Following that word from our “sponsor” (i.e., WordPress.com), I bring you a quick notification that Tor.com has run the latest—and, for the moment, last—post in my Matheson series, devoted to his latter-day Twilight Zone efforts and the adaptations of his work into this century. One of the possibilities I’ve discussed with my editor there is an interview with Richard himself, which would presumably focus primarily on his upcoming novel Other Kingdoms, due out from Tor in March, but in order to do that, I have to get them to give me a look at the fershlugginer thing! At any rate, I’ll keep you posted as time goes by, and I’m sure to generate more Matheson material.
Sad to say, the Grim Reaper came out swinging in 2011, claiming in quick succession character actor Pete Postlethwaite, Forbidden Planet (1956) star Anne Francis, and a rat named Friend. I remember Postlethwaite best from Alien3 (1992), his Oscar-nominated In the Name of the Father (1993), and Romeo + Juliet (1996), but have yet to see The Usual Suspects (1994) or the current Inception. Although Forbidden Planet has never been a big favorite of mine, I greatly enjoyed interviewing Anne for the cover story of Filmfax #78 (April/May 2000) and discussing Bad Day at Black Rock (1954), The Blackboard Jungle (1955), The Twilight Zone and, natch, Honey West.
As for Friend, I never thought I’d shed tears over the death of a rat, let alone one that was foisted upon me against my will, yet when I learned that the poor little guy passed this morning, I was genuinely moved. Regular readers know that he and his rodent companion, Renfield, were due for euthanasia once they’d outlived their usefulness at Cornell’s psychology lab, only to be saved by my daughter and taken in by Madame BOF, who became very attached to them. I didn’t want us to have the responsibility of caring for the rats, especially since we’d just adopted our shelter cats, Mina and Lucy, but I certainly never wished them ill, or wanted either of the boys to suffer.
Well, it was a great run, man! (The Tor gig, not the dead folk.)
Thank you, kind sir. I had fun with the distillation of Matheson’s screen career, and may be doing further posts depending on Tor.com’s thoughts. Stay tuned.
I can’t BELIEVE you haven’t seen The Usual Suspects. Have we had this conversation before? No. That can’t be right. It must have been some other movie I could not BELIEVE you hadn’t seen. It just feels really familiar. Anyhoo. Great flick. Kevin Spacey. Wow. One of his most brilliant performances.
Yes, I have a few of those shocking holes in my viewing history. I even own a copy of it but simply haven’t found time to watch it yet. There just aren’t enough hours in the day!