Why I loved the original Bladerunner...

It's funny, or maybe not so funny, the things that I read online that inspire a post. Sometimes it's something as simple as a random comment to a spoilery review of a new movie that I peeked at.

The random comment: "Why do you like Bladerunner? I never understood the cult appeal of that film."

Why do we like what we like? It's an interesting question. Not everyone can easily answer. Clint Eastwood was once asked why he liked the films he did. And his response: "I just like them, I don't feel the need to think too hard about it. And does it matter? I just like what I like." Not everyone is introspective or reflective about these sorts of things.

I saw BladeRunner -- the original version with Rutguer Hauer, Daryl Hannah, Harrison Ford and Scean Young in the early 1980s, when it first premiered in theaters. My mother took me to it, and it was just us and about twenty other people in the theater. We loved it so much we drug the rest of the family to it soon after. (We were to repeat the experience shortly thereafter with Back to the Future -- a film neither of us were overtly fond of and had rated poorly in the pre-screening that we went to, but people loved for whatever reason. My mother found Back to the Future to be predictable and rather silly, cringe-inducing in places. My father however enjoyed it tremendously. And we saw the sequels in the theaters -- but movies were admittedly much cheaper back then.)

I asked my mother what it was about Bladerunner that she loved.
( spoilers for Original Bladerunner ending )

But, as I write this I wonder as I often have in the past why it is important to try to explain what may well be the inexplicable. There are just some things we can't explain to someone else. They either get it or they don't. And when they do? It's magic. Isn't it? And when they don't? We feel that much more alone somehow...on a rooftop, in the rain, as time drifts by us, our memories flying upwards into the sky.

(no subject)

1. My favorite blog continues to be Smart Bitches -- which is currently reviewing Bawdy Boxes (basically boxes with erotica and sex toys).

In the linked review --- the reviewer is fighting with her cat over possession of the items in the box. In particular....

( cat takes liking to...sex toy )

The only downside of Smart Bitches is they tempt me towards buying books and ahem, other things, that I really really don't need. So far, only given in on the books.

[The internet is also making me want to adopt a cat again. I can't adopt a cat. Bad internet. Bad.]

2. Speaking of (books, not cats), currently reading Rose Lerner's True Pretenses which I discovered on sale via Smart Bitches. (It was about $1.99 or thereabouts.) Actually pretty good, if a tad slow. And very different than the usual fare. Two social media friends rated it fairly high on Good Reads.

It's definitely innovative.

The story? A Jewish Swindler strikes a deal with a politically active Lady, who in order to remain politically active and influential, requires access to her trust fund. But alas, she can't get it until she gets married. He suggests she marry his brother to free up her funds. The brother will stick around for six months, make the marriage legal, then she'll help him purchase a commission (about three thousand pounds, a small pittance of her trust) and she can keep the rest. She agrees -- except she wants to marry him, not the his brother. It takes place somewhere in the 1800s, when the Tory's and the Whigs were the two big political parties in England.

That's the set up.

Also, as a nice turn of pace, there are homosexual characters in the story -- not the leads, and it's not a huge deal. The writer just sort of calmly references it, and references how they are hidden.
I did a double-take, blink and you'd miss the reference.

The writer definitely has something to say --- well more than most of these writers who seem to just want to write about how love conquers all or dysfunctional families. Racism, anti-semitism, classism ( admittedly a major theme in most romance novels), gender politics, homosexuality, and lying are all contemplated.

Also it's one of the more believable romance novels with a nice slow build up to the sex scenes. The sex scenes are less "seductive" in nature, and more "consensual". Actually what I sort of like about this one is the heroine is the instigator of the sex. She kisses him. She's rather bold. It's a refreshing change of pace. Particularly after the last book I read where the heroine was at the mercy of the hero's sexual advances. Here, the tables are turned, he's the one who has no money and is pretending to be something he's not to survive, and she's the one with the power.

The writing style is a bit too Georgette Heyer for my liking...and there's a wee bit too much, oh, does he love me, oh does she love me or is she just pretending...but other than that, I'm enjoying it and recommend.

A touch above the rest.

3. The best thing about the winter finale of Grey's Anatomy was the new "Last Jedi" trailer. Sad, but alas...there it is. The episode made no sense, was hard to follow, and ridiculous in places. Also it appears to be spreading itself into next year. Ugh.

I don't even think April or Owen had much to do in this one except wander around looking confused.
I'm missing Riggs. And sort of wishing they wrote out one of the other characters instead.

Worst episode I've seen in a while.

4. Seeing "Thor" with movie buddy tomorrow. We've decided that it is the perfect time to see Thor, since everyone else will be watching Justice League in 3D. (I have little interest in Justice League. I'll probably wait until it pops up "On Demand", while "Thor" I've been eagerly awaiting since July.)

After I see Thor, I'll do the best superhero films meme. But not before.

5. Ugh, I keep editing posts -- because of stupid typos. Basically I'll go back and read and discover much to my chagrin that I've left out a word. Sometimes it's an innocuous word such as "the" or "on" or "a", but other times it's rather major. Or I'll inadvertently write the wrong word. And I'll think..WTF? It's as if my fingers are possessed or someone else is writing with them? Unnerving. Does this happen to anyone else? Also, I'm wondering if it is a sign of age -- because I don't remember having quite this big a problem with writing posts etc, a scant five or six years ago.