My movie-watching seems to go in cycles. Weeks or even months have gone by during which my only exposure to movies is what I put on for the tadpoles to watch. Then there are times like last week.
For one thing, I finally got around to watching 300. This movie had risen to the top of my Netflix queue then sat around in my living room unwatched for a week before I finally gave in. Fortunately, I knew to lower my expectations before putting this one in. 300 had a certain cinematic beauty, but unfortunately it was driven by a story told from the perspective of a 13 year old. As a Texan, I’m practically genetically predisposed to love the tale of the battle of Thermopylae. It’s like the battle of the Alamo played out with spear and shield. Steven Pressfield is to blame for ruining me for any other version of Thermopylae than his incredibly moving novel, the Gates of Fire. That one sets the bar, and the move 300 falls far short. I give it 2.5 stars, for sword-fu and spear-fu.
While I wait for my next disc to arrive in the mail, I’ve discovered a whole world awaiting me at Netflix. Did you know they offer streaming video for no extra charge? I did, because we’ve been playing kid’s shows like Scooby Do and The Wiggles for them. However, until this past weekend I hadn’t spent much time checking out what I might be interested in. For starters, I’ve watched The Toxic Avenger. I’m not sure what to say about this movie. There are places where this movie is so bad that it’s good. Then there are places where it’s just bad. I hadn’t seen this movie since I was a kid, watching it at my best friend’s house from his giant analog satellite dish after his parents had gone to bed. It hit all the right buttons for an early teen. It had nudity (okay, that was pretty much reason enough), it had a monster, it had crude humor, and it had gore. And did I mention it had nudity?
In the years (woah… decades) since seeing The Toxic Avenger, most of the details had blurred for me. In fact, I had mixed up Toxie’s origin; he jumped through a window and landed in a barrel of toxic waste. Upon further reflection, I think I’m remembering a scene from the first Robocop movie in which one of the bad guys ends up in some toxic waste. Anyhow, seeing it on demand through Netflix was pretty cool. I watched the first 15 minutes of Superman: Doomsday the same way, but my 5 year old was in the room and I wasn’t quite ready to expose him to a superhero dying just yet. I’ll finish that one later. In the meantime, I think I’ll browse the horror section. It’s a brave new world.
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