A movie review if you will: We went to check out The Day The Earth Stood Still this afternoon. It's not the God Almighty train wreck that many have been saying it will be - on the other hand, it's not Close Encounters either. What it is though, is a reasonably good homage to the original, it just seems to lose it's way about the half way point as though some money-men walked onto the set and demanded that more be explained than is necessary. Ironically, probably not unlike those guys in the Orange advert.
For the most part, Reeves is excellent as Klaatu and his big pal, Gort, is even more impressive, but what I was really hoping for was the understated menace that the original possessed in droves and I didn't get it. In its own way, it's thoroughly enjoyable, doesn't leave a bad taste in the mouth and on the whole does what it probably set out to do.
A small forest fire rather than a scorched earth.
Far more interesting was the trailer for the new Mickey Rourke movie The Wrestler. Check out the trailer here. This is the movie that will surely catapult Rourke back into the stratosphere, much as Pulp Fiction did for Travolta.
The plot runs thus: "Back in the late ’80s, Randy “The Ram” Robinson (Mickey Rourke) was a headlining professional wrestler. Now, twenty years later, he ekes out a living performing for handfuls of diehard wrestling fans in high school gyms and community centers around New Jersey. Estranged from his daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) and unable to sustain any real relationships, Randy lives for the thrill of the show and the adoration of his fans. However, a heart attack forces him into retirement. As his sense of identity starts to slip away, he begins to evaluate the state of his life..."
Just noticed, it's my birthday. Happy Birthday to me... it may be 1am, but where the hell is everybody? Where's all the screaming girls? Upstairs in bed asleep until at least 8 o'clock with a bit of luck. Which somehow reminds me that this week, I read the Adam Ant biography and (for some reason) Gary Barlow's as well. Life ain't so different for those who make it into the public eye. The highs are not really any higher than your average Joe gets from snatching a lucky break but the lows are like getting tossed off your surfboard in water that's just a little too deep to stand up in. Rough.
Bedtime. I may be packing a few years behind me but remember kids, it's just not right to go to bed in the same day that you got up in.
