If I am lacking in originality these days it is all the fault of 'Fallen Monk', one of my American e-pals who confessed the other day to having a stinking head-cold and then passed it on to me! Yes, yes, I know he lives in Georgia, US of A, but haven't you heard of internet bugs, for goodness sake?! Anyway, for the last few days I have woken with a throat that feels like someone has been rubbing it down with a rasp all night and a nose that is producing snot faster than Obama can print dollar bills. I feel awful!
However, I was somewhat cheered last night by, of all things, Channel 4, who ran No Country for Old Men as their late-night film. I was feeling so wretched I really didn't think I would be able to stay up late, but I did because that film is simply terrific! Seeing it again reminded me that the Coen brothers, and the original writer, Cormac McCarthy, love their irony because the unmitigated catastrophe which eventually destroys the poor sap who is the nearest thing to a 'hero' (Josh Brolin) in the film stems from his decision to do a good deed and return with some water for one of the wounded drug dealers he found in the desert. After that, all is lost.
Also, I wanted to share with you a little fact which really does deserve the comment "not a lot of people know that!" According to Vicky Thompson, writing in the TV magazine part of The Daily Mail, the film leaves out mention of a true incident in which, back in 1979 in San Antonio, a stern Federal judge was shot down and killed at the behest of a drug trafficker by a professional killer called Charles Harrelson. This man was the estranged father of Woody Harrelson who plays, superbly, the part of a hit man in the film.
Like I say, not a lot of people know that!
And, yes, I suppose it is boring. Still, you'll thank me when you win the next quiz in your local pub. No, please, don't thank me, just the normal cash in the brown envelopes . . .
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