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Saturday, January 11 movie madness
I’ve been in a movie mood lately. I think it's got something to do with the Jan/Feb blues. Just saw “Gangs of New York” in the theatre ..long, lonnnngggg flick...and damn me …I finally saw “A Perfect Storm.” Had to wait to see it on the TV but I saw it. Anyway seeing these two movies back to back is making me feel a tad odd. Way odd. Gangs left me feeling kind of small and meaningless standing against the onslaught of time and history. (also left me wondering just what the hell happened with Daniel Day Lewis's accent...did we really talk like guys from Bensonhurst in the mid 1,800's??) Storm made me feel lucky as hell to be on dry land but also made me feel a little guilty for not ever taking the time to understand how the rest of the world lives. I was mesmerized by this inside look at the life of a swordfisherman and their loved ones. Sorta seemed like the New England fisherman wasn't so far off from the Texas cowboy. It’s not like I'd get to know any fisherman in NYC although I do spend a lot of time in Provincetown where Sebastian Junger hangs out and where a lot of dudes and dudettes who could have been role models for this movie drink a lot. It's just that Damn there’s a whole world full of lives out there I know nothing about. Wonder what goes thru the mind of a miner? How does it feel to be in a Coast Guard rescue crew? Shit the only thing I think about when I see a swordfish is how much I prefer tuna not what its like to go out into the middle of hell and harpoon one of these suckers. But my point is, what the hell is my point? Hmmm I guess it’s something like aint it amazing how seeing a movie is what we do to escape our life, but if the movie strikes a nerve it can make us think about our life a thousand times more. So now I’m floating in the water with Mark Wahlberg while he says his distant good-byes to Dianne Lane thinking what’s it all for..what have I done? Have I done enough? How long can Mark swim? Do sharks come out in a storm? Why the hell didn’t I see this on a big screen? And I’m watching Daniel Day Lewis’s accent go from Brooklyn to lord... sounded like China and back again and wondering why there’s a whole chunk of New York City history I knew nothing about. Who knew New Yorkers rioted in the street trying to not fight in the Civil War? I always assumed that all Yankees ran into the war whole heartedly. I’d like to think I woulda. Who knew that rich folks could buy their way out of the war for 300 bucks? If a draft came today, would the rich be allowed to get out for 3,000 bucks or 30,000? Will today’s history be as forgotten as it seems this part of the 1,800’s was? Forgotten by all but history buffs until some distant showman makes a movie or whatever it is that they make a hundred years from now (maybe a satellite telecast from Pluto) out of our time. Will they be called the Bush junior years. The war years. The terror years. The years that even liberal peace loving chitlins like myself got the war bug. Sigh. I’m out there in the water with Marky Mark while the waves crash over us and we’re trying to keep our heads above water and I’m thinking why the hell do I have to die with Marky Mark? Why can’t I be warm in bed with Dianne Lane? I’m also wondering will the decisions we make today be remembered tomorrow? Will the decisions we make today prevent tomorrow from coming? I gotta start watching more comedies.
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