THANKS FOR THE MAMMARIES. Russell Albion Meyer, filmaker, originally of Oakland, California, has passed away from pneumonia at the age of 82. As you'd expect, The Times has a tasteful and appreciative obit.
Better though, Roger Ebert has also published an enjoyable rememberance that offers excellent detail about Meyer's professional career, some real emotional context and human insight into the man, as well as testimony to his continuning influence on popular culture and some account of Meyer's aesthetic sense. Ebert notes, for example, that Meyer "once told me there was no such thing as a sex scene that couldn’t be improved by cutaways to Demolition Derby or rocket launches." Doubtless those are words to live by, though I've never personally dated anyone who appreciated me leaving the TV on or futzing with the remote control during critical moments of intimacy.
As I am ill-equipped to add meaningfully to the rememberances of Mr. Meyer I offer my humble thanks to him for leading the charge to reclaim titillating social satire from accusations of simple depravity, and in tribute, share that a dean emeritus of the political science department at a certain Massachussets college allegedly referred to him as "The Fellini of Porn". Rest in peace.
Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls are (I hope and trust) available at better video stores nationwide.
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