Everyone has their favorite way to procrastinate. Some (and this seems to be a very popular way among the ladies here) clean. Others go surfing or boogie boarding. As I would rather chew off my own leg than clean and I have absolutely no desire to die by sharks or drowning, I have had to come up with another way to procrastinate. And last week I discovered it: the Achmuty Library's greatest secret--their collection of movies. The library has everything from The Fountainhead (based on Ayn Rand's novel starring the late great Gary Cooper) to The Illustrated Man (based on the book written by Ray Bradbury starring Rod Steiger).
As it was raining last weekend, I decided to go to the library and watch a movie for my Australian Pop Culture class. The movie was called Puberty Blues. Puberty Blues is the most terrifying film ever made based on the scariest novel ever written. It is a coming of age tale for girls set in the Australia of the 1970s. What makes it scary is that it is still relevant not just to Aussie girls but all teenage girls in the world, or at least the developed world. It is the story of two 13 year-old-girls who have sex, do drugs and drink to become part of the in-crowed. But, not to worry, they give it up and become surfer chicks in the end.
After watching that cinematic train wreck, I watched Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The 1956 anti-conformity Sci-fi flick based on the novel of the same name was once considered a B movie. But, it is now a classic having been remade twice and influencing everyone who is anyone in the movie business. It is one of the best movies I have seen in long time and also one of the most terrifying. What if Earth was invaded by space pods and everyone we know is the same but not? They have the same memories, they look the same and sound the same but they aren't the same. You go to sleep one night and suddenly your not you...
This week I have enjoyed Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb and The Illustrated man. Dr. Strangelove is one of the funniest dark comedies ever made. An American general named Jack Ripper goes a bit crazy, finds a loop hole that allows him to launch a nuclear attack on Russia. What is worse, is Russia has a Dooms Day Machine--a nuclear bomb infused with some element or other that will destroy all of Earth and everything on it for 93 years--which will automatically go off if Russia is attacked. The title character is on screen for all of five minutes, but in those five minutes he delivers the some of the most hilarious lines in the film--a plan to survive underground for a hundred years. Lets just say you get the idea Dr. Strangelove was once a Nazi...
The Illustrated Man is typical Bradbury. Nearly two hours of subtle terror. There are no scary aliens or monsters, just scary humans who have extraordinary things happen to them. The Illustrated Man (played by Steiger) is man who fell for a women who illustrated his skin. The illustrations come to life and when you look at those illustrations you find yourself in stories that span time. Stories that always end badly--like being in a future where kids can use a device, think up anything they like and then kill you by feeding you to the lions that have imagined (another reason not procreate). It isn't even the stories that scary, really, but the fact that you can see the end coming a mile away and the characters don't.
Another good way to procrastinate is by watching every single episode of Neighbours that is on youtube. Neighbours is the longest running show on Australian TV (22 years). It is a half hour soap but without the weird facial expressions at the end of every scene. Some devotee (more than one, actually) has taken the time to record the show everyday for at least two years and then posted them on youtube. I, and I suspect many others, have wasted entire days watching it. I don't why it's so compelling. It has become an addiction.
My friend Hayley who falls into the 'likes to clean' group of procrastinators is unwittingly helping me to further procrastinate by taking me to the dunes tomorrow. I will, in an effort to up my nerdiness, pretend to be Paul Atreides catching a ride on a Sandworm...
As it was raining last weekend, I decided to go to the library and watch a movie for my Australian Pop Culture class. The movie was called Puberty Blues. Puberty Blues is the most terrifying film ever made based on the scariest novel ever written. It is a coming of age tale for girls set in the Australia of the 1970s. What makes it scary is that it is still relevant not just to Aussie girls but all teenage girls in the world, or at least the developed world. It is the story of two 13 year-old-girls who have sex, do drugs and drink to become part of the in-crowed. But, not to worry, they give it up and become surfer chicks in the end.
After watching that cinematic train wreck, I watched Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The 1956 anti-conformity Sci-fi flick based on the novel of the same name was once considered a B movie. But, it is now a classic having been remade twice and influencing everyone who is anyone in the movie business. It is one of the best movies I have seen in long time and also one of the most terrifying. What if Earth was invaded by space pods and everyone we know is the same but not? They have the same memories, they look the same and sound the same but they aren't the same. You go to sleep one night and suddenly your not you...
This week I have enjoyed Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb and The Illustrated man. Dr. Strangelove is one of the funniest dark comedies ever made. An American general named Jack Ripper goes a bit crazy, finds a loop hole that allows him to launch a nuclear attack on Russia. What is worse, is Russia has a Dooms Day Machine--a nuclear bomb infused with some element or other that will destroy all of Earth and everything on it for 93 years--which will automatically go off if Russia is attacked. The title character is on screen for all of five minutes, but in those five minutes he delivers the some of the most hilarious lines in the film--a plan to survive underground for a hundred years. Lets just say you get the idea Dr. Strangelove was once a Nazi...
The Illustrated Man is typical Bradbury. Nearly two hours of subtle terror. There are no scary aliens or monsters, just scary humans who have extraordinary things happen to them. The Illustrated Man (played by Steiger) is man who fell for a women who illustrated his skin. The illustrations come to life and when you look at those illustrations you find yourself in stories that span time. Stories that always end badly--like being in a future where kids can use a device, think up anything they like and then kill you by feeding you to the lions that have imagined (another reason not procreate). It isn't even the stories that scary, really, but the fact that you can see the end coming a mile away and the characters don't.
Another good way to procrastinate is by watching every single episode of Neighbours that is on youtube. Neighbours is the longest running show on Australian TV (22 years). It is a half hour soap but without the weird facial expressions at the end of every scene. Some devotee (more than one, actually) has taken the time to record the show everyday for at least two years and then posted them on youtube. I, and I suspect many others, have wasted entire days watching it. I don't why it's so compelling. It has become an addiction.
My friend Hayley who falls into the 'likes to clean' group of procrastinators is unwittingly helping me to further procrastinate by taking me to the dunes tomorrow. I will, in an effort to up my nerdiness, pretend to be Paul Atreides catching a ride on a Sandworm...
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