Some Came Running

In the spirit

How about a little love, peeps? Claire and I think the tree we got this year is our best yet, and the decorating of it is complete. This year The Bride has a new little friend...

 

That's Tom Servo, you see...

The tree is so super-nice that even unlit it lights up the room...

Happy Thanksgiving...

...a holiday that, despite whatever the meanies at Big Hollywood would have you believe, is frequently enjoyed by counter-culture/"progressive"/leftie types, as the above screen cap from Arthur Penn's 1969 Alice's Restaurant testifies.

It's been an...interesting year, and it ain't over yet. For today let me extend my very best wishes to you, my readers, old and new, and to your families. As you may have noticed by this point, this blog is in no way a commercial venture, which to me makes the give and take that much more meaningful. I'm also gratified at the way the regulars stick around regardless of the strange tangents I sometimes go on.

So thanks. I'm consistently grateful for your time, your loyalty, and for your always smart and impassioned and sometimes challenging feedback. Have a great Thanksgiving, wherever you are. 

Image of the day, 2/14/09

From Cocteau's 1946 La Belle et La Bete. What else would you expect? This particular beast was introduced to his beauty in the late summer of 2002, and has been largely beside himself in wonderment at his good fortune ever since. So in commemoration of this largely Hallmark holiday, I salute all successfully paired such beings, and say to thee who have not yet found such fulfillment: don't give up! If it could happen to this shambling creature, it can, and perhaps will, happen to you. Happy St. Valentine's Day. 

Christmas Tree Top

Featuring The Bride.

UPDATE: My Lovely Wife, who worked hardest on the decorating, believes a more expansive view is called for.

 

Merry Christmas from Israel Isadore Baline, Mano Kertesz Kaminer, Harry Lillis Crosby, David Daniel Kaminski...

...not to mention Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen Westmeier Rohe.

Curtiz and Berlin's 1954 White Christmas (Berlin's songs so define the picture that he fully earns co-auteur status—and indeed, the picture is often referred to as Irving Berlin's White Christmas) is too fluffy for many to consider a classic, but, you know, as fluffy goes it's really a formidable accomplishment. And its wholesome, cockeyed optimism is entirely infectious, and especially welcome right about now. It also represents a certain apex of Jew/Gentile artistic collaboration, which is totally awesome. So check it out, maybe.

My Lovely Wife and I wish you all a great holiday week. Posting will be lightish through New Year's and a couple of days beyond; some stuff might pop up over on The Auteurs' Notebook in the meantime. Look for a big DVDs-of-'08 Best-Of around these parts after the first week of '09. And thanks, as always, for hanging out here.