1. It's hard to say I enjoyed watching the 1964 British crime movie and psychological study, Seance on a Wet Afternoon, because it's hard to enjoy watching any character in any movie descend deeper into psychosis and to observe the impact this psychosis has on marriage. But, as difficult as it was to watch, I thought this was an exquisite movie, superbly written, perfectly cast, and masterfully directed. Kim Stanley didn't appear in many movies over her career, but she took on the role of the troubled medium, Myra Savage, in this movie and she gives an unnerving performance, mining the multiple veins of Myra Savage's deeply troubled mind, taking us deep into her delusions. Myra's husband, Billy, played perfectly by Richard Attenborough, lives under Myra's dominance and offers no effective resistance when Myra hatches a plan to kidnap the grade school daughter of a wealthy industrialist. Myra's plan is to gain notoriety for her parapsychological gifts by leading the police to the girl.
I won't give away how this plan turns out.
And I hope I'm not giving away any details about the plot when I say that this movie reminded me in many ways of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. In the same way that Albee's play simultaneously examines Martha's deep insecurities and her illusions, as well as her domineering humiliations of her husband, George, this movie also covers very similar territory.
2. I needed to get out of the house and take a walk after watching Seance on a Wet Afternoon. I gathered up mail I had to send out, drove uptown and parked near The Lounge, and walked to the Post Office and then south on Division to Market Street, turned right, and then north on Main and then west on McKinley and returned to the Camry. My mind was clearing enough that I went to Yoke's and picked up a few things and imagined just what I'd like to fix myself for dinner.
3. I melted butter in a pan and added two cloves of garlic, minced, and the juice of an entire lemon. I boiled spaghetti, drained it, put the butter/garlic/lemon in the bottom of a bowl and put the spaghetti on top of it. I tossed the pasta and topped it with fresh basil and freshly grated hard cheese.
I loved the lemon forward taste of the garlic butter and the basil complimented the other flavors perfectly.
It was a simple and very satisfying evening meal.
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