I didn't recognize you without the handcuffs

It's not too often you'll see me jump up and down with glee, like a schoolgirl with her drawers full of ball bearings, over an upcoming movie, but I'm doin' the ball-bearing dance even as I type. There are actually two flicks that have my attention, one with a definite release date, one in a distribution limbo that leaves my mouth dry and my limbs twitchy.

The cinematic experience with a mark on my calendar is the much-anticipated movie version of the musical RENT. If you don't know the music, do yourself a favor and visit the movie site, where they have a good sampling from the soundtrack available. It rocks. I would not lie to you about things that rock. It comes out November 23, and I am all over it Thanksgiving weekend.

I've always had a thing for musicals (I was obsessed with Man of La Mancha and Fiddler on the Roof when I was in grade school...shut up!), but RENT is the first musical I've seen as an adult that has had such an impact on me, emotionally and artistically. I've seen the show live three times, and I've listened to the Broadway soundtrack enough times to convince the neighbors that I'm really a percussionist drag queen. Come on, how could I not love it? It's got a guitar player, a computer geek/philosopher, an S&M stripper, bickering lesbians, the cutest li'l transvestite east of Saugatuck...what's not to dig?

They managed to get all of the original principles from the Broadway show, except for Mimi (Rosaria Dawson replaced Daphne Rubin-Vega, who was pregnant at the time the film was shot) and Joanne (Tracey Thoms replaced...um, what was her name? Okay, the CD says Fredi Walker...does anyone care?). A quick look across the hall into Arjay's office, though, reveals that I am not the only one around here who's excited about this cinematic premiere:



RENT desktop wallpaper! Dual screens! Geek-o-rama!

Another movie that makes me pee bullets in anticipation is one that does not currently have a distributor lined up, and that is the long-awaited-and-creamed-over Strangers With Candy movie. It was a huge success when it had its premiere at Cannes, but so far, there hasn't been a domestic distributor with the balls to release it (I've heard that many cuts were required to drop this to an R rating). I hope it at least comes out on DVD, because as wrong as the TV show was, I'm sure the movie will make me cringe and dry heave in delight. For anyone unlucky enough to've missed the SWC phenomenon, I'll try to nutshell that puppy for you: SWC was a short-lived series on Comedy Central that was billed as an After-Hours After-School Special. Its heroine was Jerri Blank, a 50-something high-school dropout who's been a junkie, a hooker, and a convict, and now she wants to pick up where she left off in high school. Think extremely sick and wrong, then multiply it by 250, and you're probably still not even close to the depths to which this show would sink for my laughter. Anyone who thinks Amy Sedaris is not a comedic genius, well, I've got a grabby little pucker for your tongue.

Best exchange, ever, from the show:

Tammi Littlenut: "You're crazy."
Jerri Blank: "Pee on me!"

I found some Jerri Blank wallpaper at one of the SWC tribute sites, and could not resist puttin' it on my desktop. But then I right clicked on the window that popped up when I chose "Warhol Jerri."



Look at the message on the javascript popup window, and then try to tell me you still don't understand why I love all that is Jerri Blank and Strangers With Candy:


This speaks to me.

I've got my buttered popcorn, my trenchcoat, and a laminated banana. Who's comin' with me?