Sick Day Cinema

I'm holing up with my meds this weekend and trying to get better before my cousin's wedding/Thanksgiving get together down in Florida. Sick days are always good movie days. In the queue is Dead Man, Big Lebowski, Heat and, if I'm still awake, Taxi Driver.

I just finished watching Dead Man. This is a 1995 off-beat western starring Johnny Depp as William Blake--Cleveland accountant turned gun slinger through an unfortunate chain of events. It's kind of a western on quaaludes, which makes it such a good sick day movie. I've only seen it once and that was about 7 or 8 years ago. I'd forgotten how many great performances it has. The most memorable is that of an actor named Gary Farmer who plays an english speaking, indian warrior outcast who goes by the name Nobody. Nobody thinks Depp's William Blake is actually the English poet William Blake who he read about as a boy while in school in England. As a result he reveres Depp's character and treats him as a holy man. But before he figures out who Depp is, or who he thinks he is, he addresses him as "stupid f*cking white man".

Blake is pursued by a trio of odd-ball hired killers played by Lance Heinricksen, Michael Wincott and another guy who's name I don't know and am too lazy to go search for right now. It doesn't matter really since Heinricksen and Wincott pretty much own the screen any time they're on. Heinricksen's a cold-blooded killer with a taste for human flesh. Wincott provides some comic relief as an assassin that sleeps with a teddy bear and blathers incessantly much to the annoyance of his travelling companions. There are also great cameos by Crispin Glover, Billy Bob Thornton, Robert Mitchum, John Hurt and Iggy Pop as a cross-dressing psychopath. At least I'm pretty sure Iggy knew it was just a movie.

As weird as it all sounds, the slow pace, gorgeous black and white cinematography and haunting soundtrack by Neil Young keeps it all from getting too Mel Brooks. I believe it and Ong Bak will be my next DVD purchases.

Oh, and may I suggest BLT sandwiches as an awesome alternative to chicken soup. I strongly recommend you splurge and get the good, thick cut bacon from the butcher's case instead of the chemically smoked, vacuum packed kind. That, accompanied by a good strong cup of coffee, made for some killer comfort food.

Next up, the Dude, more meds and a little bourbon.