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dreamsharkI had never seen either of the Terminator movies because they just didn't sound like the kind of thing I would like - ultraviolent action movies with lots of special effects, plus Arnold Schwarzenneger? Thanks, I'll pass. But Terminator seems to be a meme that just won't go away. So when I noticed the original Terminator on streaming Netflix, I decided to watch it. I liked it much more than I expected to. For one thing, it was more of a horror-thriller than an action movie. My problem with action movies isn't the violence per se, it's just that I am confused and bored by long action sequences. This was about the right pacing for me - *creep, creep, AHA! rush rush rush, take a breather and talk*. And the special effects were just about perfect, IMHO. Enough to add a sense of wonder without turning into a non-stop CGI fest. And Arnie? Absolutely terrifying. All by himself with no digital enhancement. Even scarier with the computerized eye. I liked Linda Hamilton, and I really liked that nice young actor that played the hero from the future. There were parts where it dragged a little, which gave me time to get myself a glass of wine. This improved the rest of the movie immensely, so no loss there. All in all, a succesful foray into free movieland. And now I know who Sara Connor is. (I'd had the impression that she was somehow connected with Dr. Who).
Last night I rewatched another iconic movie: Groundhog Day. This one didn't impress me all that much the first time round, but I enjoyed it more this time (possibly because I didn't have high expectations, and it had been long enough that I had forgotten all the details). I still don't think it's a great movie, really just a piece of amusing feel-good fluff, but the concept is one that sticks with you. Horrific as the premise actually is, I guess there's a part of me that would like the opportunity to keep working on one day until I got it absolutely right. In some ways, that's what mundane daily life is, after all. You keep going through the same routines day after day, hoping that you will have learned something along the way that will make this day better than the one before. Probably the best line in the movie is when Bill Murray is raving in the bar to a couple of drunks, "What would you do if you were stuck in one place and every day was exactly the same and nothing you did mattered?" and his new buddy responds morosely, "That about sums it up for me."
And then there's Cold Comfort Farm, a movie that isn't well known enough to be iconic but really should be. Even though I've seen it before it was just as funny the second time. Richard liked it too. A must-see for Jane Austen fans, although it's a couple of levels removed from Jane Austen. The book upon which the movie is based was actually a contemporary parody of the British "lady novelists" of the time (the time being 1932). But the novels in question were themselves an attempt to write in the Jane Austen tradition, or at least so one gathers. Anyway, brilliantly cast, nicely paced and non-stop witty. See it!
Last night I rewatched another iconic movie: Groundhog Day. This one didn't impress me all that much the first time round, but I enjoyed it more this time (possibly because I didn't have high expectations, and it had been long enough that I had forgotten all the details). I still don't think it's a great movie, really just a piece of amusing feel-good fluff, but the concept is one that sticks with you. Horrific as the premise actually is, I guess there's a part of me that would like the opportunity to keep working on one day until I got it absolutely right. In some ways, that's what mundane daily life is, after all. You keep going through the same routines day after day, hoping that you will have learned something along the way that will make this day better than the one before. Probably the best line in the movie is when Bill Murray is raving in the bar to a couple of drunks, "What would you do if you were stuck in one place and every day was exactly the same and nothing you did mattered?" and his new buddy responds morosely, "That about sums it up for me."
And then there's Cold Comfort Farm, a movie that isn't well known enough to be iconic but really should be. Even though I've seen it before it was just as funny the second time. Richard liked it too. A must-see for Jane Austen fans, although it's a couple of levels removed from Jane Austen. The book upon which the movie is based was actually a contemporary parody of the British "lady novelists" of the time (the time being 1932). But the novels in question were themselves an attempt to write in the Jane Austen tradition, or at least so one gathers. Anyway, brilliantly cast, nicely paced and non-stop witty. See it!
