Monday, May 29, 2006

Remember lingerie, Max?

“If it's all the same to you, I'll drive that tanker.
The offer is closed. Too late for deals.
No deals. I want to drive the truck.
Why? Why the big change of heart?
Believe me, I haven't got a choice.”

Watched The Road Warrior on t.v. this weekend. My favourite movie. The only movie I’ve seen so often I realized I can still recite it all along with the characters and this after not having seen it for several years. I know every shot, every flying body, every collision, every funky vehicle, every wild hairstyle, every growl, sneer and grimace by heart.

I saw The Road Warrior at least 12 times at repertory theatres in the 1980s. And that is why I dislike VCRs and DVDs. Because there’s no reason to go back to the cinema 12 times to see a movie you really like. You buy the DVD and watch it at your leisure. Without any ceremony, any tradition, any sense of it being an event. This is a loss. You don’t pick up a rep schedule and say: “Yay, look what’s playing this month”. At least not in Montreal anymore.

Another example: When Branagh’s Henry V came out, I saw it twice in the same week. As soon as it was over, I knew I needed to see it again. So I went back three days later. And then I saw it again about a month after that. I’ve come across it a few times on t.v. since then and I have to stop what I’m doing and watch it to the end. Have to watch it right up until the battle is over and they collect the dead and sing the Non Nobis and Te Deum.

The last movie I saw that I knew I wanted to see again was Brokeback. But I didn’t see it again at the theatre because I knew that the DVD would be out in 6 months or so and that I would buy it. It’s good on DVD but that scenery, the big sky, those mountains, the hillsides full of sheep, they demand a big screen, but I know I won’t see it again on a big screen. Because I don’t have to. And that is a drag.

14 comments:

cityofmushrooms said...

My 80's rep 2 cents worth:
I remember MAD MAX in the upstairs theatre of cinema V. Just me and a bunch of 19 and 20 year-old guys, hooping it up.
I agree that movies on TV lack the big sound, big screen, and sense of ceremony

cityofmushrooms said...

on watching twice:
the first time I saw reservoir dogs was on video when it ended, I rewound it and watched it again, straight thru
if nothing else except for the "like a virgin" and "I don't tip" sequences

Nanuk of the North, older but no wiser said...

Mel went downhill when he lost his Australian accent. Poor Mel. He peaked at the Year of Living Dangerously, in my humble opinion. He was weirdly, inhumanly handsome at that stage.

Anonymous said...

You do realise that Mel was born in America and moved here as a child? I saw him in his early days in a few TV shows here and I was dragged along by a friend to see that shocker about his kid that gets kidnapped (by Gary Sinise?) - bloody awful movie. His father was a quiz champion here too. Since that religious movie I refuse to see anything of his.

Nanuk of the North, older but no wiser said...

I"m also boycotting Mel, but I have to admit the trailer for Apocalypto looks pretty impressive.

Isn't Mel's father a Holocaust denier? He could hang out with Ahmadinejad! Everything is connected.

cityofmushrooms said...

by all means australian mel
by all means the year of living dangerously

what beauty

Nanuk of the North, older but no wiser said...

Funny story. I went to the The Year of Living Dangerously with a male friend who wanted to go because he had a thing for Sigourney Weaver. I had never seen Mel Gibson before, had no idea who he was.
After the movie, my (straight) friend said, poor Sigourney, she was a dog compared to Mel. Not in his league at all. I was completely enamoured (of Mel) and didn't even notice Sig.

Anonymous said...

Yes, I believe the father does have an interesting interpretation of events in WW2!Wonder then, what he would have made of the Pope's visit to Auschwitz this week?

Nanuk of the North, older but no wiser said...

I believe the Gibsons are the type of Catholics who are more Catholic than the Pope. So he probably doesn't care about some unholy, second-rate Pope visiting the site of some "alleged" atrocities.

Nanuk of the North, older but no wiser said...

Question: Why does Mel Gibson get so many comments, but kitty cat dance gets only one comment?

It's impossible to know what will get a reaction on this here Internet. Fine! I will enjoy kitty cat dance by myself! Harumph.

cityofmushrooms said...

for what it's worth: daughter of mushrooms was quite a fan of the kitty dance

Nanuk of the North, older but no wiser said...

Good, this reflects my pre-teen taste.

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