Something interesting happened to me today… not ‘interesting’ like, “Wow! Aliens landed in my back yard!” but rather ‘interesting’ like, “Huh… that’s kinda neat.” Lemme start like this: a few years ago I watched a little-heard-of movie called Nightwatch with Ewan McGregor. This little gem was the first film I had seen him in since Trainspotting and was curious to see how he would do in a thriller. Well, I was pleasantly surprised with both him and the movie in general.
With me so far? Gut.
This morning I was watching the few good parts of RotS and seeing someone lose a hand (or two) in an Ewan McGregor flick got me thinking about Nightwatch. (the reasons for this are obvious to anyone who has ever seen it) This led to me thinking about another fairly obscure flick also called Night Watch. It’s another little-heard-of flick released a few years ago in Russia. When I later IMDB’d it, I was delighted to see that it had been released in the US on DVD. With an English language track no less! So, off I went to the video store.
While I was browsing for more flicks to fill out my ‘5 for 5’ combo I ran across Stay, yet another little-heard-of Ewan McGregor flick. That’s it. That was the interesting thing. There were more cyclical coincidences involved but they get rather (more) esoteric from here on out plus, I’m afraid they would only make sense with my own ‘A to B to C’ fuzzy rationale behind them.
Btw, if you find yourself with a couple hours to spare, you should give Stay a shot. It’s a decent retelling of a fairly tired theme, but, it’s the camerawork, cinematography, transitions and attention to detail that really shine here. Don’t expect The Maltese Falcon or an M. Knight Sham-alama-ding-dong masturbatory piece and chances are, you will not be disappointed.
Oh, and if you have seen it and you were wondering (like me) why Ewan’s character is always seen in high-water pants, highlight the rest of this post to find out why. Just a warning tho: it’ll probably be enuf info to constitute a spoiler=)
The reason is this: It’s because when Henry first sees him, Sam is crouching down next to him, and his pants ride up when he does this.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
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4 comments:
It's an interesting distinction you make about Stay because Ewan's Nightwatch is one of my favorite movies--not because it was highly original or superb, but because as far as movie soundtracks go, this one's was perfect, and remains the only film I can think of with a perfect soundtrack to this day.
ok, I didn't dig Stay. It was too much a Jacob's Ladder rip-off, which I caught too early on. Enh.
Oh-kay, are you sure you were paying attention? About the only thing it had in common with J’s Ladder was the fact that thematically, they were both based on near-death hallucinations. Saying Stay is too much like a J’s Ladder rip-off is sorta like saying Shaun of the Dead is too much like a Night of the Living Dead rip-off cause you were able to spot the zombies rather early on, lol.
It's the thematic aspect that I hated. I know many themes get repeated throughout films (like zombie movies, and such) but for some reason, "Imaging life going on as I lay dying" theme is one of those that bugs me when it shows up again and again. Thematically, J.'s Ladder was a rip-off too (it was done in Twilight Zone...which ripped its story from an 18th century short story) but it was the first I was exposed to and the only one I can still fully enjoy--the others, less fun for me when I realize the folks are just figments of other folks' imagination.
Anyway, back to your original theme of the post--cinematically, it WAS interesting to watch. Interestingly filmed. It just didn't end up my cup of tea. Sorry
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