Why is it that all movies set in ancient historical times have their characters speak in British accents? Do we somehow associate that style of speech with grander, more epic eras? I was sitting in the movie theater yesterday, watching Brad Pitt trying to act all classical and heroic, and I suddenly wondered what Achilles would sound like with a deep Southern drawl or a thick Scottish brogue. Yes, my attention wandered during the film. It wasn’t a bad movie, but after the second or third mano a mano fight scene, I got kind of bored.
I also rented this made-for-cable movie titled Door to Door. William H. Macy plays a door-to-door salesman with cerebral palsy who got his job in the mid Fifties, when it was extremely rare for anyone with a disability to be employed. Macy nails the mannerisms and speech of someone with CP. As for the story itself, eh. I guess it’s based on a real person and I admired his drive to live and work independently, but I didn’t necessarily like him. Maybe it was the whole salesman schtick. The thought of selling laundry detergent and dog biscuits for decade after decade fills me with a peculiar kind of horror. But I can understand his desire to stick with a job that had some degree of security for him. The movie also painted him as a kind of social idiot, pushing away any real close friendships and even, apparently, a romantic opportunity. Maybe I just got a little sensitive because sometimes I worry about going through the rest of my life essentially alone.
Some of you know my fondness for tornado porn. Here’s a cool video clip showing a twister going medieval on some poor house.
