Surfing through new viewing adventures...

Or, in other words, me catching up with films I've had recorded off TV on video for years and have only just got around to watching! It's always the way, too many movies, not enough time to watch them all...and inevitably you end up with a bunch unwatched (I've even got "The African Queen" on DVD which I bought years ago but still haven't watched, hell, a friend borrowed it and watched it years ago and I've still not sat down and checked it out).

Anyway, first up it was "The Thing From Another World", and for what it is (guy in a suit, loosely based on the source story), it's actually pretty good fun, took me back to my Uni days watching old black & white films...obviously, Carpenter's rendition is infinitely superior (and still utterly terrifying), but the old rendition was quite enjoyable...I don't know why it took me so long to get around to watching it, I had it polished off in no time (despite it not being the longest film anyway, sometimes it can take me a while to get through a film I've been putting off for a long time, but not in this case...I would have seen it straight through had I not had some filming to do elsewhere that day...)

Next up, and on the same videotape, "The Wild Bunch", another film I'd been leaving for ages unwatched. Well...I think I'm more a "The Good, The Bad & The Ugly" kinda guy personally, although when the action kicks off in TWB, I have to admit it's rather spiffing and I certainly do appreciate it's place within Westerns but also Western Cinema...mind you, I prefer "Straw Dogs" in terms of Peckinpah (a film I must re-watch sometime soon, much like "The Crazies", which I've been hankering for of late...and yes I know, that's a George Romero movie...but you know what I meant regardless).

Then - "Chopper" - I'd had this recorded for me whilst I was away at Uni, if memory serves, and FilmFour were doing one of their free weekends (back when they had cash and were a extra-fee-based service). Eric Bana - brilliant in this - a charming nutter brought to life. Not really sure whether there was much over all point to the film, or over all arc to the story, it almost felt like a collection of moments or sections of time in the title character's life (yes, I know he's real, but again, you know what I meant). Fortunately it was of mere running time, so it didn't out-stay it's welcome.

And finally - and currently - "Blue Velvet". I've often seen the same bit on Sky (with Kyle Mc-thingymy in the cupboard watching Hopper go nuts), and once again, never really got around to sitting down to watch it. So far I'm 30 minutes in, interesting...but I'll have to finish it off before I'd even attempt to comment, not that I predict I'll really understand most of what is going on - take "Eraserhead" for example. I famously took a good 2 or 3 months to actually finish the film, watching it for no longer than 10 minutes at a time because it wigged me out so much, it was just too much weirdness and freakiness and that damn bird-person-baby-thing wailing just sent me off every time...a wailing baby just creeps me out man *picks nose* ... (if you didn't get that vague reference, pfft, whatever mate, yeah? lol...)

So yes...I must try and crack on with "The African Queen" as well, and get that return-viewing of "The Crazies" done and dusted as well...

Such a hard life isn't it? YARGH!!!