...So for anyone who missed my previous post, tonight at 9pm, anyone who wants to wish local rocker Sonny Dean a happy birthday (or chat about Elf, the Will Ferrell Christmas comedy, which Sonny appears in) is invited to a Zoom chat with me, Sonny, and other fans of either Elf OR Sonny Dean. It's Sonny's birthday, so that's part of the package - we can sing "We Wish You a Merry Birthday" to him, or "Happy Christmas to You," or... all you gotta do is install Zoom (free) and ask me by some means for the link (which I don't want to publish, to avoid Zoom bombing, but will happily give any interested parties.) This is part of Erika's Christmas present, since she *LOVES* Elf... but anyone who wants to join us is welcome!
You gotta find your own way to see Elf, though.
Tomorrow, meanwhile, unless David M. decides not to show up, we'll be chatting with David M. about his Christmas music, and A Christmas Carol (we advise everyone to watch the Alastair Sim version first - again, you're on your own for that). More on that, here.
I chose those two movies based not on a personally passion for them, note. I like Elf well enough - but I root for the bad-tempered James Caan throughout, even tho' he always loses; this one is more Erika's pick (and a good excuse to get Sonny to sign her Elf box! Sonny Dean's appearance in Elf is far more important to me than Elf itself, in fact - the film, for me, is a footnote in the backstory of the much-missed Little Guitar Army). A Christmas Carol is a movie I want to play Erika, sure, but it's also a film of deep meaning to David M., who is known to dress up in "Scrooge Drag" for some of his Christmas shows.
No, folks, I confess: it is the THIRD movie we are doing that is a gift mostly to myself (though I had hoped to include local cartoonist/ artist ARGH! in it; but he's curmudgeonly or technophobic or Luddite-ish or something about Zooming, it turns out.) This is also a film I want to play Erika - and the film, of the three, that may be the most challenging for people to find and watch, unless you get into some illegitimate use of te internet - but it is also a film I kinda love: The Silent Partner, a shot-in-Toronto crime film made in 1978, where Elliott Gould, as a mild-mannered bank teller, squares off against a vicious robber played by Christopher Plummer. It kind of works as a milquetoast's sexual fantasy, a dark workplace comedy, and (tho' it is seasonally set), it really has very little to do with Christmas, though (like David Cronenberg's Rabid) it does get a bit nasty on Santa at times. If you want more convincing why this is a worthy film, check this crimereads.com article, "Forget Die Hard - This Christmas, Watch The Silent Partner."
I can say no more about it - it was written by Curtis Hanson and directed by Daryl Duke, and Gould, Plummer, and York are all fun in it - but I will be Zooming, I hope, with a few friends at 9pm on Wednesday, talking virtually about the film. There is a very recent blu-ray of it that you may be able to score at Videomatica. It's my favourite 1970's Canadian crime film!
What, you've never seen a 1970's Canadian crime film? Time to amend that!
I am hoping at least a few of my friends will join me for one of these screenings. Just PM me or comment here or email me if you know my email addy and I will shoot you a Zoom link - just specify which film you want to see.
Merry Christmas, folks!
3 comments:
The Elf Zoom was a charming mess - only a handful of people showed up (the Hanhams, Jude Beeman, and Tony Bardach!); Sonny had trouble with Zoom and had to participate on speakerphone. But we sang him "Happy Birthday to You" and heard stories about Tony Bardach in Watchmen and Out of the Blue...
And Bob Hanham as Jan Michael Vincent's body double in Xtro 2!
It’s quite fascinating learning more about Bob’s acting career. Is that true about him being Jan Michael Vincent body double? Alan you should do an Blog entry about our friends early career! Especially charming about how he met his wife to be.
Anyhoo I lost my Zoom virginity last night and I’m the better for it. Also, about fucking time! My husband and I are pretty much stay at home introvert types but Covid has made me feel a bit lonely and craving some human interaction. Zoom might be the answer. May be a way to interact with my friends from far away. So you can really do this talking to somebody say in the United States and not incur any church?! What about if my friend is overseas? Fill me in later on about that OK Al. I really should get around to looking at a couple of YouTube videos.
I will do my utmost to show up tonight for David’s event. These days I am wearing contact lenses and by that time of night they may be out of my peepers so like a mole I might be making my way around the action.
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