Strange Days

I spent the day alone, although I went to the laundromat and also took photos of myself.  I also spent two hours watching an Elton John concert on the Internet.  I waited for someone to phone me, but that did not happen, as I suspected that the pandemic had caused interruptions in the lives of people I know.  I watched “Strange Days,” an interesting film that combined elements of the Rodney King incident with parts of Blade Runner” and “The Matrix.”  The movie had a man named Lenny Nero, played by Ralph Fiennes, making money from virtual reality technology allowing people to go through recorded experiences with a playback device and an attachment to the skull.  It is the last two days of 1999, and Los Angeles is a violent place.  The actions of the police are chilling if you think about them in the context of recent events with George Floyd.  Juliette Lewis is an old girlfriend named Faith, who sings songs by PJ Harvey.  Angela Bassett plays Mace, a limousine driver who helps out Lenny.  The film has interesting concepts, but also some ugly moments with rape and murder.  I think that audiences felt that they didn’t have much fun watching all of this.  Ralph Fiennes wasn’t the most entertaining actor.  The movie might have fared better if Mace was the main character.  Tom Sizemore played a key character.  During the 1990s, he was in films like “True Romance,” “Natural Born Killers,” “Heat,” and “Saving Private Ryan.”  “Strange Days” is somewhat less interesting today because we have some virtual reality devices around today.  The movie doesn’t truly come together, as it has no humor and isn’t too enjoyable.  Movie fans didn’t want to go out and see the unpleasant aspects.  Roger Ebert thought that the language in the film would go on to become part of the popular vocabulary, but that never happened.  The director, Kathryn Bigelow, had made “Near Dark” in 1987 and would make a film that made a big impact, “The Hurt Locker,” in 2008.  She did make use of the handheld camera in both films.  I don’t see this as a cult film.  Does anyone really like talking about this movie?  I watched the Johnny Carson show from July 3, 1974.  The guests were Orson Bean, Dom DeLuise, Rodney Dangerfield, and Mariette Hartley.  It was sad that Orson Bean died after getting hit by a car earlier this year.  Some of the people who died on October 3 include Jeanne Eagels (1929), Carl Nielsen (1931), Woody Guthrie (1967), Roddy McDowell (1998), Benjamin Orr (2000), Williams Steig (2003), and Janet Leigh (2004).  Today is a birthday for Alicia Vikander (32), Clive Owen (56), and Chubby Checker (79).  According to the Brandon Brooks Rewind radio segment for October 3, “The Maltese Falcon” opened in New York City in 1941.  In 1954, “Father Knows Best” debuted on CBS.  In 1955, “Captain Kangaroo” premiered on CBS, while “The Mickey Mouse Club” premiered on ABC.  In 1957, “Woody Woodpecker” premiered on ABC.  In 1967, Woody Guthrie died of Huntington’s Disease at age 55.