Miscellaneous Movie Musings

[Alex]

I saw that Cool Hand Luke is on AMC and I considered watching it (there is nothing on) but I find I just can't watch movies on commercial TV anymore. The first time a commercial comes on I switch channels and forget to come back.

The last two days of BART riding I've watched Find Me Guilty and The Assassination of Richard Nixon.

Find Me Guilty isn't great but it is good and has a suprising performance from Vin Diesel. The best thing about the movie is it is about a jury getting snowed by a likable guy who did horrible things and what it actually does is snow the viewer. In the end you can't really disapprove of the jurors because you realize you've fallen into the same trap.

I don't like Sean Penn. Even when he is just barely tolerable he is annoying (Mystic River, for example) and most of the time he is deplorable. I don't know why I can't stand him, but I can't. Anyway, The Assassination of Richard Nixon provides a character where I find he fits perfectly and is tolerable: delusional loser. Being able to tolerate him for once allowed me to enjoy this little drama of psychological decline.

After a couple more sessions of trying I'm still only about 60% through Kurosawa's Lower Depths. Yet I'm determined to get through it all. Can't say I'm enjoying it at all though.