A plus this past week as I'm nursing myself back to health is spending quality time with Turner Classic Movies. So I had the opportunity to see some movies again.
Re-watched “Roman Holiday” and I know I've seen it at least twice before. The Mouth of Truth scene is still as delightful. But it turned out I had forgotten how the whole movie ends! It's a fitting ending, anyhow. Rome's tourist sights still look the same now as in the movie. New sights to visit the next time in Rome: Palazzo Colonna, Castel St. Angelo, and of course, the Bocca della Verità .
“From Russia with Love” appeared fresher, wittier, and more enjoyable than the recent entries in the franchise (except “Casino Royale”). It's the second James Bond movie and more iconic than the first. Austin Powers spoofed practically every bit of this movie. The blatant sexism feels archaic. Bond sleeps with a lot of women here (at least four, I think, including a threesome). Bond beauties here are either simply pretty and easily fall for Bond or unattractive and villainous. Lotte Lenya as Rosa Klebb falls on the latter category. Her Sapphic caressing of Daniela Bianchi just adds another threat to Bond's masculinity. I can't believe that this is Kurt Weill's Lotte Lenya – the same one from Kander and Ebb's “Cabaret” singing about a pineapple.
Both delivered in escapism, allowing me to travel to Rome, Istanbul, and Venice - at least in my mind.
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