I have decided to re-name all of my cats. From now on, Elvis will be called John Many Jars, Baldrick will be known as John Ya Ya, and Monty will answer to the name John Small Berries. Although John No Berries might be a little more accurate.

Yes, I am watching Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension.

Now, it may not the greatest movie ever made, nor the most clever movie ever made, nor the funniest film ever made, but it is, bar none, the most original film ever made! And great and funny and clever, of course, but original is the thing that nobody in their right mind and with a reasonable wide knowledge of film can argue with.

In fact, I am reasonably certain that, in 500 years when only three films are remembered, those three films will be Gone With the Wind, Citizen Kane and Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. It's just that kind of film, the kind of film that will never die because it is just too absorbing. And peculiar. And fun.

I had forgotten what it was like. I mean, I remember that I loved it, and I remembered the basic plot and so on, but I last saw it so long ago that the details had gone, and it's the details, the myriad of details, that make this movie what it is.

So many great lines, "Laugh while you can, monkey-boy!" and "Remember, no matter where you go, there you are," and "Buckaroo, I don't know what to say. Lectroids? Planet 10? Nuclear extortion? A girl named "John"?" not to mention the ones that I had completely forgotten, like the one that I'm using as a title for this entry, and "Sealed with a curse as sharp as a knife. Doomed is your soul and damned is your life."

But my favourites are the simple ones, like the kid running out of the gas station, sounding like Timmy on Lassie, yelling "Dad! Dad! Buckaroo's in trouble!" or when Buckaroo steals the motorcycle and the guy says, completely seriously, "You can't take that! Hey! That's Buckaroo Banzai!"

In fact, it's everyone's complete straight-faced seriousness that makes this movie work like it does. No matter how silly things get, everyone acts as though everything makes absolute sense, because in a world where a guy can be a world famous brain surgeon-inventor-rock star, anything can happen.

And my god, the performances! First of all, you have John Lithgow, chewing the furniture in an operatic manner, completely throwing himself into the role of an insane alien despot occupying the body of a floridly Italian scientist, you have Jeff Goldblum, whose gift as an actor is to seem to be trying to make sense of a slightly tilted world, the criminally underrated Clancy Brown (if you ever want to see a perfect example of the difference between real actors and pretend ones, watch The Bride and see how Brown and David Rappaport make something out of that awful script), you have Ellen Barkin meaning every word that comes out of her mouth, and you have Peter Weller as the solid centre of this insanity.

I watched it, thinking, hoping that Cynthia and Fran had never seen it, and when I got home I burst upstairs asking if they had. They had not. Hooray! I get to introduce it to them! Of course, I tried to explain it to them, giggling like a maniac, and they had that polite expression on their faces that you get when someone is telling you something that they find really funny, but they are laughing so hard in the telling that they cannot manage to make it clear what the hell they are talking about.

I don't know when we are going to have a chance to watch it, because I cannot wait.

Just remember the rallying cry of the Red Lectroids:

"Where are we going?"
"Planet Ten!"
"When?"
"Real soon!"

Lenten entries missed:

Tracing remembered that February is an icky month, is buying a house, had teeth come flying out of her head like popcorn, and had a really productive day reconciling and filing six months plus of bank statements and bills! Woo-hoo! You can't stop her, she's crazy wild!!

Today's horoscope:
Life doesn't have to feel stifling and confining. Find positive ways to break loose and break free.

One year ago today:
Uh-huh, laundry, right. Hanging around in her coffee cup pjs playing Snood, that's what she did, you can't fool me!

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Last Updated Sun 9 June 23:37:09 2002