Pynchon

After the one line post on Friday, I decided to have a break. I didn't know how long the break was going to last for. Turns out it lasted for two days. There was every chance it might have lasted for longer.

I didn't have the energy or the inclination to write. I suppose I could have forced something out, but what would have been the point of that? No point.

Yawn... I am unwell again. I have developed a rash on both arms and on my chest and have been scratching like crazy. Luckily my handsome features are unaffected. I don't know what has caused the rash. A change of shower gel? (I'm on Obsession at the moment. I've used it before, with no problems.) Too much chocolate? (It's Easter, for God's sake! I eat chocolate at Easter. Sue me.) The change in the weather? (It might be a heat rash. I've changed to my thinner coat, but was wearing a thin blue jumper for a couple of days. I was a little bit over warm.) Was it Lorraine's cooking when Lorraine's step dad and dodgy missus turned up nearly unannounced on Saturday night? (We had turkey. It tasted OK.) Or maybe I am some suffering from some kind of tropical disease?

I'm coughing as well. Pain in the arse.

It's been a bit of a Danny Boyle festival in Residence Chez Pynchon. I have seen 5 films by the man in 4 days ("Shallow Grave", "Trainspotting", "28 Days Later", "A Life Less Ordinary" on TV and "Sunshine" at the cinema), but it has meant me staying up until the early hours and getting up later than normal, and it has fucked my internal clock up. I feel quite shagged, to be quite honest, and not in a good way.

No more illness talk.

Talking of "Sunshine"...



(There were other pictures I could have chosen, but doesn't Rose Byrne, even dressed down, look particularly tasty in the above picture?

By the way, did you know that she got down to the final two for the female lead in "Casino Royale"? You didn't know that? Well you do now. I think it could have worked, but Eva Green was still wonderful.)

Neil Sedaka once said something along the lines of the following. I remember watching the interview. It was a good one.

"There is nothing new in Rock and Roll. Styles come, styles go and styles repeat themselves. The important thing to remember is that when everything has been done, and everything has been tried, all that will be left are the great songs."

I thought that was a pretty incisive quote and it applies perfectly to "Sunshine".

Critics have commented that what Danny Boyle and Alex Garland have done is to make a movie by piercing together their favourite bits from other Science Fiction films. I have heard these films mentioned. "2001: A Space Odyssey", "Dark Star", "Event Horizon", "Alien", "Silent Running". I wouldn't disagree with one word of that assessment.

What I would say, and I don't like using this particular word because it is overused by overexcited blockbuster reviewers, is that "Sunshine" is absolutely Brilliant and as of this weekend is my favourite film of the year so far. It is an astonishing good film. Thoughtful and strange. "Sunshine" stuck in my head that much that I didn't want to see another film this weekend, for the fear of spoiling the feeling.

"Sunshine" is a mix of the hallucinatory feel of "2001: A Space Odyssey" (especially the ambiguous ending), the grungy, working spaceship dynamics of "Dark Star" (and the character Pinback is referenced), the race against time plotting of "Event Horizon", the tension and claustrophobia of "Alien" and the Eco awareness of "Silent Running". There are really great performances in this movie, but Chris Evans in particular is a real stand out as a cold and ruthless scientist. He completely buries his smart alec persona from "Fantastic Four" (which is a film I liked) and emerges as quite an interesting actor. There are amazing special effects (this movie was apparently made for 50 million dollars, which is frankly chicken feed) and is black and dark and weird.

It's a great song of familiar elements.

A few years ago Danny Boyle was in the frame to make "Alien: Resurrection". Such a shame. On this showing he should have been given the job.

Anything else?

Oh, yes. Lorraine and I haven't talked yet. We have kind of been stepping around each other all weekend and it just hasn't happened. I sat down with her this afternoon and she asked if it could wait until next weekend. She didn't want to get into anything seriously serious just before she goes back to work.

I said OK. What else could I say, but it is OK. We are getting on just fine, so long as I don't push the wrong buttons. That's good enough for the moment.

Labels: Illness, Lorraine, Movies