September Dawn

I think Ryan made a perceptive comment in his last response to the post on frightening places.

Jaws might have ruined it for all of us! I feel for all the surfers that lose limbs to sharks (how surreal must that be!). I like to surfcast for big fish in the Atlantic, and I worry when I get out there up to my waist.

Ponds and lakes? I read Swamp Thing when I was a kid. I know he was a good dude, but one of the episodes I read had a bunch of bloated wraith-like phantoms living in the bottom of the lake.

And don't get me started on the flooded town in Deliverance.

Places carry energy, and I suppose that's why we enjoy tempting them. Ryan swims for recreation, but as a nice byproduct he gives the old adrenaline a workout as well.

This week's bunch of films includes a little number called September Dawn. It stars John Voight (we'll have to see which Voight shows up--lately he's been cashing lots of checks) and Terence Stamp. This is a love story set in contrast with the grisly massacre of a wagon train in Utah at the hands of the Mormons. It's been a dirty little secret of the west for decades, and it's formally known as the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Bentley Little features the massacre prominently in his novel The Walking, and I reference it briefly in Wendigo.

Every four or five years we get a top-notch western. The Unforgiven. Open Range. I'm hoping this will live up to the potential offered by such a historically noteworthy event.

What are you guys watching?

Late Note:
Oh boy are the critics hating this sucker! I'm reticent about plunking down the dough to see a film so roundly bashed by a disparate group of critics. Anyone that takes a look, please offer a short review!