Errol, Classic Films, and Sabatini

It's sad, really. Here I am, lusting after someone who's been dead since '59, though if he were still alive, he would be my grandparents' age. I refrained from too much gushing in my movie review of Captain Blood, but yowza, where has he been all my life? :) Errol Flynn is attractive in a square-jawed, boyish, devil-may-care-but-if-he-does-here's-what-I-think-of-that way. And it sure looks like he knows what he's doing with a sword. I await the tounge-in-cheek comments I know some of you will want to make on that one. Refer to Edmond Rostand if you need some inspiration...

I indulged myself this weekend and watched a total of eight movies in four days (none on Sunday, though). Four of same were classics, the newest having been filmed in 1952, and three of those I'd never seen before. I had to drive all the way down to Marda Loop to rent them, but it was worth it. All four were wonderful. But most video stores seem to be weeding out their classics. Even if they're available on DVD, it's rare to find them. And yet they carry P.O.S. movies from the Eighties without question. Are my tastes too high-brow? Do most people think that good movies have to be in colour, or they aren't good at all? It's sad, so very sad.

Anyway, watching Captain Blood and Scaramouche made me want to read some Sabatini, but do you think the library carries very much? No. Grrr... But then I got to thinking, if I do an undergraduate thesis as one of my 500 level courses, wouldn't it be fun to do something with fencing literature? Maybe the University library has Sabatini!

The movies I watched this weekend:

• Friday
• Kiss of Death - Eh. David Caruso, Samuel L. Jackson, and Nicholas Cage. All of them over-the-top. If you don't think too much, it's a decent mystery.
• Swing Kids - I want to take swing dance lessons. Very good.
• Saturday
  • The Thin Man - Nick and Nora Charles solve a mystery, but are between half and completely tanked the entire time. I was shaking my head and laughing. Wonderful interaction.
  • Laura - Seen this one before, and it's still as good. I love noir.
  • Red Dawn - Missed the first ten minutes of this one, as it was on TV, but caught the rest. 1980s American paranoia. Fascinating from that perspective.
• Sunday - none
• Monday
  • Captain Blood - See above link to review. The movie was awesome!
  • Scaramouche - Review here. Very enjoyable.
  • The Man Who Wasn't There - The Coen brothers do noir. 'Nuff said.