Movies, Movies

I managed, though somewhat uncomfortably, to sit through two films in the theatres this weekend.

The first was Hairspray, on Saturday. It is absolutely terrific. Well cast, great songs, swell choreography. For those who don't recognize him, John Waters, the writer and director of the original film (on which the stage production and this film are both based) has a cameo in the opening number. He's the flasher on the streets of Baltimore, in the song "Good Morning, Baltimore." Christopher Walken, who attended Hofstra University a few years before I did, is just great as Wilbur. The breakouts are the kids who play Seaweed and Tracy. And whodathunk that Cyclops could sing and dance! James Marsden certainly had that early 60s look.

On Sunday, we saw Stardust, based on the graphic novel by my friend Neil Gaiman. He didn't write the script (although we did see a trailer for the film Beowulf, for which Neil did write the script), but his voice is there in the dialog. It started a little slow for me, but when Robert De Niro came on the screen, it really picked up. This was the second day in a row I got to see Michelle Pfeiffer play a villain, and she's good in both films. I must say I really found the "Greek chorus" of dead princes pretty macabre and hysterical. Very Neil.

Speaking of whom, there's really good coverage of his "Spotlight" appearance at Comicon at Comic Book Resources. I especially liked this bit:

When asked which authors had made him realize that he wanted to be a writer, he replied that the first one was C.S. Lewis. "I loved the way he put things in parentheses." He then rattled off a list including Len Wein ("Len and Bernie's 'Swamp Thing' was the first time I read a comic and said 'now this is art'), Archie Goodwin, Will Eisner, Gene Wolf, Jonathan Carroll, Ursula K. LeGuin, Roger Zelazny ("Roger's a wonderful writer - you can watch him having fun writing"), and others.

I've heard Neil credit Len in the past, but I must say this is particularly nice.

Normalization

In the interest of recovery, I went back to work today. It was all I could do to get showered and get my hair washed and I felt exhausted. Nevertheless, I managed to pull into the parking lot on time and climb the stairs to the office. I dropped my cane twice within the first 10 minutes, but my co-workers have been great. "Don't you dare try to pick that up," said Sharon. She wisely decided I was better laying it on a counter than propping it in a corner and she was right.

I've got my yoga teacher friend coming by to see what we can do about keeping my body from seizing up the wrong way later this evening. I'd much rather do yoga than go to the chiropractor. Chiropractors scare me.

I am still seething about the new assault on my civil rights and re-reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (the book upon which the latest film is based) has done nothing but reinforce my ire at politicians who go to far and those who stand by and let them get away with it. The book and film are statements against the kind of fascism which is rising in the U.S. and Britain in the wake of the so-called Christian conservative movement. (This would be one reason for the fundies to try and ban J.K. Rowling's books.)

So, the best way to combat this kind of evil is to work against it. To that end, an old friend of my husband's named Elliot Maggin has announced his intention to run for Congress from the 24th Congressional District in California. I read his statement of intent here, and I urge you to read it and contribute to his efforts.

As you can see from the Wikipedia map, the CA 24th is a gerrymandered district which skirts the major cities like Santa Barbara and reaches deeply into the very Republican areas of Ventura County. The representative for the past 20 some years is a Rubber-Stamp, Ultra-Conservative Republican. Bush got 56% of the vote in 2004.

Stardust opens today. The film is based on the work of my friend writer Neil Gaiman and wonderful artist Charles Vess. The reviews I've seen have been mostly positive and the trailers were beautiful--there's also an amazing cast. I confess that I haven't read Stardust. The book's been on my to-read pile since it came out, but Neil's American Gods is a novel I thought was terrific and I heartily recommend. Neil may suddenly be hot in the greater world, but he's been hot in comic books since he started writing Sandman for DC comics away back in the late 80s. I met and photographed Neil the first time in 1990. The photograph appears on a couple of dust jackets. He looks remarkably like John Lennon in it.

Around the time that Len and I got married, Charles Vess did an illustration of SwampThing, Abby, and their daughter for the DC Christmas card. I desperately wanted to buy the original, but it is in the collection of Bob Chapman, who owns Graphitti Designs. That's my way of saying I love Charles Vess' artwork.