Well, dear readers, what do I know? Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, what do I, BK, know? I have, as you know, been watching some of the worst movies ever made, on the Netflix thing. Mostly “thrillers” that are so preposterous you just wonder at what idiot green-lit the film in the first place and how did they keep their job when the film lost its entire investment and went direct to video. And yet, on the imdb you will read “lost masterpiece” “a gem” “better than the reviews” “loved it” for every one of these stinkers. So, imagine my surprise when I finally come across a movie that actually holds my interest, but is well directed, well acted and has a script that moves right along and does what it set out to do. And that’s what happened last evening with a 2004 film entitled The Forgotten, starring Miss Juliana Moore. The film begins and yes, we’ve seen this kind of plot before – a mother cherishes the memory of her dead son – looks at photos, watches videos, and sees a shrink (Gary Sinise) who is trying to help her. Oddly, no one else will acknowledge or remember the son. The shrink thinks she’s inventing memories because she lost her child through a miscarriage. Then all her cherished photos and videos are blank. The photo with she, her husband and her son is now just she and her husband. She confronts her neighbor, whose daughter used to play with her son. He has no daughter. And then we begin to find out things and therein lies the tale. Well, I’m sorry to say it had me from frame one right through to the ending. The director, Joseph Ruben, did the original The Stepfather and some fun exploitation films, and also one of the stinker thrillers I saw recently. But here he just keeps the pace up and the film runs a brisk eighty-five minutes sans end credits. It has a pretty good score, too, by James Horner. It does feel like an extended The X Files episode, but that’s not a bad thing.
So, guess what? I got to the imdb and read one dreadful “review” after another, all written by people who shouldn’t be putting their “writing” out there for the world to see. Then, just for fun, I went to Rotten Tomatoes and looked up the reviews for the film from the national critics, mostly awful, with a few really liking it. And both imdb and major critics kept complaining about all these plot holes, so many plot holes, endless plot holes – but you know what’s funny? Not one of them, not a SINGLE person actually mentions what these plot holes are. Funny that. I guess I’ll be the minority opinion, because I just went along for the ride and felt like the film was true to itself, which is more than you can say for any of the dreck “thrillers” I’ve seen. If you have an hour-and-a-half you could do worse. Maybe I just enjoy these kinds of stories, that’s certainly a possibility.
But enough about The Forgotten because whilst going on about The Forgotten I seem to have forgotten that I have notes to write, so write them I will, damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead.
Yesterday was a perfectly find day with some completely peculiar little twists that in the end all worked out fine. I got just about eight hours of sleep, so that was really helpful. Then I had a visitor and that all seemed to go very well, until there was a hiccup from the visitor who was here yesterday. It got a little wacky, but everything worked out fine and it’s going to let me have a less stressful July, which is great since June was nothing BUT stress. And more than that I cannot say at this time, oh, no, more I cannot say at this time.
Once all that was over, I did some banking and then I did some work on the computer, and then I went and had some food – a cup of chicken corn chowder and a grilled cheese and bacon sandwich, both yummilicious. Then I meant to go pick up mail and packages but forgot completely and just came home. I finished watching Single White Female – I really didn’t care for it when it came out, but this time around I kind of enjoyed it – not a great final third, but a wonderfully weird performance from Jennifer Jason Leigh and Bridget Fonda was good in this one. Then it was time for me to go to the afternoon meeting.
That meeting went very well indeed and if all goes according to Hoyle the summer of 2015 should have a fun couple of months, directing-wise. I’ll tell you all about it as soon as it’s finalized, which should be next week. After the meeting, I came back home, got back my proofed liner notes and sent them along to the designer, and then finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
First I watched another Netflix winner entitled The Glass House, starring Leelee Sobieski, Diane Lane, Bruce Dern and others. If you don’t know the entire plot by minute three then you should have your “thriller” card revoked. About ten minutes in I realized I’d seen it before, but I like Leelee Sobieski so I watched until the end. It did have a very good score by Christopher Young. Then I watched The Forgotten and that was that. I had some popcorn for my evening snack, so I do think I was under 1100 calories for the day.
Today, I hope to arise after a good night’s beauty sleep. I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, then at some point before rehearsal begins, I’ll have a brief visit from a visitor, then we’ll have our second Kritzerland rehearsal, after which I’m sure a few of us will go eat.
Tomorrow is the fourth of July and I will be attending a partay at the home of Tony Slide and Bob Gitt. Other than that event, no plans at all. Saturday we have our stumble-through, and Sunday is our sound check and show.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, have a visit from a visitor, I must hopefully pick up some packages, I must have a rehearsal and I must eat. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite TV show catchphrases from your favorite shows? And movies, too. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland where I shall hopefully get a wonderful night’s beauty sleep, after which I shall damn the torpedoes in some Speed-Os whilst going full speed ahead.