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terryfrost at 12:27pm on 18/09/2005
terryfrost at 12:27pm on 18/09/2005Well Sal has gone over to her parents' place yesterday to house sit for a week, which leaves me flying solo until next Saturday. This means late weekend nights watching what I want to watch on DVD, cooking foods that she finds disgusting (octopus and tripe) and in general being a faux-bachelor slob.
Last night I watched two DVDs. Bubba-Ho-Tep starring Bruce Campbell as a geriatric Elvis fighting ancient Egyptian evil in a nursing home in East Texas is definitely one to rent or buy. It's based on a Joe R. Lansdale short story, and also stars the late Ossie Davis as an old black man who may or may not be JFK. It's among Campbell's best work. He brings a self-disgusted world-weariness to the role and his begrudging transformation into a hero is believable. These two codgers fighting an Egyptian soul-sucker are wonderfully endearing characters. There's a disk of extras on this release and they include audio of Lansdale reading the first chapter of the short story. Lovely stuff. Movies don't need big budgets to kick arse. They just need excellent source material and film-makers who want to be true to that source.
I also saw Sahara, the movie based on one of Clive Cussler's novels. Matthew McConnaghy isn't everyone's idea of Dirk Pitt, but he's backed up by Steve Zahm as Al Giordano and William H. Macey as Admiral Sandecker, the African locations are marvellous and without being too intelligent a flick, it's a good action movie full of Tuaregs, evil dictators, almost as evil industrialists and Delroy Lindo in a good cameo as a Company Man who owes Sandecker a favour. Penelope Cruz is there as the mandatory popsy but it's a role that's a little underwritten and needs an actress with a more distinctive persona than this ex-Tom Cruise beard brings to it.
Today, I sat back watching The Insiders on the ABC before noodling off to the gym in an attempt to be healthy and virtuous. This afternoon, I was going to mow the lawn but the weather's looking shitty, so I may watch Samuel Fuller's Pickup On South Street, to remind myself what good movies used to be.
Last night I watched two DVDs. Bubba-Ho-Tep starring Bruce Campbell as a geriatric Elvis fighting ancient Egyptian evil in a nursing home in East Texas is definitely one to rent or buy. It's based on a Joe R. Lansdale short story, and also stars the late Ossie Davis as an old black man who may or may not be JFK. It's among Campbell's best work. He brings a self-disgusted world-weariness to the role and his begrudging transformation into a hero is believable. These two codgers fighting an Egyptian soul-sucker are wonderfully endearing characters. There's a disk of extras on this release and they include audio of Lansdale reading the first chapter of the short story. Lovely stuff. Movies don't need big budgets to kick arse. They just need excellent source material and film-makers who want to be true to that source.
I also saw Sahara, the movie based on one of Clive Cussler's novels. Matthew McConnaghy isn't everyone's idea of Dirk Pitt, but he's backed up by Steve Zahm as Al Giordano and William H. Macey as Admiral Sandecker, the African locations are marvellous and without being too intelligent a flick, it's a good action movie full of Tuaregs, evil dictators, almost as evil industrialists and Delroy Lindo in a good cameo as a Company Man who owes Sandecker a favour. Penelope Cruz is there as the mandatory popsy but it's a role that's a little underwritten and needs an actress with a more distinctive persona than this ex-Tom Cruise beard brings to it.
Today, I sat back watching The Insiders on the ABC before noodling off to the gym in an attempt to be healthy and virtuous. This afternoon, I was going to mow the lawn but the weather's looking shitty, so I may watch Samuel Fuller's Pickup On South Street, to remind myself what good movies used to be.
relaxed
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