For anyone interested, the Quay brothers, twin American expats who create absolutely wonderful shorts and films, are making a fairly rare personal appearance at Philadelphia’s International House on November 1st.
Yep, that’s them. I’d missed their latest feature, ‘The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes’, at three other venues in New York and New Jersey, but couldn’t for the life of me figure out why Philly’s where they decided to show up and say hi. The bio explained it: they were born there. Not unlike my Garden State, the city of Philadelphia extracts a strange loyalty from its inhabitants that lingers far beyond their actual stay. It cannot be explained in logical terms, nor does it waver in the face of mockery, of which there is so very much. Interestingly, Jersey and Philly rag on each other the hardest, much like the two weakest kids on the playground fight each other in a pitiful attempt to maintain the illusion they’re not the bottom rung.
I’d just gone to the International House, which hosts a number of film and other events, for an 80′s slasher triple feature hosted by Exhumed Films. The star of the evening was ‘Sleepaway Camp’- if you haven’t already seen it, get a bunch of your buddies together and enjoy. It’s a toss-up whether it was filmed in North Jersey or Long Island; all the guys are total guidos and pronounce the main character’s name ‘Ange-luh’, and the girls are taloned, big-haired megabitches. Apparently Wardrobe couldn’t afford full shorts or shirts for anyone, though for modesty’s sake there’s the occasional headband.
The acting’s hilariously over-the-top, especially a ‘doctor’ that seems like he wandered into the scene and they just went with it. Fifty percent of the movie is Angela staring:
I’ve already bought my ticket to the Nov. 1st screening and Q&A, and recommend those who care to go do so sooner rather than later, as the event will likely sell out.
