Silent Running
John is in California this week, so I am playing single mom. Today I woke at 6:30, made eggs for the boys at 7:15, and got both boys to school more or less on time. I rewarded myself with a hot chocolate and a bagel from D&D and sat at my desk to watch the rest of Silent Running (this is the 1973 sci-fi film, NOT the one about the Jamaican bobsled team - that one is Cool Runnings.)
Why was I watching a little known film from the 70s? It's rather convoluted.
See, Netflix recommended I watch Zathura. When Zathura came out in 2005, besides being busy with a child and a newborn kitten, I was all "Weak! It's just a copycat of Jumanji - cursed board game with a space theme rather than a slightly un-PC African adventure themed board game and a less-than-stellar cast. Feh. Why bother..." Yeah.
But Netflix had a good rating for it and it kept popping up in my recommendations, so...I watched it the other day. And it WAS good. Sure, similar idea to Jumanji, but it held up well with it's own story line. So that got me thinking. Were there other sci-fi movies that I'd passed on that were actually worth viewing? I did a Google search on "underrated sci-fi movies" and found a bunch of articles various people wrote with their recommendations. I breezed through looking for hidden gems. Most of the time I was "Seen it. Seen it. That's not underrated, it's just crap! Seen it. Oh! What's THIS one???" The first of my discoveries was Flight of the Navigator (and strangely, a day after I watched it, 2 people on Facebook mentioned the movie. Weird.)
Now how did I miss Flight of the Navigator?! Sarah Jessica Parker! I love her! Oh...1986? That was a complicated year. Work. College. Boyfriend troubles. Anywho, I watched it. Cute movie. Very much for kids.
Back to the underrated lists... and that's when Silent Running came up. I read the description of the film on Amazon and it totally didn't ring a bell, so I started watching it last night. About 20 minutes in, I remembered seeing it before. Once. On TV. When I was a kid. I hated it then. Time and maturity have improved my appreciation of the film, somewhat, but ugh that Joan Baez soundtrack was awful. No offence intended to fans of her music, it's just not my cup of tea. By the second time she started to sing, I wanted to hurl a shoe at her to stop her caterwauling. Save the trees, oh won't someone think of the children, whine, ugh, shut UP already. I agree with the sentiment, but yikes.
Bruce Dern was amazing as the botanist Freeman Lowell...but I hated the way the movie ended. I would have done it differently. LOL I'm willing to bet it sparked many heated conversations back in the day. Anyone else seen it? Watch it then comment. Would love to hear your thoughts.
Why was I watching a little known film from the 70s? It's rather convoluted.
See, Netflix recommended I watch Zathura. When Zathura came out in 2005, besides being busy with a child and a newborn kitten, I was all "Weak! It's just a copycat of Jumanji - cursed board game with a space theme rather than a slightly un-PC African adventure themed board game and a less-than-stellar cast. Feh. Why bother..." Yeah.
But Netflix had a good rating for it and it kept popping up in my recommendations, so...I watched it the other day. And it WAS good. Sure, similar idea to Jumanji, but it held up well with it's own story line. So that got me thinking. Were there other sci-fi movies that I'd passed on that were actually worth viewing? I did a Google search on "underrated sci-fi movies" and found a bunch of articles various people wrote with their recommendations. I breezed through looking for hidden gems. Most of the time I was "Seen it. Seen it. That's not underrated, it's just crap! Seen it. Oh! What's THIS one???" The first of my discoveries was Flight of the Navigator (and strangely, a day after I watched it, 2 people on Facebook mentioned the movie. Weird.)
Now how did I miss Flight of the Navigator?! Sarah Jessica Parker! I love her! Oh...1986? That was a complicated year. Work. College. Boyfriend troubles. Anywho, I watched it. Cute movie. Very much for kids.
Back to the underrated lists... and that's when Silent Running came up. I read the description of the film on Amazon and it totally didn't ring a bell, so I started watching it last night. About 20 minutes in, I remembered seeing it before. Once. On TV. When I was a kid. I hated it then. Time and maturity have improved my appreciation of the film, somewhat, but ugh that Joan Baez soundtrack was awful. No offence intended to fans of her music, it's just not my cup of tea. By the second time she started to sing, I wanted to hurl a shoe at her to stop her caterwauling. Save the trees, oh won't someone think of the children, whine, ugh, shut UP already. I agree with the sentiment, but yikes.
Bruce Dern was amazing as the botanist Freeman Lowell...but I hated the way the movie ended. I would have done it differently. LOL I'm willing to bet it sparked many heated conversations back in the day. Anyone else seen it? Watch it then comment. Would love to hear your thoughts.
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