Gone With the Wind

I've avoided picking up some movies on disc because I felt sure they would be released in more elaborate sets. As an example, there is the new Gone With the Wind - 4 disc Collector's Edition.

While I wouldn't wait for any movie, some are standards and "must have's" for anyone who collects. While the earlier disc was very good, the latest (this big collector's package) has an even cleaner image plus oodles of additional material.

Of course, the best part is the film. It's a dandy.

Movies that go "Boo!"

So here are some scare movies - not so much for Halloween as for the dark month ahead, November. Like October, it's a good time for the willies. By the way, this is in alphabetical order, not order of merit. And there are one or two comedies in here as well.

Brotherhood of the Wolf (Les Pact des Loups) (2001)
The Fog (1979)
Ghost and Mrs. Muir, The (1947)
Ghost Breakers, The (1940)
Legend of Hell House, The (1973)
Mothman Prophecies, The (2002)
The Others (2001)
Psycho (1960)
Rose Red (Stephen King's) (2002)
The Shining (1980)
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Underworld (2003)
Van Helsing (2004)
The Watcher in the Woods (1980)
The Woman in Black (1989)

Ignorable post

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Columbo is back

Finally on DVD, Lt. Columbo! I picked up Columbo - the Complete First Season and it's great ... and no so great.

The great part is the shows themselves. It's especially interesting seeing this set with the two movies that came prior to the series. You get to see how they developed the character into the Columbo we know.

But the set itself ... No much in the way of cleaning them up. There are scratches and so on that give you the sense that whatever copy was handy was the one tossed on the discs.

There are also no features - at all.

I'm not alarmed - or am I?

I'm not so much alarmed by the fact it is snowing as I am that a Michael Bolton song is playing through the stereo and I'm almost liking it. Strange times indeed!

The snow is wet and heavy. Trees and their branches are bent in abdication, aknowledging the inevitably of seasonal tyranny. People in the street jump and gyrate as they try to elude a minefield of puddles and snowpiles.

Shall we despair? No, we shan't. And why?

We're hopeless optimists. And we're thinking, "Hey, at least it ain't Florida."

A few new old films

I managed to watch and write about a couple of classic movies over the weekend. The first is La Règle du jeu (The Rules of the Game) by Jean Renoir, 1939.

The other is Akira Kurosawa's 1952 film Ikiru.

Thumbs up on both counts!

Canadian movies?

I can't speaking with any authority about Canadian movies largely due to the reasons outlined by Dan Brown in his ramble, When it comes to movies, let's hide our national identity. As he puts it:

We may not like to admit it, but the term "Canadian movie" comes with all kinds of negative baggage. In the mind of the average ticket buyer standing in line at your local multiplex, a Canadian movie is (a) weird and depressing, and (b) cheaply made. This reputation is well earned; it came about because in the past our movies have been low-budget productions that, for the most part, were weird and depressing.

The one exception, for me, might be films from Quebec, such as Denys Arcand's The Barbarian Invasions (Les Invasions Barbares).

Speaking strictly for myself, I don't want to know if a film is a good Canadian movie. I just want to know if it's a good movie. If it's from Canada - fine, surprise me when I see it. But being from Canada isn't a selling point, not where I'm concerned. Being an interesting film is.

And if the truth be told, past experience has left me with the knee-jerk response that if it is Canadian it looks cheap and is hopelessly depressing. That this isn't accurate isn't relevant. It's a knee-jerk response.

My ongoing state of indecision

A state of indecision can be a problem. Do I go this way? Or do I go that? Hmmm ... Sometimes, you go nowhere.

Anyway ... I've threatened changes to - oh, how do the jolly suits put it? - "enhance my Web product" by making changes.

Which I believe I'm close to doing. And it may me a felling of the axe on certain things. Time for a new ISP for Piddleville? Perhaps, perhaps. Or possibly I should just dump the idea of a site altogether and use one of my other blogs as Piddleville.

Who knows?

By the way ... the image? That's the real-world Piddleville. I live in there somewhere.

Week of Star Wars

Yes, I picked up the Star Wars Trilogy on DVD and so the week was spent with Luke, Darth Vader and the gang.

Honestly, I was not a big fan of Star Wars when it came out. Seeing it again, I think I enjoy it a bit more but I'm stilled not overly taken by the space fantasy. The characters were always just a little bit too cardboard for me. The story is good; the characters though ... a little too namby pamby or something.

I find it interesting that George Lucas directed the first (now called A New Hope) but others directed The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. These two work much better for me, particularly The Empire Strikes Back.

Red carpet cat

The stars came out recently as Gonzo, the commoner cat, did the red carpet thing on her way to receive her award as most interesting pet.

The evening did not transpire without controversy, however. Gonzo made it quite clear she found the term pet, "... disagreeble, offensive and indicative of a patriarchal attitude that cannot and must not be tolerated."

She then proceeded to tear some very high priced gowns with her claws as she engaged in a hissy fit.

On another note, when asked who she was wearing for the evening, Gonzo replied coldly, "Me. It's called fur, moron."

The interesting cat

And the winner is ... Gonzo! Most interesting pet on the floor where I work.

Okay, so it ain't an Oscar and it ain't no Nobel Prize. But Gonzo managed to surmount the fierce competition for this coveted award to become recognized as the most interesting pet.

Frankly, we're both a bit puzzled by it given her generic, cookie-cutter cat appearance and mongrel ancestory. But we'll take it!

Actually, Gonzo is a bit of a practical cat. Her first question on hearing the news was, "And the prize? Is it money? There's no point in getting an award if there's no money attached. Where's the cash? What we talking here? Huh?"

Testosterone shot

Every now and again you want to see something silly, mindless but well made. Well, you could do worse than 1987's Predator. (But really, it is pretty idiotic.)

At last - American Beauty

I've always liked American Beauty. So I've finally gotten around to scribbling a few thoughts down. Unfortunately, it is scribbling. It's disjointed and incoherent. But at least I got something done. Maybe one day I'll revisit it when I'm more ... um, thoughtful?

Are we going to take it?

It is roughly 5 degrees Celcius outside. (That would be about 41 F.) It is expected to go down to 1 degree tonight. (And that would be 33.8 F.) We have it on good meteorological authority that we can expect snow. Don't believe me? Check the weather links here.

What I find discouraging is that not so long ago I was here, with all the blue. And when I was here, it was 37 degrees - quite toasty.

How quickly things change. Shall we take it? Must we? Against whom are we to rebel?

Speaking of hurricanes

With Frances slowly trundling over Florida, hurricanes seem to be the theme of the day and it brings to mind by favourite movie on this subject, John Ford's 1937 The Hurricane. (Of course, there's also Key Largo.)

The movie climaxes with what may be my favourite special effects sequence, certainly one of the best on film. It's all the more amazing because it's from 1937.

(It should be said, however, special effects are helped greatly by being in black and white.)

Who I was?

This was me. Or who the Internet thinks I was. Great tool for those who haven't a sense of their own identity.




Which 1990's Subculture Do You Belong To?

[Another Quiz by Kris
@ couplandesque.net]

Another change coming?

I may change the template of this blog. On the other hand I may not. Can't decide. In the meantime, as I struggled with this great decision, I added Arsenic and Old Lace.

Actually, it's Bow Lake

Well, on my little ramble I incorrectly identified Bow Lake, Alberta as Columbia Lake. I knew I would identify something incorrectly. I just wasn't sure what it would be. So I've updated the pages and they are now accurate - more or less.

Howard Hawks' Rio Bravo

I managed to do a movie marathon last night. Only because while watching Get Shorty they mentioned Rio Bravo ... so I went and played it. For what it's worth, here's my take on Rio Bravo.

Why live in Canada?

I suppose at least some of my reasons can be found here, in my West Kootenay ramble. It may not be the sort of thing everyone would care for but for those who do, these are images from my part of world.