Invasion of the Eyes of the Planet of the...

…oh I don’t know.

My low period of disinterest persists, which I’ve unwisely tried to “cure” with alcohol. I’m going to have to stop that though. I’m getting through each day in relatively good spirits, but having hope taken away from you by what’s happening in the news does, indeed, make it difficult to get out of bed in the morning. It sounds like my regular pub won’t be opening next week like many others, as the guidelines set out for hospitality services are too restrictive. Sigh. I wanted one thing.

I've done a little creative writing this week, which I always seem to run out of inspiration for. It's so frustrating. I know I have a novel or three in me, but my ever-changing mental state is such a handicap. What I started the other day is a fairly low-key drama, so maybe that'll be easy to stick too. I just need to make sure I write something each day, even if it's a paragraph. Self-discipline seems to be the key, but the one thing I'm lacking.

I’m talking more to my old gaming buddy, which is boosting my spirits, although he now says his TV’s died, which may just be a polite way of avoiding me. But that’s ok. I’m sure I’m just being paranoid, as we’re in text communication most days. I told those new gaming acquaintances that it’s best we don’t chat anymore, as our age difference has made me rather uneasy. I thought it wise to stick to people in my own age bracket. It’s a shame, as they’re a nice bunch and a good laugh, so making that decision depressed me for a few days. It’s definitely for the best though.

Apart from that, things have been pretty quiet. The bad weather has kept people indoors, so my street has been party free, thank goodness. Text communication with friends has been sporadic and brief, but enough to keep me buoyant. The only regular contact I seem to be having is with grocery or takeaway delivery people. Maybe I should ring a sex chat line just for a gossip. No kinky talk, just a friendly chin-wag. Maybe somebody’s already set something like that up – a lockdown chat line. Who knows. It’d be great if people were using hook-up apps like Grindr to meet up and stand within six feet of each other. No touching or nudity, just close proximity. At the moment that would be considered kinky.

I’ve not been reading much, but I have been buying in new DVD/Blu-rays to broaden my movie knowledge. This included Irvin Kershner’s The Eyes of Laura Mars, starring the fabulous Faye Dunaway. It’s a Hitchcockian thriller about a photographer who psychically sees through the eyes of a murderer as the murderer commits their crimes. It’s an entertaining film, but I just kept thinking how much better it would be if it was directed by Brian De Palma. Afterwards, I watched Dressed to Kill and sighed deeply at how wonderful it was. Kershner’s work on The Empire Strikes Back and Robocop 2 was fantastic but, yes, De Palma would have been more appropriate for Laura Mars. I actually guessed who the killer was early on, as they mention that the only people to have seen the crime scene photographs were the police. That kinda gave it away. Still, it’s worth watching, but a little more visual flare would have gone a long way. Oh, the late Raul Julia has a small role in it too, which automatically makes the whole thing better than 99% of other movies out there. Damn I miss that man.

I’ve decided to have a big ape binge for some reason, so I’ve invested in the 9-disc Planet of the Apes film boxset (which includes the recent reboot/prequel trilogy) and the short-lived 70s TV series. Apart from Franklin J. Schaffner’s 1968 original and Tim Burton’s blah remake, I’ve not seen any of these films. Actually, along with prison dramas and gangster biopics, films about animals generally count as one of my least favourite genres. I always make an exception for Schaffner though, including his great prison drama Papillon. So, yeah, I watched Rise of the Planet of the Apes yesterday, which I really enjoyed. I did watch the first half an hour of it years and years ago, but the laboratory stuff at the beginning annoyed me. It’s such an unrealistically fictitious environment, and nobody talks like I’m sure real pharmaceutical laboratory people talk. It’s a very silly place. But, no fear, after we move away from those opening scenes and James Franco takes Caesar home, things improve drastically. Why isn’t John Lithgow just in every movie ever made? Wouldn’t that make the world a much better place? I guess he’d get pretty tired after a while though, like that Treehouse of Horror episode of The Simpsons where Krusty’s forced to be on television 24/7. Anyway, I’ll be watching Dawn of the Planet of the Apes later on today, which I hear is very good.

I also bought Philip Kaufman’s version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, which actually seems to have inspired Shaun of the Dead more than Dawn of the Dead did. It’s a marvellously creepy film with great sound editing, and everybody’s wonderful in it. I was trying to work out who Brooke Adams reminded me of while I was watching it, then it came to me… Dredd’s very own Judge Anderson – Olivia Thirlby! It’s almost uncanny, like Jessica Harper and Ellen Page. But, yes, I’m glad I now have Kaufman’s film in my collection, as I remember catching it on telly probably when I was a teenager and loving it. Now it’s mine. Forever! Mwahahahaha! I shall include it in my collection of films featuring Veronica Cartwright screaming a lot. It’s quite a large collection, as you can imagine. She’s one of my all-time favourite people.

I finally got around to watching the LGBT drama Carol on Sunday, which I wasn’t too impressed with. Everybody, both cast and crew, are trying their asses off, except for the dull-as-a-plank-of-wood Rooney Mara. She’s so tragically miscast. Her character should have been bright eyed and full of youthful energy, invigorating Cate Blanchett’s titular Carol during her difficult divorce but, no, she’s a blank slate. There’s one scene where she shows some passion and it really stands out. Not because it’s good, but because it seems like such an effort for her. I’m not sure who I would have cast, but she brings the whole thing down, which showed when I realised I just didn’t care whether she and Carol got together at the end. You really should be rooting for your star-crossed lovers. But I didn’t. What a shame.

Well, I think that’s all for now. I best go watch talking apes having crazy adventures in the post-apocalypse. If you can think of something better to do, I’d like to hear it.

You can’t, can you? Didn’t think so.

Do stay in touch, you damned dirty apes.

Toodles!