For the last week my wife and I have both had terrifically terrible head colds. We create create quite the modern symphony with our constant cacophony of coughing, and have the modern art equivalent with our mountains of filthy tissues piled up in each room. I continue to buy various over-the-counter medications and continue to take them in various amounts and combinations which leave me in various states of mental capabilities. It is absolutely awful. Getting no sleep, being in constant pain, continuously coughing and being regularly drugged out of my mind is ridiculously not at all fun. I won’t at all compare myself to Hunter S. Thompson, and if this is how he regularly felt, I don’t want to. I can’t imagine being in similar states on a daily basis.But boy do I sure love to read his writing.
As the story goes Johnny Deep found an unpublished manuscript of The Rum Diary when he was visiting Thompson at his Colorado home while preparing for his the film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Depp and Thompson sat right down and began reading the thing, with Depp then convincing Thompson to publish it. Now Deep has brought the book to the movie screen as producer and actor.
The film got pretty mixed reviews from both critics and audiences but that isn’t stopping it from becoming my pick of the week. I have a great fondness for both Hunter S. Thompson and Johnny Depp, and I find Depp’s performance as Thompsons’s alter ego in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas to be one of his best. Watching him do it again in Rum Diary feels like a no-brainer even if I suspect I’ll be somewhat disappointed with the over all picture. After all, sometimes you just have to buy the ticket and take the ride.
Also out this week that looks interesting:
Woody Allen: A Documentary: Originally a PBS special this two-part, over three-hour documentary chronicles every aspect of the acclaimed director’s career. I caught bits and pieces of it when it aired and I very much want to sit down and watch the entire thing as I like Allen a great deal. What I did see of the film felt a little light to me, like it took more of a fan approach than a scholarly one, but I won’t swear to that as I was visiting with my folks at the time and highly distracted from the film. But I love PBS and I love Allen so this is absolutely something I’ll be watching again.
Doctor Who: “The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe”: I’m still catching up with the new Doctor, but everyone said this past year’s Christmas special was excellent and here it is in its own DVD set. Not sure if it will get repackaged into the entire season’s DVD set when it comes out, but for thos of us who just can’t wait we can get this one episode nice and early.
Doctor Who: Ep. 07 – “The Sensorites” / Ep. 136 – “The Caves of Androzani”: Speaking of Doctor Who here we’ve got two DVD sets from two of the earlier Doctors. “The Sensorites” stars the First Doctor, William Hartnell, and the “Caves of Androzani” features the transition of the Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison, into the Sixth, Colin Baker. I never watched the series when either of those actors played the Doctor, but once I’ve caught up with the new series I suspect I’ll go back and visit all the old ones.
Three Outlaw Samurai: Cinema Sentries’ own Steve Geise gave this one a pretty tepid review, but I can’t say no to a Samurai film.
Nude Nuns With Big Guns: I also can’t say no to exploitation flicks with great titles.
