I’ll admit it: I love to knit by movie light. There are the usual suspects, of course, such as ::swoon:: Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice, etc., but my real faves are not quite as conventional. I love horror and sci-fi. Horror sci-fi a la the Alien Quadrilogy) really does it for me. I have been known to watch all four of the Alien movies in a row — and have done it more than once!
In that vein, I want to honor the career of a man who is both famous (for a filmography of biblical proportions) and infamous (for his vocal opposition to gun control): Charlton Heston. I know Chuck is most famous for his epic roles in the biblical genre — Ben Hur and The Ten Commandments.
As Moses
But I prefer the Charlton Heston who had to resort to B-Movie rubbish as his film career faded.
In Soylent Green
Some of my favorite knit-time movies are Soylent Green and The Omega Man. (I love but do not own the first Planet of the Apes.) I could watch these classics for hours and have! Soylent Green is a cautionary tale that unfortunately seems more true-to-life with each passing day — environmental catastrophe, lack of food and resources, mercy killing because of unavailable health care.
The Omega Man has seen new life with the third remake of the short story classic, I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. Yes, Will Smith is the third to play the role of Robert Neville. Vincent Price was the first, in The Last Man on Earth, then big Chuck in The Omega Man. I have to cast my vote with Vincent’s incarnation of the role: by far the best of the three, but I am incredibly partial to Vincent! I own this trilogy too of course!
My other trifecta favorites: The Wax Museum/House of Wax trio (1933 with Faye Wray, 1953 with Vinnie Price, and even the Paris Hilton version), the Terminator series (luv Ahnold), the Jurassic Park trilogy, and last, but not least, King Kong x 3.
So now you know I have a male gene in there somewhere. Not a chick flick in sight! Except, of course, ::swoon:: Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice (one more plug for Colin ;)).
I want to thank all of the above for countless hours of knitting companionship with questionable entertainment value. Keep that drivel coming, folks!
Finally, a humorous and slightly irreverent tribute to Chuck (please note that this clip contains one expletive):
Now I think I better go watch Soylent Green one more time!
From Sally: I don’t really share Susan’s love of horror and sci fi, although I can take it in small doses. (My exception is Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, featuring the classic line “But ya are, Blanche.”) I do have a particular fondness for Charlton Heston for some reason, though. Back in the early sixties, he was a champion of civil rights and marched with Martin Luther King. He even supported gun control early on. My favorite movies of his (besides Ben Hur) are the two Musketeer movies, in which he played Cardinal Richelieu. He was wonderful. I also met him briefly back in the early eighties when I worked for The American Film Institute. He had a commanding presence off-screen as well as on.
PS from Susan: DH warned that this post may drive off our loyal readers!
PS2 to Marina: I have watched Bridget Jones’s Diary so many times I know the entire thing by heart (and fans of BJD have probably recognized misused quotes in my posts over the years ;)). I’m a fan because Mr. Darcy is played by THE Mr. Darcy, and the whole thing is a huge trubute to — you guessed it — ::swoon:: Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice.
 A tough decision, but I decided on the teal (color 927). So it is marinating in my stash, waiting for the perfect match. I love Cascade yarns!
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