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Yes, it’s been another lengthy vacation from here. I’ll be back in the movie saddle soon, I suppose. But what’s been going on these last few weeks? Be prepared… I do have a couple on things to throw down.
Two weeks ago I had another good hike. A nice forest park romp through the woods. I was afraid that there might be some souls on it, for that is how the parts of forest park that I know are, but I think the Monday morning time-slot and the fact that the spot we went to was about 10 miles past the part of the park I’m used to, led to us not seeing a soul on our little nature walk. Very nice, but sadly, our batteries died after the first picture, so there is little evidence.
Then last week, we went to Sauvie Island and had, to that point, my favorite hike yet of the series… maybe 8 or so miles, light wooded area, beach walking, a little lighthouse at the end, and perfect “60 degrees with occasional sprinkle weather”. Very nice. All was lush and green and meadows and the big river. And, yet again, not a soul on the path. In fact, aside from a couple of guys fishing in a boat, it seems the that whole end of the island was empty. All very nice, though the little side trek to catch a glimpse of the lovely town of St Helen’s is not worth the time, though we did find two strangely out of place concrete platforms… Mysterious…
This Monday was another really nice one. We brought along Brian and went out gorgeside for a trip up at Waukeena Falls and over and down Multnomah. Well, that was nice. Lots of trees, waterfalls and all that stuff, very few other folks. Sadly, once we got around the top of Multnomah, the little crowds came out and, worst of all, our route became paved! A sad, sad thing. The concrete o’er the earth is bad enough, but it also brings such pain to the feets that tromping along rocks and dirt just doesn’t have.
We Watched Persuasion. A while ago I tried watching the one in the Jane Austen Box Set. Sadly, not good. This version, on HBO, was much superior. Instead of a cheap movie of people in costumes blandly walking around this one actually gave an feeling of what it might have been like to actually live in those times. A seemingly low budget was put to a very good use. The production design was genuine, the acting was good, the actors worked well. It was quite good all-around!
I also watched North by Northwest. For the first time… Yes, I had never seen this old classic before. Another, of course, in my series of watching all of these Cary Grant movies, he didn’t really bother me in this one, though. It was quite a good film! Fun, nicely shot, non-stop…. James Mason was great, of course. The twists were nice. Well, what else to say, classic Hitchcock. Great James Mason, great sets… Really great sets. And a fun story!
I finally watched The Call of Cthulhu. Soo many HPL stories have been movieized in one sense or another, it is a relief and a thrill to see one soo pure to his stories. The standard movie style (sound… color… girls…) seems to thoroughly dispel that literary aura that is the core of his writings, so a lovingly literal black and white silent film in the old style is a joy to behold. A must see for fans. But, sadly, the disc seems to be missing, so no shots of it… For now…
I also had never seen Casablanca, “The greatest film of all time or something”. I thought it was pretty good, not going to end up in my top 100 though. Of course, maybe great for it’s time, but for an older thriller, I’ll take a Melville film anytime. But it is quite classic, the casting is great: Veidt is great, Lorre is great, Dooley Wilson is great! Pondering the French Colonies after the fall of france, which i never thought much about, was interesting. And it was, yes, a good story with twists and turns and backstabbing. All that good stuff. You know? It was kind of like Star Wars.
After much wanting to for many months, we also watched Goodbye Lenin. I liked this one. Yes, I thought the premise was a bit weak. I understood, sort of, his original idea, but I thought that after a little time, it would have to become obvious to him how much he was overreacting, but that aside it was a fun and interesting movie. Touching at times and funny.
Hard Candy. I had been looking forward to this’n since viewing the preview some time back. I did like quite like it, it’s pretty non-stop and can be fairly unsettling. Plot-wise it was reminiscent of Death and The Maiden. My only issues with it were the obvious DV filming and the annoying “fast editing” sequences that, I guess, are supposed to be artsie or whatever, but they just seem rather unneeded. The movie was interesting enough and the roles were quite well played, no fancy tricks are needed. Fun, nonstop, in your face and exciting!
A Clockwork Orange! Yes yes… Again and again. About the only thing better than this movie is the trailer for it included on this disk, wonderful! Fun! Brian hadn’t seen it yet so we sat down to it for some viewing. I noticed some things I hadn’t before, “home” (the second time around) has the old ludwig van’s 5th as a doorbell and the “new wife” was played by none of than David Prowse! Kind of a surprise, though I don’t know why. But back to the expected… Lot’s of the Ultra-violence, with about the most rollicking first 10 minutes a film has ever had. It always reminds me that I should read the book. Another funny one that I remember in Ma’s room when i was but a lil’ un. Anyway, I know it’s unfair to rate Kubrick movies, but this has to be one of the big three of them. If you haven’t seen it, see it! But be prepared. Also, personally I feel a bit odd viewing it in a public setting, as I did at the Mission Theater a couple of years back. There’s just a bit too much goodness to share with a room full of strangers.
