First, a quick health update. My cold is passing, in its 6th day. Deb's is at its peak, in its 4th day. Deb's bruised lung is beginning its 7th day of healing, and seems to be getting better day by day. She has more sitting options now, and less sudden pain when she moves. She has learned about a technique to reduce the magnitude of a sneeze, and that seems to be working well. The coughing can't be helped too much, as she has to get stuff out of her lungs or risk pneumonia. It's been a lot of fun for both of us going from tip top condition to get up some big mountains, to becoming like a pair of sick marshmallows sitting around and watching movies. Of course we are also watching three great lecture series' on The Great Courses channel.
We were both at a pretty low point when we returned home last Friday afternoon. My first movie choice was The Trojan Horse, from 1961 and starring Steve Reeves. An Italian picture, we were expecting the usual sand and sandal muscle man epic. There was some of that, but this was a big budget picture that sticks pretty true to Homer. It actually was pretty good! I hadn't wanted anything with depth or requiring much thinking, and Deb could not afford the luxury of a comedy, as laughter would have caused her more pain. But we both ended up enjoying this widescreen and very colourful spectacle. Reeves plays heroic Aeneas, saddled with Paris for a military leader, while John Drew Barrymore plays the cunning Odysseus.
My leaving choice (Criterion) was a fantastic SF film we are certain we have never seen before. But who can tell--our memories may have been scrambled, like in the movie. Dark City (1998) all takes place at night, except at the very end. A man awakens at a murder scene, and he appears to have been the killer. He remembers nothing, and tries to figure out his past. He quickly learns that the city where he lives is one of the strangest places in the universe. He seems to have a special power, and eventually learns that an experiment on his memories went awry when he woke up during the event. He managed to escape, and evil aliens are now in search of him. To their peril. This is an amazingly good film, worth a second look, too. Even Jennifer Connelly is tolerable in her role as his wife. Kiefer Sutherland plays a somewhat mad professor by the name of Daniel Paul Schreber (look up the real name). William Hurt and Ian Richardson also star. The aliens are a bit too evil, as they experiment and try to find out what makes humans tick. Mad scientists, without a shred of humanity. They toy with memories in an effort to find out what is inside of us. Definitely worth catching, especially on a very dark day or night.
Deb chose two Noir films, now that Dark City had set us in the mood. We watched the Corinth version of Mr. Arkadin, a 1955 weirdo film by none other than Orson Welles. There are at least four different versions of this film now, with the Spanish version even featuring different actresses from the English ones. That includes the Criterion restored edition, helped on by Peter Bogdanovich and other directors and film historians. We hope to see that one in a month or so, so stay tuned. Welles plays one of the richest and most powerful men in the world, who has a past to hide from his daughter. He hires an American to try and find out what he had done before 1927, telling him that he has amnesia. Of course he hopes that the investigator won't find out anything, but he does. The people who the investigator spoke with and gave information are soon showing up dead. Certainly one of the strangest films we have ever seen, and along with Dark City we were now on a very impressive roll! Welles looks like a satyr, and appears to have a very unhealthy interest in his daughter. Filled with bizarre scenes and characters. Not to be missed.
Next came one of the great classics of American Noir film, The Big Heat, from 1953. Glenn Ford plays a police sergeant who steps over the line when he tries to finger the biggest mobster in town. When his wife is blown up with a car bomb (instead of him), he turns in his badge (not his gun) and goes hunting. That car blow up scene is still one of the most shocking moments in American cinema. Gloria Grahame gets boiling coffee thrown in her face, and returns the favour to bully boy Lee Marvin later in the film. Shock after shock, even after seeing the film perhaps 8-10 times. Ford is perfect in his role as cop, father, husband, and avenger.
Mapman Mike
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