one of my all-time fav directors, (though not fav humans), alfred hitchcock, was born on this day 125 years ago.
above is a comprehensive list of all of his 52, films, some obscure, ranked in order.
while i agree with most of rankings,
‘the shadow of a doubt,’
ranked #2 in this list, is my personal #1,
it utterly terrified me, and still does.
do you have a personal favorite?
‘
this is not me, but it demonstrates both my love of movie popcorn
and a very mild version of my reaction when watching a scary movie.
Watching a scary movie can burn as many calories as exercise. We’re all familiar with the feelings that come with watching a fright flick — the sense of dread that engulfs us as a character enters a foreboding place, ominous music building, etc. According to a 2012 study commissioned by the video subscription service Lovefilm, these heart-pounding moments can do more than cause a good scare, however. Of the 10 movies tested, half caused participants to burn at least 133 calories, more than the amount used up by a 140-pound adult on a brisk 30-minute walk.
Granted, this limited study was hardly robust enough to earn a write-up in a peer-reviewed journal. Yet the science behind the results is essentially valid, thanks to human hard-wiring that traces to when our primitive ancestors had good reason to fear the monsters lurking in the night. When exposed to a harrowing situation, our sympathetic nervous system triggers the “flight or fight” response, which sends adrenaline into the bloodstream, diverts blood and oxygen to muscles, and kicks heart activity into a higher gear. Add in the outwardly physical reactions often prompted by the scariest scenes, such as jumping back in your seat or instinctively reaching for a companion, and it’s easy to see how sitting through The Shining (184 calories) or Jaws (161 calories) delivers results akin to sweating through a workout. (or my own natural startle response style, with me shrieking my lungs out, reflex-hitting the person next to me, throwing whatever i’m holding into the air, and hiding my entire face /body under anything i can find, which has to burn at least a good 900+ calories)
There are other benefits to putting ourselves through this sort of simulated danger, including the release of endorphins and dopamine, which allows us to feel relaxed and fulfilled after “surviving” the events witnessed on screen. Of course, not everyone is a fan of the frightening imagery in The Exorcist (158 calories) or Alien (152 calories), and researchers caution that stress can outweigh the gains for people who are genuinely repulsed by these movies. If health is your goal and the sight of blood makes you queasy, you’re better off rising from the couch and getting your legs moving instead of watching someone else flee the clutches of a zombie.
while i do love movies and i was hopeful that this
would finally be an exercise routine that i could really get behind,
i’m doubtful this one will work for me
as i can’t survive a regular regimen of terrifying movies,
or even one.
—
“based on how i react when toast pops out of the toaster,
i will never look cool walking away from an explosion.”
-word porn
—
source credit: interestingfacts
on international dog day
deep into the dog days of summer
i’m reminded of one of my all time favorite movies
‘dog day afternoon’
incredible acting
unbelievable
and inspired by
a true story.
photo from the actual crime scene, 1972
—
sonny: “is there any special country you wanna go to?”
sal: “wyoming.”
sonny: “sal. wyoming’s not a country.”
-salvatore ‘sal’ naturale – dog day afternoon
—
credits: warner brothers pictures, 1975, avenue magazine, life magazine, the boys in the bank
on this day in 1964
a perennial favorite of children
“mary poppins,” premiered.
julie andrews as mary, sang and danced her way through this happy film
her famous ‘just a spoonful of sugar’ song danced through my head
as i continued my foray into bread making with my latest project
cinnamon swirl donut bread
i think mary would have been quite impressed/horrified by all the sugar involved in this one
is was not only a sweet donut loaf
but was swirled with cinnamon, sugar, and molasses
and in the final stages
the entire loaf
still warm from the oven
was dipped in melted butter
then rolled in a mix of brown sugar, white sugar, and cinnamon
that melted together
creating an outer crust
this was not a loaf for the feint of heart
nor amateur sugar-eater
a little went a long way, but pretty tasty, all in all.
next up – beer bread
i wonder what movie from my past that experience will trigger.
“if god hadn’t meant for us to eat sugar, he wouldn’t have invented dentists.”
-ralph nader
—
image credit: walt disney pictures
free movie night at campus martius park in detroit
safe, distanced, well-planned
the little one soon had her own plan
drawn in
she moved right up front by the screen
enthralled
laughing, dancing, twirling
throwing spells along with elsa from ‘frozen 2’
until she became a part of the movie.
—
“true enthusiasm is a fine feeling whose flash I admire wherever I see it.”
-charlotte bronte
As lockdown has forced many cinemas to close their doors due to social distancing measures, many cinephiles have turned to drive-ins to watch their favorite flicks. And while drive-ins may make an exciting cinema experience, a floating movie theater in Paris takes outdoor movie-going to another level, swapping out cars with boats.
Next week, the waters of the iconic Seine river in the French capital will see the arrival of a floating movie theatre where people can enjoy themselves in socially distant boats.
The “Le Cinéma sur l’Eau”, or “cinema on the water”, will be held on July 18 to celebrate the return of Paris Plages, an annual event organized by the French capital, that creates temporary beaches along the Seine and the Bassin de la Villette during the summer.
The floating cinema will welcome 150 locals who will be able to kick back in one of 38 small electric boats to watch “Le Grand Bain”, a French comedy about a group of men who start a synchronized swimming team and “A Corona Story”, a short film about COVID-19.
Each boat will seat four to six people, making sure that the groups consist of family or friends to makes sure social distancing measures are met. Also, to make sure that as many as people can benefit from this boat-cinema experience, another 150 people will be able to watch from deckchairs on dry land.
To get the chance to attend such an exceptional movie night, Parisians can enter a raffle for free tickets from July 7 – 16.
—
“solitude is not the same as loneliness. solitude is a solitary boat floating in a sea of possible companions.”
-robert fulghum
—
photo/text credits: derya ozdemir, interesting engineering, daily optimist, paris
on the occasion of one of my favorite director’s birthday
happy alfred hitchcock day
—
“ideas come from everything.”
-alfred hitchcock
—
image credit: afi
one of my happiest ways to spend a relaxing day
with coffee, pajamas, music,
and a full string of one of my favorite director’s films.
always good for a dark humor laugh
but more often than not,
a scream.
—
“for me, the cinema is not a slice of life, but a piece of cake.”
-alfred hitchcock
Shakespeare’s birthplace and The Roald Dahl Museum
You might think there’s nothing to link Roald Dahl and William Shakespeare, but there are a few things they have in common…
They’ve both got big anniversaries this year:
2016 marks 100 years since Roald Dahl’s birth, and 400 years since Shakespeare’s death. That means 2016 is a pretty great year for celebrating the lives and works of these two world-famous writers.
They both made up some crackling words:
Shakespeare coined countless new words and phrases, many of which have found their way into common usage, including ‘wild goose chase’, ‘laughing stock’, and ‘heart of gold’. Roald Dahl invented quite a few words of his own, especially while writing The BFG – who can forget snozzcumber, gigglehouse and exunkly?
Both authors have their very own dictionaries, both published by Oxford University Press. The Oxford Illustrated Shakespeare Dictionary and The Gobblefunk Dictionary (coming in June).
Quick quiz:
Can you tell which of the following 5 words are Roald Dahl words, and which 5 are Shakespeare words?
Babblement, Smilets, Bubukles, Crumpscoddle, Pulsidge,
Vizaments, Squizzled, Twangling, Bootboggler, Sossel.
(Answers at the bottom of the page!)
They both have links to the Royal Shakespeare Company:
Set up in 1875 the Royal Shakespeare Company was established to inspire a lifelong love of William Shakespeare and to produce new plays and productions. In 2010 the RSC’s production of Matilda the Musical based on Roald Dahl’s Matilda, premiered at The Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, before moving to the West End in 2011. This record-breaking, award-winning musical is still going strong, made its way to Broadway in 2013 and toured Australia in 2015.
They are both loved worldwide:
Shakespeare is well and truly international. According to The British Council his works have been translated into over 100 languages (including Klingon), and performed worldwide – Romeo and Juliet has been performed in 24 countries in the last 10 years alone!
Roald Dahl books have been translated into 58 languages including Norwegian, Welsh and Japanese, but not Klingon… yet. During his lifetime Roald Dahl stuck a pin in a world map every time he received fan mail from a new place. Far flung destinations included Sao Paulo, Beijing, Addis Ababa and Windhoek.
Roald’s Fan Map
They are both top ten borrowed authors:
Both Roald Dahl and Shakespeare are very popular with library goers it would seem. The Public Lending Right lists Roald Dahl as the number 1 most borrowed classic author in 2015, with Shakespeare taking tenth place. Not bad!
They’re big on the big screen:
Many of Shakespeare’s plays have been made into movies. According to the BFI the first Shakespeare film was made in 1899. Since then there have been countless film versions and adaptations including William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet (1996), West Side Story (1961), and 10 Things I Hate About You (1999).
There have been some great film adaptations of Roald Dahl’s books too, Including Matilda, Fantastic Mr Fox, and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The BFG is coming to cinemas this July.
You can visit their home towns:
Two places you must definitely visit are The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire and Shakespeare’s Birthplace in Stratford-Upon-Avon.
Roald Dahl lived in the village of Great Missenden for 36 years and wrote all of his children’s books in his Writing Hut in the bottom of his garden. The Museum is housed in an old coaching inn on the High Street, you can’t miss it – look for the painted BFG on the front.
William Shakespeare lived in Henley Street in Stratford from the time of his birth until he was old enough to marry. Visitors can tread in his footsteps in the house he lived in, for millions of enthusiasts worldwide this house is a shrine.
Some of their stories are rooted in folklore:
Witches, magic, sprites and mysterious creatures appear in work by Roald Dahl and Shakespeare, and almost certainly rooted in folklore. Roald Dahl’s Norwegian heritage may have influenced his stories about jumbly giants and witches. His first story for children The Gremlins was inspired by RAF folklore which held that little creatures were responsible for the various mechanical failures on aeroplanes.
Shakespeare plays feature similar characters: Titania in Midsummer Night’s Dream, the sorcere Prospero, and the witches in Macbeth. Even Hamlet is borrowed from an old Scandinavian tale.
Quiz answers:
Roald Dahl = Babblement, Crumpscoddle, Squizzled, Bootboggler, Sossel.
William Shakespeare = Smilets, Bubukles, Pulsidge, Vizaments, Twangling.
—
credits: roald dahl museum
what is an antipode?
two places diametrically opposite each other on the earth’s surface.
they are very rare.
what is the shortest route between them?
a straight line through the center of the earth.
i recently saw ‘vivan las antipodas’
released in 2011
directed by russian documentary maker
victor kossakovsky
who had a radical idea
to visit these places
and shoot four antipodal pairs:
argentina/china
spain/new zealand
chile/russia
botswana/hawaii
he filmed it in a way
that literally
turned the world
upside down
and back again
for 108 meandering minutes
i was blown away
by the beauty
of
the landscapes
the people
the animals
the music
the colors
the contrasts
the connections
some things are universal
life
death
money
sex
family
friends
community
survival
love
it was
quietly
stunning
and
it was
dizzying.
I didn't have my glasses on.... 
