyone loves kittens. Especially, on the Internet. My dear friend Tony recently found a kitten which became an Internet sensation. What a strange little world we live in. For those brief 15 minutes, Mercedes the cat was in millions of people's minds, trending higher than probably some reality TV stars. Who knows? But there's lots of things to concern ourselves with on this here planet we be spinnin' on. And yet, the 24-hour news cycle makes time for a story about a rescued cat. Perhaps we're not 100-percent pod people yet. Some of our emotional responses are still operative (and can be manipulated...beware!)

Obviously, of course, I'm merely setting up today's movie. Invasion of the Body Snatchers was a movie that was not supposed to be what it was. It was supposed to be just another B horror/sci-fi flick. But it wasn't. It did and continues to warn us of the dangers of what happens if we stop using our critical thinking abilities.

TV Bites: Q: The Winged Serpent

THE SNACK:
Papatzules w/Chiltomate Sauce (Warmed Tortillas Stuffed w/Hard-Boiled Egg, Pumpkin Sauce & Tomato Sauce)



Why in the world am I celebrating the New Year (from Rome, mind you!) with Larry Cohen's Q: The Winged Serpent? What synergy could there possibly be? Or is there no rhyme nor reason?

Well, here goes. Q, of course, is short for Quetzalcoatl, who was a god of the Meso-American cultures, including both the Aztecs and Mayans. And you know what this new year of 2012 brings with it? You got it! The end of the world as we know it. (At least according to the Mayan calendar - see Background & Context section). Okay, sure it's got the History Channel folks all atwitter, and marketing "geniuses" all ablaze, but I wouldn't sell all your belongings and give away your pets just yet. Besides, I've got Jello Brand Pudding in my refrigerator that doesn't expire until 2013, and you know "Godfather" Bill Cosby would never lie to us.

As for me being in Rome? No reason. Just a whim. But strange as it may seem - especially for someone like myself who doesn't believe in the mystical - today I was at the Vatican (no, the Pope didn't have me over for tea) and after braving the human traffic to see the Sistine Chapel, just before you exit the Vatican museums, there on the right is a small ethnological wing. And what ethnological image is the featured display this month, you ask? Well, I couldn't believe it myself. Yup. A statue of Quetzacoatl himself in all his winged glory. Right there in the Vatican! If I was the Pope, I know I'd be sleeping tonight with one eye open.

TV Bites: Escape from New York

THE SNACK:
Isaac Hayes' "Gonna Get Some" Cornish Game Hens w/Wild Rice Stuffing



Had a rough week last week. Caught a respiratory infection from breathing too much smoke and ash in the air from the wildfires, combined with a bad allergy attack, that pretty much turned into a bronchitis. I was down for like five days. But then had to get better because it was ACLfest last weekend here in Austin. I only caught a couple of acts - Manu Chao (at an after show), Black Dub, Stevie Wonder, and Randy Newman (at a separate ACL taping). But that's all I really needed to see.

Now yesterday was the first day of this year's Fantastic Fest, so I thought it appropriate to feature one of my favorite genre films of all time. It's also part two of the September New York double bill. And boy do I love this movie. John Carpenter has sadly been relegated, I think, to being lionized by only genre film fans. And his films - statements about the times he lived in disguised as genre films - as far as I'm concerned, should be studied more seriously.

While this film was made in 1980, Carpenter first wrote the script in 1974, right after Scorsese made Mean Streets. (If I were going to make this a triple bill, the 3rd movie would be The Warriors, for sure.) So yeah, New York was a tough place in the late 70's and early 80's. A park like Union Square - which today is filled at night with people walking their dogs and playing chess - was considered utterly unsafe to enter once darkness came. That Carpenter - and audiences at that time - could believe New York City could shut down and be re-purposed as a maximum security prison - was not so much science fiction. In one interview as it was being released, when Carpenter explains that New York has been turned into such a prison in the film's future-present, the British fanzine reporter quips: "Isn't it one already?" I got to see some crazy s#!t when I was growing up, I tell you. But more on this later....

TV Bites: Mad Max

THE SNACK:
Australian Beef & Mushroom Pies



It's the end of September here in Austin and that means one thing -- FANTASTIC FEST!!! So, I'm going deep for the next week watching films and to tie in with it, I decided to go with one of the great genre action films of all time, a film that redefined and reinvigorated the genre.