Coming Distractions September 29th, 2009

The Brothers Bloom (by the director of Brick)
Away We Go
Shrink
Filth & Wisdom
Management
Monsters vs. Aliens
The Girlfriend Experience (check adult section for other movies starring "existential" porn star Sasha Grey)
Kings - Complete Series

I recently relistened to the This American Life episode that alerted screenwriter Scott Burns to the book and the true story that would become The Informant! (warning: the episode is, of course, one giant spoiler) and now I can't get The Clash song Lost in the Supermarket out of my head. Particularly the line, "Long-distance callers make long-distance calls."
So true. No matter how you look at it.

By way of explanation for the absence of a slightly movie-related anecdote from last week's blog post, we have compiled a list of some films where getting non-fatally ill and/or taking a sick day is an essential plot part.

Osmosis Jones: Anthropomorphized white blood cell. How much more relevant do you get?


Synecdoche, NY: The mental and the physical can not really be separated.


Twin Falls Idaho: What to do when your brother is sick. And the two of you share one body.


Fargo: I had a cold too! I was not, also, pregnant. Thank the heavens, cause I obviously need to deal with some issues about children and how easily possessed by demons they are (see lower post).


Kindergarten Cop: Also, kids are full of germs!


Mary Poppins: More kids with colds.


Secret of Nimh: Everybody's sniffling!


6th Sense: Though I would never, in any way, condone making kids sick on purpose, like the mom in this movie who has Munchausen syndrome by proxy. What a horrifying illness.


Overboard: Who wouldn't want to trick an amnesiac Goldie Hawn into believing that she is your wife and gave birth to your 4 children so she can be your stay-at-home servant? Naw, there are no moral issues with this movie. And a happy ending! Yeah, I maybe just gave a lot away about that movie, but honestly, I don't think anyone watches it for the amazing plot arc.


The Princess Bride: a cold as a plot-framing device.


The Reader: Get sick and meet a sexy older lady. Just beware of her dubious political affiliations.


Devil Wears Prada: Sometimes someone else's illness is your ticket to Europe and the fashion world beyond.


Taking of Pelham 123 ('74): One of the bad guys has a bad cold. Apparently, the new film ends on a bridge with cops and helicopters and the whole shebang. The old one ends with a sneeze.


McCabe & Mrs. Miller: Speaking of sneezes, when one of my co-workers was trying to investigate sick day movies for this here blog they came across a web page for sneeze fetishists. We now know this movie contains a great (sexy?) sneeze by Ms. Julie Christie, really satisfying: loud, realistic, & into a wonderfully (some say) dirty handkerchief.

Hope you all are keeping healthy!