Sunday, September 23, 2007

gonna need drugs. lots of drugs

At my advanced age you need a quiet night in on a Saturday once in a while. You can't be out going to Chinawhites with Sienna Miller every weekend, after all, you need a bit of "you" time. So I invested some of this time starting on the backlog of DVDs I've bought over the last several months and years and never quite got round to watching.

I was in the mood for something mind-bending so I chose the recent Philip K Dick adaptation A Scanner Darkly, starring Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr. and Winona Ryder, among many illustrious others. Some of whom are less recognisable than they might be, owing to the interpolated rotoscoping technique director Richard Linklater has used (essentially the same technique used in Ralph Bakshi's Lord Of The Rings adaptation and A-ha's Take On Me video, among others). Since the whole film is about drug use and the fracturing of reality and personality that it causes, the technique is suited to the source material almost perfectly, particularly the "scramble suit" that all the undercover agents wear to conceal their identities. It would probably be even better watching it while completely off your tits on acid, but I had to make do with a bottle of Chenin Blanc.

What I should have been doing was watching some of the films I've borrowed off people over the years, never quite got round to watching, and never quite got round to giving back either. At the last count these are:
  • Richard III, which I borrowed off Phil probably about 5 years ago. For a while there was a bit of a Mexican stand-off going on as Phil had my copy of Gattaca for quite some time as well, but he's given it back now.
  • Finding Nemo, which I borrowed from Layla about 3 years ago, and I've never watched. In fact I'm not sure I even know where it is any more. Unless she's reading this, of course, in which case I've got it in my hand right now. The DVD, I mean.
  • Good Bye, Lenin!, which I borrowed from James a couple of years ago.
Let me say now, with hand on heart, that I will watch and return all of the above very soon. Really.

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