Feeling rather listless right now. It seems the new year has decided to dropkick me over the head with a persistent case of bronchitis. I seem to be over the worst of it, but I'm at the point where I'm not quite sick and not quite well. I've been trying to put all the Christmas decorations away today, but the effort has really drained me. I just want to spend the day sitting down, watching John Wayne movies and episodes of Dragonball Z.
And that's another thing. I've been watching a lot of James Stewart and John Wayne movies lately. Even more than usual. I started off the new year watching Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Last night I watched The Sons of Katie Elder for the first time. I liked the movie although the age of the brothers is a bit of a curiosity. The youngest brother was supposed to be eighteen and John Wayne was the oldest brother. But John Wayne had to have been in his late fifties during the making of the movie. I guess the late Katie Elder must have had quite the constitution to be shuffling kids out at the age of fifty-five. If she was even that young at the time of the birth of her youngest son. I also noticed a young Dennis Hopper in the movie and I believe that this is the first of two films in which he would appear alongside the Duke. The second being the film that won John Wayne the Oscar, True Grit.
I really think John Wayne should have won a few other Oscars in his lifetime, too. Sure, people talk about him just being himself on the big screen, but there are plenty of roles where he really shined even more than usual. The Shootist, John Wayne's last film, comes to mind. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is another. The same thing goes for James Stewart. How can he just have one Oscar to his name? Stewart certainly should have won for It's A Wonderful Life and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
Anyway, I figure I would make this entry primarily about a few ideas I have for my blog this year. I plan on having at least two stories posted here sometime in the next two months. I plan on having an entry called "The Big Four from Worst to First," in which I'll take the releases of Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, and Megadeth and rank them. I also plan on having a few entries about Dragonball Z because I'll finish the series in the next few months. Rather than post an entry about each Dragonball Z movie as I have done in the past, I'll just have one entry where I rank them and be done with it. I'll also list my favorite moments from the show and my favorite characters. Then I'll move on to talking about other anime shows.
I plan on reviewing each book I read this year. I haven't made this a common practice because there is only one book review on my blog, but I intend to soon. My first review will be of Stephen King's 11/22/63.
I also plan on keeping track of what I'm reading by making a 2012 reading list. I'll add to the list as the year goes on and at the end of the year it will be finished. More than likely I'll post on a monthly basis or a bi-monthly basis.
That's pretty much it for now.
I'm interested in your thoughts on 11-22-63. Some of us were talking in one of the threads about being curious what someone your age thinks of the book. I was born in 1961 and grew up very close to the time period in the book and so there was some pretty special stuff in that book I'm not sure if you picked up or or not. So I can't wait to hear what you have to say on that subject.
ReplyDeleteI was laughing about your comment on the age of John Wayne's brother because it made me think of some other ridiculous age differences in movies. My favorite is the extremely hot 22 year old lady who has a boyfriend that's someone like a 65 year old Gene Hackman.