Picture Perfect Special with Salma Hayek

Celebrated Mexican actress Salma Hayek turns 55 today, September 2, 2021. We extend our best birthday wishes to her and celebrate this milestone with a few pictures that demonstrate the Unifying Theme.

The Avengers: Quick-Quick Slow Death

Qiuck-Quick Slow Death (1966)
Starring: Diana Rigg, Patrick Macnee, Eunice Gayson, Maurice Kaufman, James Belchamber, David Kernen, and Larry Cross
Director: James Hill
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

A bizarre accident puts government agents John Steed (Mcnee) and Emma Peel (Rigg) onto a dance school that's serving as a conduit for infiltrating enemy spies into Great Britain. The pair set out to unravel the operation with some infiltrating (and dancing) of their own.

"Quick-Quick, Slow Death" is one of the funniest and overall comedy-oriented episodes of "The Avengers" that I've watched yet. It's crammed full of bizarre characters and even more bizarre situations and it gets goofier and goofier as it unfolds

In fact, it's so goofy that this episode is best enjoyed if one doesn't think too much about the hows and whys of the plot and the complicated scheme being executed by the bad guys, nor the clues that Steed and Peel uncover or how they're delivered (although that tattooed garlic sausage has got to be a highwater mark for comedic absurdity). For all those reasons, I'm keeping this review short, as I think this episode is one that's best experienced cold. 

I will say that Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg are at the top of their comedic game, with their deadpan or droll reactions to the various bizarre characters and situations that Steed and Peel are confronted with as the episode unfolds. Although Macnee gets to be the comedic center in a couple of scenes, it's the way he and Rigg serve as "straight men" to other performers that make this episode that much more fun. I think that's also one of the reasons that the climactic ballroom scene with dancers and partners being switched around works when it really shouldn't have: Macnee and Rigg are pitch-perfect in every scene throughout.

Speaking of dancing, the little comedy tag at the end of this episode is possibly also one of the best so far, with the fictional characters of John Steed and Emma Peel twirling across the dance floor and fading away as the end credits begin.

Picture Perfect Wednesday with Zheng Shuang

Chinese actress Zheng Shuang has brought down the ire of the totalitarian "Communist" government of her nation for, as far as I can tell, being too popular. They've come down on her harder than they did on those infected with a virus that didn't even infect humans in Wuhan, with trumped up scandals and tax evasion charges. They've also literally cancelled her by banning a television series she's in from state-run television and commanded producers to no longer hire her for their films and movies.

So, it seems like a perfect time to feature some pictures of her here on Shades of Gray while reminding everyone of the Unifying Theme.

Still relevant, sixty years later

The Fat and the Thin (1961)
Starring: Roman Polanski and André Katelbach
Director: Roman Polanski
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

A scrawny slave (Polanski) labors to keep his slovenly, obese master (Katelbach) happy... until one day, he decides to escape to the promise of a better life in the city. His master, however, has a plan to keep him obedient and trapped...

Great works of art continue to feel relevant decades and centuries after they were made. The relevancy may or may not relate to the circumstances under which the work was created, nor the message the creator was trying to convey, but the fact that it speaks loudly to future generations and continues to feel fresh is the hallmark of an artistic masterpiece.

"The Fat and the Thin", one of the first works Roman Polanski completed after leaving his homeland of Poland for France. Sixty years after its release, this feels like it could have been made yesterday. The events of this absurdist silent comedy can be taken as an allegory for several different social conditions, most of which originate with power structures and how they can be abused. (One can even see the film as a statement about commercial 

As with all short films from the dawn of Polanski's career, "The Fat and the Thin" is a silent movie, and one so well-executed that no dialog would even be needed if it wasn't, nor were any intertitles required. Everything the audience needs to know is communicated by the actions of the characters on the screen. The only problem with this film is that it drags a little close to the halfway mark. I understand that Polanski was trying to drive home the sense of drudgery and boredom that slave felt, but he was perhaps just a little too effective... or maybe not effective enough. Regardless, the film could have benefitted from some trimming in the middle. 

 But why don't you take a look at the film for yourself by clicking below? Watching this true classic from one of the 20th century's best filmmakers is well worth it; maybe you can even leave a comment below with a few words about whether or not you think "The Fat and the Thin" still has relevance today, and why.

Musical Monday with Leo Moracchioli

 It's been a while since we last visited with the great Leo Moracchioli... but his cover of "In the Air Tonight" reminds us that we really should bring him around more often!

Bones Coffee: Sinn-O-Bun Blend

It's time for another coffee review--because the world has been waiting with bated breath to learn how I'm feeding my caffeine addiction!

Drink Coffee! It's Fashionable!

BONES COFFEE COMPANY: SINN-O-BUN

Sinn-O-Bun is another one of the many 4-oz. sampler packs I ordered with making this series of posts while feeding my caffeine addiction in mind. The gimmicky name and skeleton-themed drawing on the packaging.

The ground coffee had cinnamon bun aroma I would expect from the name, and a similar pleasing smell was evident as the coffee brewed. It was off to the promising start of other Bones Coffee releases I've tried. In the end, though, this turned out to be my This is my least favorite of their blends so far.

The blend basically does what the name brings to mind: If you dip a cinnamon roll in coffee and take a bite, that's what a hot cup of this coffee tastes like. Adding some milk (or in my case, almond milk) to your cup brings out the flavor even stronger. Unfortunately, the taste is as if you were dipping a stale cinnamon roll rather than a fresh one. That puts damper on the experience.

Unsurprisingly, this sweet-tasting blend works well iced, especially with a bit of almond milk added. Curiously, there seems to be a salty aftertaste that isn't there when you drink it hot, and it gets stronger as you sip the coffee. For this reason, you want to consume iced Sinn-O-Bun in small doses. (I thought that maybe I'd mixed up blends, or had not rinsed or washed the pot and cup properly between review samplings, and that I wasn't drinking Sinn-O-Bun at all or had perhaps "tainted" the brew somehow... but a second brewing brought the same shift in flavor between the hot and cold coffee. I don't think I've ever encountered something like this before--although the enhanced bacon flavor when drinking the Maple Bacon blend is similar, I suppose.)

Sinn-O-Bun is probably my least favorite of the Bones Coffee Company blends I've had so far; it's not one I'm likely to try again. That said, if you like cinnamon in general and cinnamon buns in particular, I think you'll enjoy it... just be sure you drink it hot. (I am giving a 4-oz. sample pack to a friend who's CRAZY about cinnamon to get her opinion on the Sinn-O-Bun blend. If she has anything to say that changes my recommendation, I'll provide an update in a future post.)

The Avengers Dossier, Page Seventeen

Here's a look at one of the many talented guest-stars who appeared in episodes of "The Avengers".

LIZ FRASER

In "The Girl From Auntie", Liz Fraser is Georgie Price-Jones, an actress hired by a shadowy organization to pretend to be Mrs. Peel. 

Born in 1930, Liz Fraser began her acting career as part of a touring theatre company in the early 1950s. In 1955, she was part of history when she appeared in commercial television's first live play, "The Geranium" on ITV. From that point forward, most of her work-life was split between the television screen and the big screen.

Fraser's early career was spent mostly playing blondes busty blondes with low IQs. She is best remembered for her roles in the entries in the "Carry On...", "Adventures of..." and "Confessions of..." comedy film series during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1970, she was also regularly spotted as one of the sexy ladies who would either chase, or be chased by, the star of "The Benny Hill Show."

As the 1970s drew to a close, Fraser made a hard push to leave the ditzy blonde she had been typecast as behind, and, her skills as a dramatic actress finally came to be appreciated. Throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, she balanced dramatic character roles with comedic parts, primarily on television but also increasingly on stage.

By the early 1990s, investments in stocks and rental properties had led to Fraser being financially comfortable to the point where she became very selective in the roles she accepted, and by 2000, she had all but retired from acting and public life. She continued to act, however, with her final role being in an episode of the long-running police procedural television series "Midsomer Murders".

Fraser passed away in 2018 at the age of 88.

Felix turns babysitter with predictable results

Felix Minds the Kid (1922)
Director: Otto Messinger
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

The world's most irresponsible father asks Felix the Cat to watch his baby.

"Felix Minds the Kid" is a fun bit of nonsense from beginning to end. It gets a little too nonsensical at one point for me, but not disastrously so. It's also one of those shorts where if I say too much about it, I will ruin the fun of watching it. I'll just make the comment that anyone who asks a stray cat (even one that can talk and use tools) may be the worst parent ever. It's both funny and troubling. 

One nice thing about this cartoon is that while Felix generally tends to be a bit of a trickster and a troublemaker and almost 100 percent self-centered, here he does seem to be genuinely concerned about the baby's well-being. Sure--he's going to get rewarded or punished depending on how successful his babysitting efforts are, but he goes beyond the call of duty more than once here. 

Without spoiling the cartoon, I think I can mention that one of my favorite bits in the cartoon is how all human babies look alike to Felix; sort of like how a litter of black kittens look alike to humans. My least favorite parts involve gags that make me think no one who worked on this production know why some inflated balloons float in the air.

With that said, I highly recommend you bring a little joy into your life by checking out Felix's turn at baby sitting. I am embedding a version of it that can be found on YouTube, below. However, the image is so degraded, washed out and blurry that you'll barely be able to follow what's going. This is the case for all the YouTube uploads I looked at... because they all seem to be taken from the same source.

A much better source for watching "Felix Minds the Kid" would be "Felix the Cat: Early Cartoon Classics" from Alpha Video. The version on this disc is in much better shape than the one you might find on YouTube, and it's one of ten Felix episodes contained on it. So far, each one that I've watched on the disc has been in better shape than any of the versions I could find on line, since they were digitized from the personal collection of film preservationist John Carpenter. I think this collection is more than a bargain at the asking price 

  

Roman Wives #3: Emmanuelle Seigner

 Emmanuelle Seigner was born in Paris in 1966, the daughter of a journalist and an internationally renowned photographer. She began modeling at the age of 14, landed her first film roles soon afterwards.

By the age of 20, Seigner was beginning to climb the ladder to international stardom, having appeared in a few French dramas and playing teenaged characters younger than her actual age.

In 1988, she was cast opposite Harrison Ford in the Roman Polanski-directed thriller "Frantic", and it was while working on this film that the two fell in love. Within a year, they were married--despite Polanski being 33 years her senior. (Once again, Polanski was robbing the cradle...)

While Seinger has maintained a thriving film career separate from her husband, the pair's relationship has been fruitful on both the romantic and professional front. Seinger starred in some of Polanski's most successful and/or acclaimed films--such as "Venus in Furs" (2013), "The Ninth Gate" (1999), "Bitter Moon" (1992), and the aforementioned "Frantic" (1988).

The couple have been together almost 33 years now--their wedding anniversary is on August 30--and they have two, now-grown, children together. By all accounts, they remain as in love with each other as they were when the first met. Seigner recently demonstrated her fierce loyalty to  her husband when she publicly condemned the Academy of Motion Picture Arts as hypocrites when they expelled Polanski as a member in 2018 while they band-wagonned with the "#MeToo" movement. (She also very publicly turned down their invitation to join the organization.)

Seigner and Polanski make their home in France, out of reach of U.S. law enforcement who still seek to imprison him because of his rape conviction. Seigner acknowledges that Polanski was found guilty of drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl, but she says that, to her, he has always been a wonderful husband and a great father to their children.

This post was part of the Shades of Gray Roman Polanski Month.

'Mammals' is Polanski's tribute to by-gone era

Mammals (1962)
Starring: Henryk Kluba, Michal Zolnierkiewicza, and Voytek Frykowski
Director: Roman Polanski
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

Two weirdos (Kluba and Zolnierkiewicza) take turns pulling each other on a sled across a frozen wasteland... until fatigue sets in and tempers start to flare.

"Mammals" was Roman Polanski's final short film before his career as a professional writer/director launched in earnest. Like all his shorts, it is a silent movie, as Polanski reportedly believed that dialogue would distract from important story points in a short film. Unlike the previous ones, this one is a straight-up homage to the comedy shorts of the 1910s and 1920s, with weird characters engaging in even weirder antics for inscrutable reasons.

There really isn't much of a plot here--the film is a string of loosely connected gags, some of which play amusingly with the white-out effect created by filming in black-and-white on a sunlit snowfield--but, like its main characters, the film is constantly in motion and there's not a dull second during its 10-minute running time. As a pastiche/homage to early film comedies, it's excellent... as a short film, I wish there had been a bit more of a through-line to tie the action together.

My desire for a little more story mixed in with the absurdity aside, "Mammals" is another clear demonstration of Polanski's raw talent for filmmaking, one which he would hone to unquestionable greatness as the decades progressed. (It's too bad he seems to be a terrible human being.)

Take a look at "Mammals" by clicking below. Feel free to let me and world know your take on it in the comments section.