Adventures in Babysitting
Not exactly babysitting… he’s fifteen. I shall explain.
Fiona and I get to play at being grown-ups this week, looking after Louis, the son of friends. We’ll be zooming back and forth between our home, to tend to our cat, and the more upscale climes of Stockbridge, to tend to Louis. Not that he needs much looking after. I think mainly we’re supposed to stare at him to check that he hasn’t died.
So it’s possible that this week, things will be more family-friendly here on Shadowplay. Like, tonight, Fiona and Louis are watching a feelgood sports movie. I think it’s called THE WRESTLER.
I imagine you’ll hardly notice any difference though, especially as I already have a few pieces written for this week. Meanwhile, here is a rabbit:
From David Greene’s beautiful film I START COUNTING.
shadowplay 
March 1, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Hm. I will be interested to hear your takes on The Wrestler… meanwhile, you can enjoy this: The Slasher.
(contains bad ’80s gore effects).
March 1, 2009 at 9:46 pm
Fifteen, eh? Then he’s the right age for THIS!
March 1, 2009 at 9:48 pm
Or maybe THIS!
March 1, 2009 at 9:56 pm
Possibly. But he might prefer not to watch them in the company of adults. I’m cat-sitting tonight, so I don’t get to see The Wrestler yet, I have to make do with The Ape Man. Some would say that’s small difference. We tried watching it with Louis but the sound was so appalling, he said “I feel like I’m watching it with Q-tips in my ears. Since that’s my favourite way to watch Sam Katzman movies anyhow, I’m going to finish seeing it now.
I loved The Slasher! Saves me watching any of those movies!
March 2, 2009 at 1:09 am
…That Bobby Van clip!..buahahahahaha!!..lets see the Ape Man do that!
Why can’t we have scenes like that in todays Pic’thahs?…I should think it would do us all alot of good ;o)
March 2, 2009 at 1:26 am
It’s the most sustained piece of hopping until Danny Boyle collected his Oscar. By the end of take 3, everybody in China had moved slightly off the Earth’s axis.
March 2, 2009 at 4:07 pm
That’s the climax of Bobby Van’s movie career. He should have had more opportunities, but Hollywood was closing up shop even as he hopped. I was going to link in the other great Busby Berkeley number from Small Town Girl, Ann Miller’s “You Gotta Hear That Beat,” but You Tube has yanked it.
Howver here’s her iconographic apotheosis written and directed by the great Stan Freberg.
March 2, 2009 at 7:30 pm
Awesome! “Shake hands with the great American soup!” Meaningless, yet beyond excellent.
March 2, 2009 at 10:41 pm
Ironically the commercial — while remembered by all — didin’t sell the product, and “The Great American Soup” went under.
March 2, 2009 at 11:33 pm
Yeah, it didn’t make me want to rush out and buy the soup. It did make me want to rush out and buy Ann Miller a drink. Ann was great.
March 3, 2009 at 12:29 am
Ann maintained those great legs for a long time!…I watched her the other night in Easter Parade and couldn’t get over how stunning she was in red at the beginning of the film..even with CLOTHES on!
March 3, 2009 at 12:34 am
Well, it would be hard for her to be in red without clothes on.
March 3, 2009 at 8:25 am
There are some nice bits in this opening scene of Strong Man, a silent with Harry Langdon from 1926:
March 3, 2009 at 2:30 pm
“Next time, cootie, you’ll keep your head down!” ought to become an Intertitle of the Week for sure. Langdon is a fascinating comedian, really strange and unique. Although Frank Capra claimed credit for creating Langdon’s comic persona, this does not appear to be true — Langdon already knew exactly what he was doing from his vaudeville experience.