white christmas

I love the film White Christmas and Bing Crosby still has the definitive version of the song, but The Drifters' rendition is my favorite.

when bowie met der bingle

Another of my favorite holiday songs is "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy," by David Bowie and Bing Crosby. I remember watching this Christmas special, "Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas," on TV when it first aired in 1977. I can still see myself, sitting with my dad in the living room, our worlds colliding, as this odd couple sang this duet. It's sad and strange that the holiday season is the only time we get to hear these two guys on the radio these days ...

favorite xmas songs

It's that time of year again, with holiday lights and music piped in everywhere you go. It can be really annoying, but, I have to admit, that they are are more than a few holiday songs that I look forward to hearing every year. I'll be posting them on my blog all month, up until Xmas. To start things off, here is one of my favorites, a bluesy take on the holiday by The Eagles. Anyone else hear echoes of another favorite song of mine, The Bee Gees rendition of "Oh, Darling" by the Beatles?

fright nights

Last month I indulged my love of scary movies and held my own, informal spook-a-thon. I am more a fan of atmosphere and dread than blood and gore, which is why the majority of films are more ghostly than violent in nature. Here's a rundown of my top picks:

Crimson Peak. (Creepy and gorgeous).

The Last Man on Earth. I wanted to see if I'd like this Vincent Price classic, based on the Richard Matheson novel I Am Legend (which also gave birth to The Omega Man and Will Smith's I Am Legend). I did. Black and white and eerie zombie/vampires are as creepy as ever.

The Conjuring, The Enfield Haunting, and The Quiet Ones. Haunted houses and possessed kids. All movies had great casts and were OK, if you're in the mood for a haunting. But I had more fun finally reading The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson. What a great, unsettling read.

The House at the End of the Street. Jennifer Lawrence is the reason to watch this teen-Psycho movie. It's too predictable to really be fun or scary, I'm afraid.

Scarlet Johanssenn's tour-de-force in Under the Skin. What a wonderfully icky movie. Almost a silent picture, with some times lush, sometimes gritty visuals. And a perfectly haunting soundtrack. A definite successor to The Man Who Fell to Earth, I can't recommend this spooky sci-fi/monster mash highly enough. It's hypnotic, sometimes hard to see and always hard to understand. I loved it.

"Need a lift?"

Scarlet Johansson, on the beach, in one of the most chilling scenes in Under the Skin.