Sunday, October 22, 2006

Apocalypse Now

One of the benefits of a membership with Netflix is that I am finally catching up on some of the movies that I'm "supposed" to see ... you know, the ones that everybody seems to think are the best on the planet. Since a lot of movies in that category came out before I really cared about movies that didn't involve Mel Gibson, I've got a lot of catching up to do. And since these classics are always available, we can slot them in whenever we feel like taking a break from Lost or The Sopranos (or Mystery Science Theatre 3000, which I have to say was much funnier when I used to watch it in college).

Tonight I finally watched Apocalypse Now, and I've got to say, it's a good thing the Wellbutrin is at full strength and I had a craft project to do. Good god, is there a more depressing and slow-moving movie on the planet? Sure, the fact that Martin Sheen in the movie looks scarily like Charlie Sheen does now kept me amused for a while, and my mind boggled for at least 10 minutes over how absolutely green the future Han Solo looked in his role. I killed a few minutes trying to estimate how many gallons of fake sweat the actors went through during filming, and trying to figure out what was shot in Asia vs. faked in the US. Good thing I sat through the credits at the end, too, because otherwise I never would have recognized Larry - now Laurence - Fishburne as Clean. And who knew that Dennis Hopper wrote one of the songs in the soundtrack?

Yes, some of the scenes were very cinematic and beautifully shot, and the overall effect of the movie was probably what the director was going for - amazement at the pointlessness and brutality of the war and the things people did as part of it. But dude, I wasted 2 1/2 hours of baby sleep time on that? Crap. Not as bad as Mulholland Drive, but it's right up there.

Oh, and speaking of Dennis Hopper, does he ever have roles where he isn't some spaced out nutjob? No, I didn't think so.

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Not that anyone at Netflix probably pays attention, but if anyone bothered to look, they'd get a chuckle over our queue. Returning Apocalypse Now, shipping Mary Poppins. Hee.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I rate movies in one of two catagories: 1)I fell asleep or 2) I did not fall asleep. Apocalypse Now definitely rates into the fell asleep catagory. Also in the fell asleep catagory are other classics such as Gone with the Wind, Cassablanca, The Color Purple, Pulp Fiction, and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Last weekend's Netflix choice, Rabbit Proof Fence and Kinky Boots, were surprising winners that kept me on the edge of the seat for their duration. They earn the coveted status of belonging into the "did not fall asleep" catagory.

- MLF

Anonymous said...

Color Purple definitely belongs as a sleeper