Days 167 - 170

The weird thing about this cold is that it’s left feeling not panicy-attacky, which is very odd! It’s almost like I’m back to my old self, except for the runny noses, headache and run downish of the cold. Which means I’ve felt more comfortable about leaving the house, but too ill to leave the house (except for Wednesday, can’t let a cold get in the way of New Comic Book Day!!!)!

I also picked up some cheap DVDs and got some CDs:

 

Aside from that trip out, I’ve mostly been watching TV or DVDs.

I watched Nick Love’s The Sweeney movie, more of Castle, Urban Legend and the 1945, 1965 and 1974 film versions of Agatha Christine’s Ten Little Indians (And Then There Were None, Ten Little Indians and And Then There Were None respectively) and listened to Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s N****, Please album.

The Sweeney is an updating of the seventies cop show (and associated films) starring Ray Winstone as Regan and Plan B as Carter, Regan’s deputy. Nick Love plays to his strengths, and there’s plenty of action (which is just OTT enough), office intrigue and geezery dialogue to keep the film moving, while it’s not a great film, it is an entertaining film. It also doesn’t try too hard to shoe horn in references to the TV show, but is happy to fit them in when it’s appropriate (e.g. it doesn’t feel like scenes are just there to allow the old line to be used, like the ‘put your pants on, you’re nicked line’). 

Castle as mentioned before Castle is a fun crime show that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Like in The Way Of The Ninja (Season 6, episode 18) when Ryan is forced to sing karaoke (The Replacement’s What I Like About You) and when he gets pulled off stage by a bouncer mutters ‘Was it that bad?’ or Time Will Tell (Season 6, episode 5), which kinda implies/shows that time travel exists in the Castle universe or The Blue Butterfly (Season 3, episode 14) which is partly set in the film noir 40’s.

Urban Legend is a cool little slasher flick, with plenty of inventive deaths and a half decent cast who can act. The film is set in an American university where students are being killed in the manner of urban legends. There were plenty of this type of slasher film made after Scream came out (knowing and aware of the rules of slasher/horror films) and Urban Legend is one of the decent ones. It has enough twists to keep you guessing, funny moments to compliment the horror and plenty of deaths. If you haven’t seen it (and are a fan of slasher films) I would recommend watching it.

And Then There Were None (1945), Then Ten Little Indians (1965) and And Then There Were None (1974) are all based on Agatha Christine’s Ten Little Indians novel and play (with the play Christine changed the novels very dark ending to one that is more positive/upbeat), where ten people are invited to a desolate location that is cut off from everything (an island, a chateau onto a mountain and an out of season hotel in the desert respectively and are killed one by one). 

Ten Little Indians was the first of these films I saw (and is my favourite version), on Channel 4 during the holidays, and it was really cool and interesting film. You can defo see the swinging sixties reflected in the characters and how they interact, the young characters have a self-confidence and don’t play second fiddle to the older, more establishment characters (such as the Judge and Doctor). While the older characters seem to have an air of things are changing and not necessary for their betterment. As this version was made in the sixties there is very little gore, but the deaths are inventive (death by cable car, death by climbing ropes being cut, death by bear statue) and more care has been given to make the characters as rounded and full as possible, so that when they do die it has some weight to it.

This version also had a "whodunit break", a 60-second recap of the key events of the movie so far, that plays when just two characters are left and the audience is given a chance to solve the mystery and decide who is the murderer. Unfortunately, the "whodunit break" is only included as an extra on the DVD and isn’t included in the film itself.

My favourite character is Mike Raven (from Mike Raven and The Blackbirds) the popstar, played by Fabian, a real life popstar, who is full of youthful energy and cockiness and has some great lines – “That's it. Strictly nurseryville. Then what happened?”, “I’m all for kicks” and “My public - bless them!”, it’s just a pity that he’s the first to be murdered.

The 1945 version is defo of its time. There is no gore and the class system is very much in place, at one point the group accuse Rogers, the butler, of murdering his wife, but he defends himself by saying that it isn’t possible for a husband to murder his wife, but the Judge disputes and in turn Rogers says (words to the effect) I guess sometime they do drive you potty and you want to kill them! Also, the acting style is a little odd, with plenty of loos and winks to the camera, and seems a little stilted compared to modern cinema. But, it is an enjoyable film to watch.

The 1974 version has a stellar cast (Charles Aznavour, Gert Fröbe, Herbert Lom, Oliver Reed, Richard Attenborough and Orson Welles (doing a voiceover)), but there is something lacking in the script (or execution) and it doesn’t quite gel/click. You don’t get to feel that these are real people, so when they are murdered you don’t feel it and the film doesn’t build much suspense. In some places, it doesn’t even make sense. One of the characters tries to flee across the desert, but doesn’t check that this water container is full before he leaves and while setting the film in an empty hotel means that the set looks very fancy, it stretches credibility that in a few hours eight people could search it for the murderer.

While all three films are worth watching I would suggest that you see them in this order 1965, 1945 and 1974. 

I also listened to ODB’s N****, Please album and I wasn’t impressed with it. Got Your Money is a great song, but none of the other songs match it and they are left in its shade.