I finally saw Blade Runner for the first time. I still haven't read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sleep, but I knew that Blade Runner would still stand on its own as a separate entity so I decided to go for it. Let me preface by saying I think Ridley Scott is a brilliant director, I think Alien is one of the finest films of our time. However, I know that Scott is also not much of an "actor's director", he expects his actors to do their job without much in the way of direction, and unfortunately, the cast of Blade Runner, with the exception of Rutger Hauer, needs some serious direction. Let's face it folks, it's a fluke Harrison Ford ever got into acting in the first place. And while he's got that sort of bumbling charm going on, he plays himself in every role. I originally watched the "Final Cut" version which is Scott's supposed final edition of the film. Having never seen the theatrical release with the voiceover, I felt that a lot was left out of the film that they intended to explain in the voiceover. I'm halfway through the theatrical version right now and the voiceover is done so badly it's laughable. While they do hit you over the head with some explanations, a few of them are more subtle points that would have really cleared up a number of things in the Final Cut version that I felt were lacking.
Anyway, in the end, I didn't give a shit about the characters. I didn't give a shit about the plot. I didn't care who won or who died. I didn't understand why Ford and Young connected, they had zero chemistry, it made no sense. I also didn't care if Ford's character was really a replicant or not. I couldn't bring myself to care about any of it. I know I'm considered a geek around these parts, but I didn't care for Blade Runner at all. Gee, so glad I picked up the 5 disc special edition blu-ray with 30+ hours of crap on it. Bluh. I decided to only finish the theatrical version and watch the deleted scenes. I understand it's the type of film that probably gets better with repeated viewings, but frankly, I had no desire to after viewing the Final Cut alone. I decided to give the theatrical version a go because I do realize that many people lived with that cut for a long time and originally fell in love with that film. By the time the Final Cut version was released a couple of years ago people knew the ins and outs so well that were explained in the old voiceover, they no longer needed it in the final cut. Fine. But that doesn't help a first-time viewer. Again, I had picked up on 90% of what was explained in the voiceover WITHOUT the voiceover, but it's that 10% of crap that would have shed a bit more light on the film.
I had to wash Blade Runner out of my system on Saturday night so settled in with Raising Arizona which is one of my favorite movies, but it had been far too long since my last viewing. I don't know, they were jammies, they had Yoda's and shit on 'em. There are a lot of great lines in that film and that's one of my favorites. That film is so clever and funny and Holly Hunter is a freaking goddess. She can be so funny and so serious in the same moment, it's such a treat to watch her in anything.
I'm down to three episodes of Twin Peaks before I'm done. There have been a lot of really great guest stars. The old guy from Robocop, you know, the one who says, "Dick, you're fired!" shows up as Andrew Packard. Miguel Ferrer is also in Robocop. By the way, his character, despite being a guest spot, actually has growth. In a recent episode he walked in and hugged Truman, which was hysterical. He was so cold and sciency in his first episode. And while he's still a bit cold and sciency, he has a healthy dose of respect for the folks of Twin Peaks and finally seems to get them the way Cooper does. I liked that.
Now it's time to get my ass into the office for another short work week that will still have five days of work crammed into it. Bluh. I need coffee.
Time to put away the decorations and move on with this bleak winter. It's a lot easier to clean up after Christmas on the blog than it is in real life. Then again, I don't decorate so there really wasn't anything to do except chuck the couple of chotchkies I got as gifts this year.
I wish the album art had loaded, I love the cover of this record so I'm yoinking it from Amazon so this post is prettier.
I'm schlepping along on my roommate's pet sitting runs, in case she gets stuck in the snow. It beats another day lying around watching bad tv. I was starting to get bed sores.
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My step-father-in-law took some pictures yesterday of the freezing fog. It was really beautiful. I yoinked these from his facebook page, hopefully he'll post more because it was really spectacular out yesterday. There was a pretty neat looking frozen spider web, I hope he got one of that.
Looks like our big snowstorm today is going to be a bust. It will only be rain for the next few days. Hooray!
Woman knocks down pope at Mass; Christmas celebrations begin
In my day we just had eggnog and sang carols.
Kids these days....
My new favorite t-shirt.
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gather round, children
