Day 145

Still felt unwell and unsettled (little bursts of feeling ok, but longer periods of feeling unwell), so I didn’t get up to much and all I really managed to do today was watch films (mostly via Netflixs):

• Vengeance: A Love Story – is a good Nic Cage cop flick, where he takes vengeance on a group of rapists. For the first twenty or so minutes I did have a worry that this could turn into a film where the rape is just an excuse to enable the ‘hero’ to go on his vengeance rampage and the woman is forgotten after the rape (which Hollywood has done plenty of times), but I think this film does a good job of showing the aftermath of the rape, how it affects the woman and her daughter and probably spends too little time on Nic Cage’s character and why he decides to take vengeance (i.e. is this the first time he has gone outside the law or has he done this before?).  

• Scarecrows – is an average eighties horror flick (where bank robbers hold up in a farm house and get attacked by sentient scarecrows or spirits inhabiting scarecrows) and looks and sounds very much like an eighties horror flick (you could probably re-release it as a parody of eighties horror flicks). I didn’t care about any of the characters, I didn’t believe that they were bank robbers/could rob a bank and it wasn’t very scary. It’d probably be best to watch this film in a group (with a few drinks), to get the most out of it, rather than on your own.

• Gone Baby Gone – is really good, noirish film and I’m slightly annoyed that I hadn’t watched this sooner. The basic story is about a girl that goes missing and the hunt to find her, but there’s some really good, well-rounded characters (and good acting, writing and directing) doing what they think is best. And it’s got a really downbeat ending (which comes after what you think is a happy ending). Highly recommended.

• I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead  – is an ok brit-crime flick and is similar to Get Cater, with Clive Owen returning to London after the death of his brother. There are loads of good actors in this film (Clive Owen, Charlotte Rampling, Malcolm McDowell and Ken Stott), but the film itself is average and doesn’t really develop itself beyond the Get Garter similarities.

• Tequila Sunrise – a great detective/criminal cat and mouse film, where you’re never entirely sure what the characters are thinking and why they are doing what they do. It’s well written, acted and directed and I don’t want to say more, as I don’t want to spoil any of the film for you. Highly recommended.

I also read some Rick and Morty comics, which were pretty good, almost as good as the show itself.