Because I’m still not feeling so well, I was in no mood to do any work today.  Yes, yes, I acknowledge the fact that this just might be yet another form of procrastinating but who cares.  Every swallow I take sends me flinching and nothing I’ve tried even helps so I’ll take a languid day off, mkay?

Ever since I realized that our broadband provider indeed reached the very dark crevice that was my room, I haven’t been down to our living room in weeks.   I have a computer, a television, a DVD player and a bookshelf in my room; I had no reason to go down and socialize.

But that isolation streak broke today as I sat down and turned on this satellite thingie that my father had installed on the living room TV.  It brought us a couple more channels than our cable provider but the catch is that said channels are only accessible through the TV that the satellite thingie was connected to.  They weren’t anything special anyway so I thought, meh it doesn’t really matter.

But today, on a whim, I plopped down onto the cushy sofa and turned on the TV.  Immediately I landed onto TCM (Turner Classic Movies) channel and there the TV stayed for the rest of the day.  I caught a total of three movies today and no, my brain’s not leaking out of my ears yet.

First I caught the opening credits of Strangers on a Train (1951) by Alfred Hitchcock.  I’m not that big of a Hitchcock fan; I mean I’ve only seen about three movies in all but this really wowed me.  It was so good.  Everything about the movie was so good: the acting, the lighting, the script, and the chemistry of the actors were just superb.  I never believed it before now but Alfred Hitchcock really knew his thing.

Then Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) by Richard Brooks came next.  It must’ve been the title but I’ve always had the idea that this movie was a comedy.  Meh, just showed just how much I don’t know about the classics.  I didn’t catch the opening credits but I did recognize Elizabeth Taylor.  Man, she was hot.  This was the first movie of hers I’ve ever seen and now I’m wondering if she really has that Southerner accent.  And it took me the whole length of the film before I realized that the lead dude was none other than Paul Newman himself.  Talk about ‘D’oh’ moment.  But I do declare, he was a hot young thing, wasn’t he?

The third movie was Tay Garnett’s The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946).  I’m not sure how I felt about this one.  The acting was good but it was just too tragic, I think.  And all the restrictions that Hollywood had at the time were palpable in the film.  It felt choked somehow.  It was an experience but I didn’t quite like it.

So basically I spent my day in the fifties.  It was fun, definitely an experience that I’m willing to repeat tomorrow.  I really don’t know why it is that I like old movies but I’ve always had a penchant for old things. 

I can’t wait for tomorrow and at this point, I’m very thankful that there’s TCM.