The Cheese Stands Alone

Fr 1/31/2020 I awoke in the living room chair at 130am and went to bed. Up 7am: One more in a long line of cloudy days with temps in the lower 30's. I compiled all three days of 'COLONOSCOPY 2020' and added them to an email file and put a copy on the living room PC. ****I drank several jolts of Milk of Magnesia early this this morning and I had a normal bowel movement. The constipation after the first coloscopy must have been all of that bread in the Subway sandwich. However, I did keep the note about eating scrambled eggs after the procedure in three years. ****Now I have diarrhea. I'm hoping it's just the milk of magnesia and the stuff that I've eaten to prevent constipation. It's just as explosive as the 'super lax'...Time will tell. Watched 'HER SMELL' (Kanopy) This is my last pick for January. Not bad since I got in ten selections since last Thursday, and tomorrow I get ten more picks! I wonder if Courtney Love has seen this fil...

Th 1/30/2020- COLONOSCOPY DAY Up 5am and read 'LA REQUIEM' in bed until 550am. Last night I didn't put down the book until 1230am, and tossed and turned all night. Up three times to piss because of all the coffee. We got a trace of snow early yesterday evening and I swept the walk and driveway from 6-620am. Drank the 'super lax' at 630am, and drank two more sixteen ounces of 'water/7Up' by 730am. Waste is the color of black coffee, but more to come. I thought that it was supposed to be clear, but I have scrupulously followed the instructions. Read more of 'LA REQUIEM' and listened to Mozart on the living room Altec Boom. 8am: Watching the last part of, 'MUTUAL APPRECIATION' (Kanopy). Here's what I posted: "This film is almost a text perfect illustration of the sub-genre of 'Mumblecore' which employs a low budget focus on people in their 20's and 30's and examines social relationships featuring non-professi...

We 1/29/2020- DAY TWO OF THE COLONOSCOPY Up 715am: Another cloudy day with temps to just about freezing. Watched, 'UNDER THE SKIN' (Kanopy) Explanations of the film and novel in a review from the Internet: "Disguising itself as a human female, an extraterrestrial drives around Scotland attempting to lure unsuspecting men into her van. Once there, she seduces and sends them into another dimension where they are nothing more than meat." "Under the Skin is a 2000 novel by Michel Faber. Set in northern Scotland, it traces an extraterrestrial who, manifesting in human form, drives around the Scottish countryside picking up male hitchhikers whom she drugs and delivers to her home planet." My comments on Kanopy: "A hauntingly beautiful film, but be prepared to wait until the last few moments to fully understand what's going on. I don't know if I would have fully understood the plot had I not read reviews of the book and the film after wat...

Tu 1/28/2020- DAY ONE OF COLONOSCOPY Up 740am: Cloudy with temps to about freezing. Wrote up 'DEAL BREAKER' by Harlan Coben for the blog. Watched Netflix disc, 'WINTER KILLS'. The half brother to the president of the United States uncovers new information as to who was behind the president's assassination nineteen years previously. A thinly veiled fictional account of the assassination of President Kennedy. It's kind of a dark satire and well worth a look; with Jeff Bridges, John Huston, Anthony Perkins, Eli Wallach, Sterling Hayden, Richard Boone, and a cameo by Elizabeth Taylor. It's based on the novel by Richard Condon. Watched the bonus features 'WHO KILLED WINTER KILLS'? The film went bankrupt three times and the director finally went to Germany to make another film to finish WINTER KILLS. The film had two producers, Sterling and Goldberg 'Sterling Gold Productions', one was murdered in his bed by the mob, and the other was sente...

Mo 1/27/2020 Up 730am: Mist and fog early, then cloudy with temps to about freezing. Watched, 'DID YOU WONDER WHO FIRED THE GUN?' (Kanopy). The filmmaker investigates a murder committed by his great grandfather in 1946. The man shot and killed a black man who entered his small grocery store and he was charged with first degree murder, but for some reason the charges were dropped. The film doesn't resolve this issue, but it infers that his great grandfather was a loud, vocally racist, brash white man who was politically connected and these individuals could act with impunity. ODD FACT: There were five hundred thousand slaves in Alabama during the Civil War. The filmmaker's aunt is a member of a contemporary group who believes that the South should secede from the US, and she offered a completely bogus scenario for the murder. ****I wrote a brief message about the film on Kanopy "This is an momentous and difficult subject and the presentation was a bit muddle...

Su 1/26/19 Up 730am: Partly sunny with temps to mid 30's. Watched, 'THE CAPTIVE' (My last pick of the month from Hoopla). A nine year old girl is kidnapped when her father goes into a truck stop store to buy pie and ice cream on a wintry Niagara afternoon. The girl is kept in a secret underground apartment for eight years and she is used as a tout for an Internet ring of pedophiles. This part is not developed in the film (a totally creepy concept), but it's hinted that there might even be subscribers to the network and that not only to traffics in images of children, but they also document (with hidden cameras) the parents' grief over their loss. This was a truly unsettling and spine-chilling film directed by Atom Egoyan; with Mireille Enos, Rosario Dawson, Bruce Greenwood, and Ryan Reynolds. Then, 'THE REVENGE OF THE MEKONS' (Kanopy). An excellent biography of a true, 'Musical Art Collective'. I was kind of surprised to learn that almost 20 pe...

Sa 1/25/2020 Up 635am: Cloudy with temps only to freezing. ***I cancelled the order for the 2X sweater and placed an order for a 1X in brown. I later learned that it already had shipped. I'll return it or refuse delivery. Watched Netflix disc, 'COMING HOME'. Bruce Dern ships out to Vietnam and his wife, Jane Fonda, has an affair with paraplegic vet, Jon Voight. The acting was fantastic, but the soundtrack was as if the director had made a 'singles tape' of his favorites and just slapped it onto the film- Directed by Hal Ashby. Still, this is most definitely a Film Classic. Then watched, 'TROOP ZERO' (Amazon Prime). A young girl forms a group to compete and possibly win the chance to make a recording that's sent into space to tell aliens that 'we are here'. "Troop Zero is so sugary you'd get a cavity if you bit into it...", but I thought it was still worth a look. 205pm: To the Wabash PO to mail the disc and then to Planet ...

Fr 1/24/2020 Up 7am: Cloudy, slushy, slight chance of precipitation- temps to just above freezing. ****I ordered more laxatives and another cardigan. I used my 'Online Order' folder to locate these items and the sweater is the same size and color. Watched, 'DOGTOOTH' (Kanopy) I left this post at Kanopy: "Relentlessly depan and nearly catatonic in presentation it's the story of a father who attempts to raise his three teenaged children in complete and utter isolation. Maybe it's meant as a fable for our times. Large segments of the population seem to crave a life devoid of any challenge to their personal interpretation of reality and use social media and partisan news outlets only to bolster and reinforce their worldview ". Then, watched 'SLEEPWALKING' (Amazon Prime). When his sister leaves her twelve year old daughter with him, the two set out to stay at the ranch where his father lives. Charlize Theron plays the wayward mother and D...

Th 1/23/2020- First Time Kanopy! Up 750am: About an inch of snow and ice fell last night and very light periods of snow, rain, and ice will continue all day- low 30's. Watched 'A TOUCH OF SIN' (Kanopy- First time I used this streaming service connected to the library- Ten films a month!). The movie shows a cross section of contemporary Chinese workers and how their lives intersect with random and very violent interruptions. The film consists of several different narratives: A motorcyclist shoots three men who try to rob him in a 'hatchet holdup', a village man shoots up his local town's leaders, the motorcyclist returns to his family and then murders a couple as they leave an ATM, a receptionist at a sauna/hotel (?) is attacked by the family of her married lover and then she knifes two patrons; "I am not a prostitute!", a young man works at several different jobs, including a strange brothel (?) and then dives off the balcony of an apartment buildi...

We 1/22/2020- Book Club 6pm. Up 7am: Partly cloudy- low 30's. A wintry mix began as I was leaving the library. Snow, sleet, and rain to continue for the next couple of days. Watched Netflix disc, 'THE CRUCIBLE' . A married man spurns his young lover and she retaliates with 'THE DEVIL'. Hysteria ensues; with Daniel Day- Lewis, Winona Ryder, Joan Allen, Paul Scofield.  A film classic, I loved it! Watched the end of 'THE 13TH STEP' (Amazon Prime)  and shut down the PC and skimmed the book club novel until 1230pm. On the machines at FitClub West by 1245pm. 45" Octane (TRUE CRIME). 45" Walk (Reality TV all workout). 45" Cross. 30" Walk. 30" Cross. Home to shower and on the road to the library by 515pm. The book club members liked the book! A nice discussion. Watched 'A DARK PLACE' (Amazon Prime). A slightly autistic (?) garbage truck driver solves a murder case of a young boy who was thought to have just drowned. The p...

Tu 1/21/2020 Up 710am: Partly sunny and calm with temps to 30. Wrote up 'SEVEN DAYS OF US' for the blog. Watched, 'FEEDBACK' (Hoopla). An armed gang takes over a London radio studio to get the late night shock jock to admit, on-air, to his nefarious behavior. Fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat excitement and, in the end, it really seems to be about toxic masculinity; with Eddie Marsan and Paul Anderson (they were both terrific!). Then watched, 'UNICORN STORE' (Netflix). "Perhaps not every inner child needs to be unleashed". A strange and kooky 'coming of age' tale of a young woman who is stymied by maturity and she seems to be ensnared by her lifelong infatuation with unicorns. The tone of this film is confused, and it's only watchable by the fine acting of Brie Larson, but how in the world did Samuel L. Jackson become involved in this project? Brie Larson also directs. I wrote a reply to Janny's email 2pm: To the 'Y' and...

Mo 1/20/2020- No Mail: Lincoln's Birthday Up 715am: Mostly sunny with temps just breaking 20. Watched 'THE FEAR OF 13' (Netflix). A stark documentary that's almost a monolog by Nick Yarris about the twenty plus years that he spent on Pennsylvania's death row for a murder that he did not commit. Realized that my Xfinity bill went up by ten bucks a month. I guess I'll be getting higher visual quality on phones and tablets. What about my computer monitor? It's still twelve bucks for on GB. I might start using the data for listening to music in the car to see if $24 would cover it. And, I still can't locate 'Archived Mail' in Google Chrome. Where is it hidden? I watched a YouTube video and I'm still in the dark. Why don't they just create a simple folder titled 'Archived Mail'? Then, watched, 'NAILS' (Netflix). After being hit by a car and seriously injured while jogging a woman is bedridden in a creepy hospital. A d...

Su 1/19/2020 Up 730am: Sunny, frigid with a slight breeze- temps only to lower teens and the windchill keeps it near zero. Coldest day of the year.....so far. Watched,  '6 UNDERGROUND' (Netflix). Directed by Michael Bay and it's everything that you might expect- loud, excessive, over-the-top, blow shit up! A young billionaire and five of his specially chosen agents are off the grid and fighting evil; with Ryan Reynolds and an international cast. Shot in Italy, Budapest, and Abu Dhabi. Then watched the first episode of Season 3 of 'THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL (Amazon Prime). 1239pm: Read and listened to some HUSKER DU and almost all of BOB MOULD's- 'Sunshine Rock', and read the lyrics the living room Altec and hit the 'Y' for the workout later. On the machines at the 'Y' by 2pm. 45" Walk (TV all workout). 45" Cross. 45" Recumbent Bike. 30" Walk. 30" Cross. Home to do the 'Weekly Cleanup', then in the ...

Sa 1/18/2020- Power Outage ***A post in Nextdoor from a neighbor on Greenview says that they heard two explosions and that usually means a transformer went out. The power was out for several hours last night. I noticed it was off about 3am. There was an emergency vehicle up the street and I could see the flashing lights. The truck left after about an hour, the power was still off, and then the power came back about dawn. When I got up at 7am everything came on with no problem, however the sump pump was beeping. I hit a button on the front of the box and it apparently reset. Temps began in the lower 40's this morning and very windy with temps plunging to the single digits tonight. Sunday and Monday's high temps will only be in the mid teens. ******Reset all the clocks Then watched Netflix disc, 'HOMEBOY'. A scruffy, 'warts and all' character study of low-lifes and losers that just happens to have a boxing theme. Christopher Walken plays a small time gri...

Fr 1/17/2020 Up 720am: cloudy and snow to begin later this morning, changing to a 'wintry mix' this evening, then rain, then plunging temps and barely in the teens tomorrow. This could be bad! Wrote up 'LIGHT OF THE WORLD'- James Lee Burke for the blog. Watched, 'GONE' (Amazon Prime). A fairly lame tale of a young woman who is recovering from a kidnapping. She was sent to an asylum, and is now living with her sister. When her sister disappears, the police don't believe her, and she tracks down the killer on her own. Set in Portland Oregon, and the only reason I watched this is that it stars Amanda Seyfried who was in 'CHLOE'. Also, Katherine Moenning has a small role, and she was excellent in 'DONOVAN'. To Planet Fitness by 11am so I can get in the workout before 'the weather', but tomorrow might even be worse. I might not leave the house. Snow, sleet, rain, more snow and sleet then drastically falling temps and below zero tem...

Th 1/16/2020 Up 720am: Sunny, windy, and very cold. Temps below freezing all day with frigid wind chills. Watched, 'JUNGLE' (Amazon Prime) Daniel Radcliffe stars in a film about three friends (and a corrupt guide) who were trekking in a remote and unexplored area of the Amazon in 1981. Yossi Ghinsberg was washed away on the river and spent three weeks without real food or shelter along the Tuichi River, and was finally rescued by one of his friends that made it back ahead of him. Not a bad adventure film, and this is going to be dropped by Amazon Prime at the end of the month. Then watched an episode of 'THE OUTER LIMITS' (1995). Two brothers vie for control of their pharmaceutical company, and an immortality drug backfires for one of them. A little on the corny side, but I'll probably watch more of this series. I posted the following review on Duct Dusters Facebook: "I called Duct Dusters LLC because I had a negative experience with one of the "...

We 1/15/2020- Duct Cleaning Day Up 650am: Cloudy with a chance of drizzle and temps to upper 40's. Watched the last Netflix disc episodes of 'BROCKMIRE'. I'll wait a bit, and then on to Season 2! Watched about half of 'CALL ME LUCKY' (Amazon Prime) The story of comedian/ political activist, Barry Crimmins. DUST BUSTERS arrived right at noon. He called saying he was running a little early- I said "Let's Do It". 1225pm: Living room PC needed to be restarted for the updates. Patch Tuesday was last night. Watched the last part of 'CALL ME LUCKY' on the downstairs PC. Barry Cummins was raped as a young boy and became a very vocal and ardent enemy of child pornography. I guess when AOL first began, it was a haven for pedaphiles and Crimmins helped force Congress to take action. 2pm: Turned on the Updates for the downstairs PC. I talked with the guy who was doing the work and he suggested that I install return vents in the finished...

Tu 1/14/2020 Up 715am: Partly cloudy with temps to the upper 40's. Began Netflix disc, 'BROCKMIRE' Season I (six thirty minute episodes). Brash, ribald, and in poor taste, but the dialog is electrically brilliant. I watched the first three episodes, and the other three for tomorrow. Then watched, 'BELLFLOWER' (Amazon Prime). Two California slackers live in Oxnard/ Ventura and spend their time designing flamethrowers and tinkering with their muscle car, Medusa. Fueled by comic book fantasies they half-believe in some kind of imminent apocalypse. And when one of them falls in love, the film becomes a chronicle of this disastrous affair. Another fine Lo-Fi Independent that is truly an odd and scrappy piece of work. 115pm: To the 'Y' and County Market/ Fairhills later. 45" Walk (TV all workout). 45" Recumbent Bike (Listened to a podcast featuring Earl Slick- David Bowie's guitarist after Mick Ronson). 45" Cross. 30" Walk. 30...

Mo 1/13/2020 Up 8am: Mostly cloudy temps close to 40. Watched, 'THE HUNTED' (Hoopla)."An FBI deep-woods tracker attempts to capture a trained assassin who has made a sport of hunting humans". Some totally excellent knife fighting sequences, but elements of the film are completely implausible. When the fleeing assassin creates a forge heated with sticks and twigs that's hot enough to create a knife while while being chased by a federal air, land, and sea dragnet is so unreal it's laughable; with Tommy Lee Jones, Benicio Del Toro, and directed by William Friedkin. Then watched, 'CHLOE' (Netflix). A woman suspects her husband is cheating so she engages an escort to temp him. The sex worker turns out to be a sociopath who lies about the husband, and initiates affairs with the woman and her son. An unconventional, steamy thriller that's set in beautiful Toronto, Canada; with Julianne Moore, Amanda Seyfried, and Liam Neeson- Dir. Atom Egoyan. Wro...

Su 1/12/2020 Up 740am: About three inches of wet snow fell last night. Cloudy with temps just over freezing. Watched Netflix disc, 'SHELF LIFE'. A very lightweight dark comedy about office politics in a small library in Bakersville, CA. It is very similar to an SNL or Groundlings comedy sketch and the primary reason it's worth watching is that it stars Betsy Brandt who plays Marie Schrader (Detective Hank Schrader's wife) on BREAKING BAD. I can't believe it, but I watched all of SHELF LIFE before I remembered who she was after checking out the cast summary at IMDB. Shot at an annex library in Bakersfield, CA. Sent an email to WILL FM complaining about the new Live Stream. Checking out the Quip electric toothbrush that was featured on BuzzFeed. 1130am: Shoveled the driveway, walk, and done in twenty minutes. Watched, 'FANATIC' (Amazon Prime) John Travolta stars as an autistic man who works as a street character actor (he's a tout for a wax mus...

Sa 1/11/2020- Library Book Sale Up 720am: Overcast, blustery, and cold. Rain to begin again late this morning and snow for tonight- 30's. Much less rainfall than predicted earlier in the week. Watched, 'THE MINUS MAN' (Amazon Prime). A strange and off-beat story about an affable, mild mannered serial poisoner on the loose near Irvine, CA. He seems to target people that want to die and rents a room at the home of a dysfunctional older couple. He gets a job with the post office, but can't shake the habit of murder. The film offers no resolution, but creepy nonetheless; with Owen Wilson, Sheryl Crow, Dwight Yoakam, Dennis Haysbert, Mercedes Ruehl, and Janeane Garofalo. 1115am: To the library books sale. Back in the living room with 12 new novels by noon- all of them Police Procedurals or Legal Thrillers. I parked next to 529 S. 7th and the building is up for sale. Forty years ago I used to work there, and it does not seem like only yesterday. Checked out all of t...

Fr 1/10/2020- DUCT CLEANING- No Show! Up 720am: Extremely warm with temps to upper 50's, yet rain starting mid morning and lasting through Saturday. Rain amounts are significantly lower; topping out at maybe 3 inches when it's all over. Watched, 'ONE CHILD NATION' (Amazon Prime). Beginning in the early 80's the Chinese government adopted a policy of one child per family. Massive propaganda campaigns were instituted and government healthcare workers sought out pregnant women who already had a child and performed compulsory abortions. Many babies were abandoned and orphanages began selling these children to foreign families. By the early 90's, the state was involved in these highly profitable 'adoption mills'. The US prohibits abortion and the Chinese forcibly enacted laws to enforce abortion. At face value these two positions seem to be polar opposites, but both policies deny a woman's right to choose and affirms the right of the state to control ...

Th 1/9/2020 Up 7am: Cloudy, warm, very windy, and temps to 50. Rain begins late this afternoon and should continue through Saturday. It looks as if they've backed off a bit on the accumulation- now it's not quite three inches from over four. I made a comment on Reddit about Facebook: "Whatever 'news' you see on Facebook must be checked out on other media sources. Remember that what you are seeing on Facebook has been 'tailored' to agree with what you already believe, so if you're convinced it's the absolute truth, it's probably a lie". Watched, 'PASSION PLAY' (Amazon Prime). A quirky Art House film about a desolate trumpet player who finds a beautiful young woman who has actual wings like a bird. He takes her away from her carny boss, and then trades her to a local mob boss (Bill Murray makes an excellent villain). The trumpeter gets her back after he realizes that he has fallen in love with her and, in the end, they fly aw...

We 1/8/2020- Guy From Xfinity On The Pole Next Door Up 740am: Another cloudless day with temps to mid 30's. Heavy rains predicted for this weekend. This might be the first test of the new sump pump. Watched Netflix disc, 'STUBER'. A few cheap laughs, but overall it's a silly comedy because the premise is so unbelievable. A Los Angeles detective can't see after lasik surgery so he forces an Uber driver to help him apprehend a violent member of a drug gang; with Dave Bautista, Kumail Nanjiani, and Mira Sorvino as the evil, twisted cop. *****11am: I noticed a Xfinity truck parked in front of Boozer's old house and then watched the guy go up the pole behind the house. Hope my connection will not be affected. *****About 1120am the Internet went off, and I went out and asked the guy, and he said that it should be back on. It was. *****1130am: Now he's in the 'roof rake' house's backyard. He looked up at the pole in the back but didn't bothe...

Tu 1/7/2020 Up 8am: Bright, breezy, chilly, and sunny with temps to low 40's. Watched Netflix disc, 'CORPORATE ANIMALS'. A socially tone deaf CEO takes a group of her employees on a remote cave exploration to build Team Spirit, and they get trapped and resort to cannibalism. Works more like an extended comedy bit that you might see on something like SNL, but there were some funny moments; with Demi Moore, Ed Helms, Jessica Williams, and several more lesser known comedic actors. Watched the PBS documentary about Joe McCarthy, "MCCARTHY', that debuted on TV last night. Will save the last forty minutes for tonight. *****Called FedEx and it would be just over two dollars to make three copies of my driver's license. Why hasn't it shown up on my checking account? I used the debit card. 110pm: To County Market/ Fairhills to pick up the colonoscopy kit ($99.00!!!!), then to the Monroe PO to drop off the disc, and on to FitClub South. Stopped for gas at th...

Mo 1/6/2020- License Copy Freakout Up 620am: Partly sunny, calm, to lower 40's. Watched, 'KILLING ZOE' (Amazon Prime) " The story details a safe cracker named Zed who returns to France to aid an old friend in performing a doomed bank heist". I might have seen this one, but really worth another look; with Eric Stoltz, Julie Delpy, and Jean-Hugues Anglade. Jean-Hugues Anglade was fantastic as the junkie, ring-leader, HIV infected bank robber. The director, Roger Avary later wrote for Quentin Tarantino and 'Q' co-produced and wrote this one. Except for a few scenes, shot exclusively in Los Angeles. Watched a ten minute YouTube video on 'The Making Of' KILLING ZOE. Then, 'ZOMBIELAND' (Netflix) Two guys and two sisters on a road-trip across 'The U.S. of Zombieland'. Very witty 'voice-over' by Eisenberg and just good, bloody fun; with Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson, Abigail Breslin, and a brief cameo by Bill ...

Su 2/5/2020 Up 710am: Bright, breezy, and sunny- almost to 50. Watched, 'THE WEATHER MAN' (Amazon Prime) On the depressing side, but it does offer some uncanny insights about a man caught in a dead marriage, his emotional estrangement from his children, and a quirky examination of his hamfisted attempts to salvage his life; with Nicolas Cage, Michael Caine, Hope Davis, and Nicholas Hoult (he played J.D. Salinger in 'REBEL IN THE RYE'). Then, 'PRANK' (Amazon Prime) A couple of friends try to seek revenge on a high school classmate who was a bully. Over-the-top violence ensues. Shot on video tape and employs the 'found footage format' of countless other films. About a 'C' and the only reason I watched it is that the actress who played Nicolas Cage's overweight daughter in 'THE WEATHER MAN' played, 'Chunk' in this film- Gemmenne de la Pena. 1245pm: To the 'Y' for the workout. I was going to Walmart, but one of the...

Sa 1/4/2020 Up 740am: Very light snow just beginning when I got up and continued till about 9am. Just a slight dusting and it was all melted by 1030am- Temps to low 30's. Ordered small bags of dry cat food from Walmart. Scheduled for free pickup at the store. Ordered February's selection for the book club- 'EDUCATED'. Only $7.50 from Moonbokers. *****Later I found that this is an ebook. If it works on my phone, I've saved a bunch. Watched 'FREAKS' (Hoopla) Reviews caution you not to read anything about the film, and I haven't. A wild and crazy ride, and I'm thrilled that I didn't have a clue as to what it was about. A seven year old girl is living in a rundown house with her father. He's trying to teach her to be 'normal'. Actually, he's placed a hold on 'time' and he, his missing wife, and their seven year old daughter are 'abnormals' or 'freaks'. They've got super powers and the whole world i...

Fr 1/3/2020 Up 730am: Cloudy with temps to about 40. Watched, 'THE RIVER' (Amazon Prime) Dir. Tsai Ming-Liang.  Deadpan and relentlessly deliberate it's the story of a young man who agrees to play a floating corpse in a movie that's shooting on a polluted river. After the shoot, he's struck by debilitating neck pain, and his dysfunctional mother and father attempt to help, but they can do little. The film features a very chilling sub-plot about a homosexual relationship between the young man and his father (or step-father). Really quite a mesmerizing film, but definitely not for everyone because it is the antithesis of a Hollywood styled film. Set in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. Then, '1,000 Junkies' (Amazon Prime) At 7am on a sunny Los Angeles morning, three young addicts in a broken-down Volvo track down dealers and spend the day trying to score. Beautifully shot, an interesting soundtrack (includes 'ELECTRICITY' by Captain Beefheart) and t...

Th 1/2/20 Up 715am: Sunny early, but cloudy later- temps to about 50. Wrote up 'SYCAMORE ROW' for the blog. Watched 'MARY GOES ROUND' (Amazon Prime) A film with a novel premise- An addiction counselor with a drinking problem. After being arrested for drunk driving Mary hears that her estranged father desperately needs to see her. She travels to her hometown of Niagara Falls and meets her half-sister for the first time and learns that her father is dying of lung cancer. It's an interesting take on the 'alcoholic genre' of films; a stellar Canadian cast. Then, 'STUCK' (IMDB-TV) Directed by Stuart Gordon who directed yesterday's film, 'EDMOND'. He's known for his horror films such as 'RE-ANIMATOR'. A young girl hits a man crossing the street after a late night of partying. He goes through the windshield and she puts the car in her garage with the man still stuck in the windshield. Surprisingly good; with Mena Suvari and S...

1/1/20- New Year's Day Up 745am: Bright, windy, and sunny with temps to upper 40's. Watched Netflix disc, 'HUSTLERS'. The film makes the case that strippers are far more concerned with money than sex. They are strictly working for money and this is their job, and they are NOT interested in love, friendship, sexual gratification, or companionship. However, in this story (based on real events) a group of strippers fleece their customers by cleaning out their credit cards after drugging them, and obviously this is grand larceny; with Constance Wu, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Stiles. Will Ferrell and Jennifer Lopez were two of the co-producers."The whole world is a strip club, some people throw the money and others do the dancing". "Hurt People, Hurt People". Then, 'Edmond' (Amazon Prime) Because a fortune teller (that he visits on a whim), tells him that "he's not where he belongs', the man leaves his wife. And that night, he starts...