Double Feature

 

In order to entice the crowds back to the cinemas, one theatre is offering double features of "James Bond 007" at the usual price. 

Seeing these movies from the 70s at the cinema was a real treat. I really enjoyed it despite the air conditioning failing. I was offered my money back but since their business is struggling with pandemic restrictions I declined.

In the 70s I would ride my bicycle to the other side of town to see cheap double features of war movies and westerns.

Now if they would only do -
Back to the Future I & II
A Fistfull of Dollars / For a Few Dollars More
Funny Girl / What's Up, Doc?
The Graduate / Midnight Cowboy
The Time Machine (1960) / The Planet of the Apes (1968)
Doctor Zhivago (A double feature by itself)
Lawrence of Arabia (A double feature by itself)
Breakfast at Tiffany's / Sabrina
Ben Hur / Quo Vadis
Logan's Run / Silent Running
...

My main complaint about the internet streaming services is I cannot find the old movies I want to see.

A year in movies

 

 

1 Jan    New Year's Day        About A Boy

12 Jan    HAL 9000 B'day      2001: A Space Odyssey

26 Jan    Australia Day         The Castle

27 Jan    Mozart B'day          Amadeus

 2 Feb    Groundhog Day      Groundhog Day

14 Feb   Valentine's Day       Strictly Ballroom / Down with Love

15 Mar   Ides of March         Gladiator

19 Mar   Bruce Willis Day      Fifth Element

25 Apr   ANZAC Day             Gallipoli

            Easter Sunday         Life of Brian

 4 May   Star Wars Day         Star Wars

 7 May   Tchaikovsky B'day    Anna Karenina

19 May  Beloved's B'day        Breakfast at Tiffanys

25 May  Towel Day               Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

 3 Jun   Son B'day                Kingdom of Heaven

 6 Jun   D-Day                     Saving Private Ryan

21 Jun  Winter Solstice         Dark City

22 Jul   My B'day                 Casablanca

21 Aug  Son B'day                A.I.

11 Sep   Disaster Day           Troy

19 Sep  Talk like a Pirate Day  Pirates of the Caribbean

31 Oct   Halloween                Sleepy Hollow

 5 Nov   Guy Fawkes Day       V for Vendetta

11 Nov  Remembrance Day    All Quiet at the Western Front

19 Nov                                 Blade Runner

25 Nov  Son B'day                 Napoleon Dynamite

21 Dec  Summer Solstice        Lawrence of Arabia

24 Dec  Xmas Eve                  Die Hard

25 Dec  Xmas                        Love Actually

31 Dec  New Year's Eve          Passengers

Die Hard

I enjoy re-watching a favourite movie at the right season.
One of the best xmas movies is -- Die Hard with not only Bruce Willis but also Alan Rickman. And Beethoven wrote the music for them.

Watching today I noticed for the first time the polluted Los Angeles orange sunset at the start of the movie. Pollution shown as is in the Columbo TV series and taken to extreme in Bladerunner 2049.  The Calfornians got used to the pollution.

The smoke haze over my home continues. The sky is white not blue. The air is not fit to breathe. Australias environment minister is in Spain arguing for Australia to do less to save the world. Where is Bruce Willis when you need him?

November 2019, Los Angeles

I have seen Blade Runner - The Final Cut at a movie theatre. A fantastic movie about what it is to be human.

The pollution, the crazy weather, and disappearing animals are the background - they have come true. Though the weather in California is more wildfire than rain. Flying cars and interplanetary migration are still fantasy.

One thing that is quietly in progress is the robot revolution. There are ten-storey warehouses being built in Australia for major grocery retailers. No people handle the goods - all de-palleting, storing, repalleting, scheduling is by robots and algorithms. There are no lights because they are not needed. Each warehouse replaces hundreds of jobs.

If you liked the movie there is a great novel set in the same universe -
Tears in Rain by Rosa Montero.
Another book with a similar theme - of being human - is The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi.