[Bleep] City

I was reading an article in an August 1969 issue of the Arts & Leisure section of the New York Times and stumbled across this absolutely real, absolutely crazy ad for an upscale housing development ($29,000 for a house with luxuries like pools, year-round ski slopes, and golf courses!) outside of the city. (Click to embiggen.)

I don't know how to read this other than "Come live here and have sex with your neighbors. It's cool. We're all doing it."

"Easier to love your neighbor"? "There will be clusters for young swingers"? "There were be clusters for not-so-young swingers"?

Yeah, they are totally doing it.

The first thing that came to mind as I read this was this dialogue from season 2, episode 8 of Arrested Development:

G.O.B.: That’s right, Michael. Guess who just got fired? 

Narrator: G.O.B. was recently hired by the Bluth Company’s rival, Sitwell Enterprises. And although he started off well...

G.O.B.: 52% of the country is single. That’s a market that’s been dominated by apartment rentals. Let’s take some of that market. I call it “Single City.” It’s, like, “Hey, you want to go down to the whirlpool?” “Yeah, I don’t have a husband.” I call it “Swing City.”

Stan Sitwell: Let’s get into some new areas, if you don’t mind. 

Narrator: But G.O.B. continued to fine-tune his first one. 

G.O.B.: How do we filter out the teases? We don’t let them in. This goes for the guys, too. Because sometimes the guys are tapped out. But check your lease, man. Because you’re living in [bleep] City. 

Stan Sitwell: You’re fired.

Narrator: ... his ideas failed to evolve.

Oh, G.O.B. You were decades too late!

As Clueless as ever

I'm appearing in five episodes of the As If podcast--a minute-by-minute look at Clueless, Amy Heckerling's 1995 updated, comedic take on Jane Austen's Emma. (In addition to that link, by the way, the show is also available via iTunes.) I'll be a guest for episodes devoted to minutes 53 through 57, and the first of our episodes went up today--the others go up Tuesday through Friday. If you're wondering if Clueless holds up: Yes, it does, and we had a lot of fun talking about it. Host for the episode is Dan Costa (who has his own podcast, Blockbuster Dropouts) and fellow guest is Wendy Mays (who hosts the Pet Cinematary podcast). (I take it that I'm now the only person on Earth without his own podcast.) So tune in for fun and prizes! (Note: The prize is free entertainment!)

You can start at the beginning, if you like--start listening now so you're all caught up!

At the end of the first episode, I was asked if I had anything to plug, so here goes--

Daily Grindhouse posted a piece I wrote about George Pal's 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, a classic fantasy from 1964, and a favorite of mine since I was a kid.

And Cashiers du Cinemart published my mystified take on the cult oddity After Last Season, which includes interviews I conducted with three of the actors. If you've never heard of the movie--well, I can't blame you, but here is the trailer, which is mesmerizing. The movie, not so much. You are under no obligation to watch the movie, but, seriously, watch the trailer. It may change your life. (Note: There are printers in the basement you can use.)

Another piece I wrote for CdC is this look at Michael Powell's They're a Weird Mob. Powell is one of my favorite directors, probably best known for The Red Shoes, Black Narcissus, and A Matter of Life and Death. This is one of his lesser movies, but his classics are just so widely analyzed it didn't make sense to write about them yet again. As far as I can tell, I may be the only person who has ever written about this movie. Sure, there's a reason for that, but still.

And, finally, my Twitter account is here, and my Letterboxd profile is here.

That's all, folks!