Some much needed down time

I took this weekend to do something I don’t normally do – rest. I’ve had a horrible week at work, and there are at least two more to go. During my down time I started reading a new novel on my Nook. About fifteen pages into it, I thought to myself “So THAT’S why I read as much as I can - because every now and then, I’ll come across something THAT good.”

I wish I felt the same way about film right now, but unfortunately there isn’t anything THAT good. In fact, there isn’t really anything good at all. (If you know anything that is good, email me PLEASE!)

I also decided that for this week’s films I didn’t want anything with too much of a plot or requireding much thought. I turned to Redbox for assistance, and came out with Mel Gibson in “Edge of Darkness”. During the film, one of the characters says “She deserved so much better”, and I couldn’t have said it better myself. Going in, I knew the general plot. Gibson (sporting an intermittent Boston accent) plays a dad who watches his daughter murdered and tries to hunt down her killer. Unfortunately, instead of a murder mystery or a “who done it” (which I thought I was getting), it’s actually a government conspiracy story. SERIOUSLY? I know there’s such a thing as suspending belief, but there’s only so much a girl can let go. Gibson does look bereaved, but maybe that’s because he actually was affiliated with this goop. For the last third, I really only paid half attention and the last scenes seem so stupidly symbolic that I thought I was watching a cancelled CBS TV show instead of a film.

The next day I read some more, cleared my head and decided to give it another go. The film was from one of my favorites, Dario Argento. It’s called “Giallo”, starring Adrien Brody. (I know, I was surprised too.) It’s a typical Argento story – there’s a rash of murders in the city and pretty women are dropping like flies. Enter our hero, a troubled detective, who eventually catches the killer, who was actually revealed in the beginning of the film. There are also multiple cool death scenes. After the recent misfires by Argento, I really enjoyed this film. It may have been my mood today, but I found it entertaining. The run time of about 90 minutes also helps. There was something comforting about this film, an almost 80s look with an almost film noir feel. There also isn’t all that much gratuitous nudity, which was a welcome surprise. It’s a great film to watch while you’re on autopilot.

I’d love to stay and gripe some more, but I do hear my novel calling me, as well as tonight’s finale of “Breaking Bad”. I’m not giving up cinematic hope though. Summer’s slate might suck, but fall’s not THAT far away – it just feels that way.