My Benjamin Button Fast - week 2 (done): 5 7 6 weekend

Week 2 is done and surprisingly, it's getting a lot easier dealing with the Benjamin Button drought. Sure, some scenes still crop up in my head, especially when I'm doing my boring-assed job, but removing the BB tracks from my MP3 player has squelched some of the mind-wandering. Substituting some other music tracks on my player and just craving some variety, in terms of movie-watching, I took advantage of my local video store's everyday special: the 5 7 6.

5 general release movies for
7 days for
6 bucks

This locally-owned video store is huge and there is no doubt that if my first choices aren't available, I will always find something interesting. The following were my initial choices:

Meet Me In St. Louis - because of tracks from the That's Entertainment box set. I was reminded of Garland's charm that I had to rent my favorite Judy Garland film. If the video store didn't have it, Harvey Girls or Summer Stock would've been my alternatives.

Fight Club - because it's a Fincher flick and a perfect illustration that a Fincher audience has to watch his films very carefully to get more out of it.

Sons of the Desert - because I'm still feeling good about I Love You, Man. Mind you, the character dynamics in Sons of the Desert is decidedly darker than I Love You, Man, but it serves as a nice contrast. Plus, Mae Busch thoroughly rocks as Ollie's wife.

Jeff Dunham - because his purple puppet is so freaky-looking

Mystery Science Theater 3000 - because it's always a good default choice. Teenaged Strangler or Time Chasers would be the ones for this go-'round.

Well, getting two out of five choices seemed unusual, but I got them on a Friday, so it's not that surprising that someone else scored my first choices. However, the alternatives really hit the spot. The following are the movies I wound up with:

Meet Me in St. Louis - gotta say, I really liked how the DVD was packaged. I haven't watched the bonus features DVD, but was thorough pleased with the feature presentation. Plus, it was a nice reminder of Garland's talents, along with Margerat O'Brien's hilarious performance as Tootie.

Fight Club - I couldn't get the deluxe edition, but the basic DVD suited it's purpose. It's still amazing to me how I continue to find clues that I have missed over the last 10 years. For example, I noticed that, possibly, Jack projected some of Marla's physical attributes onto Tyler (spiky hair, vintage clothing, the smoking, the sunglasses, the weird fur coat, etc.). I also noticed that my initial contention that Jack gave Marla the same card that Tyler gave him was wrong; but I do think that the card given to Marla had the same drawing on the label of some of Tyler's soaps. And the business card (with Tyler's name on it) had a picture of two male angels facing each other. The angel on the left seemed to be talking to the more passive angel on the right. Throughout the movie, I began noticing Tyler and Jack's position within the frame; whomever was on left was in charge, unless the person on the left was in the background. It's still a fantastic film to watch.

Keeping Up Appearances - the comedy combination of Patricia Routledge and Clive Swift serves as a somewhat suitable substitute for Laurel and Hardy and Hardy and Busch. While Hyacinth Bucket isn't abusive like Busch, she does give her husband the blues. Hyacinth's Hardy-esque pompous and oblivious air and Richard's Laurel-like unwavering loyalty, along with well-executed slapstick comedy, promises many laughs. Discs 5 & 6 feature the Buckets going yachting, golfing, shopping for country cottages, and numerous other misadventures.

Hud - a classic flick I've never seen before. It starred Paul Newman as Hud, a very selfish bastard so determined to steamroll over his father for the family cattle ranch. Loved Melvin Douglas as Homer, Hud's father. Although I was firmly on the side of Homer, I couldn't help having my head turned by Newman's Hud. I can't stand that type of man in real life, but I could fry pancakes on my lady parts after watching that movie. Woof!!!

Some Like It Hot - Garland's vulnerability lead me to Monroe's. I really loved Marilyn in this flick. And Jack Lemmon just rocked the $h!t of the Jerry/Daphne role. I really miss Jack Lemmon.

I have no idea if I will do the 5 7 6 thing next weekend, but it is likely that something else will crop up while I try not to think about May 5th.