I was raised on detective movies and TV shows. Watched all the classic 1970′s programs with my Dad, trying to solve the mystery during the next commercial break.

I liked Solaris, and Mrs P. adores Clooney, but she doesn’t gravitate towards Science Fiction. Phew!

Shoulda read this earlier…

(French, a “Dark Film) is generally reserved for movies that include such elements as cynical heroes, stark lighting effects, frequent flashbacks, intricate plots, and an underlying existentialist philosophy. Generally this would be a movie filmed in “first-person” perspective, sometimes with narration and, if narrated, often told by the story’s main Mickey Spillane character.

“I, the Jury” (Book #1 in Frank “Mickey” Spillane’s long-running Mike Hammer Series)
“Vengeance is Mine”
“The Big Kill”
“The Big Bang” (no, the other big bang)
“Kiss Her Goodbye”
“Dead Clones Don’t Wear Spacesuits” (yeah, I made that one up).
;^)
…and many others.

Personally, if the story is clear I prefer good acting with no narrated accompaniment.

The Russian version of Solaris is a favorite of mine. One person with very little talking, so just ignore the few subtitles. The story is plain with obvious ideas and revelations in deep space and alone on a distant world. As Mrs. S told me at the time, “Very artsy-fartsy.”

BTW:
The American George Clooney version might be nice for Mrs. P, with a needlessly extended shot of George’s naked butt.

Thanks for the like.

As an aside, over the weekend “Squirrels to the nuts” won first place at the members’ read, which got me a $5 gift card at Half Priced Books.

Also, has blockquote in html always thrown text into italics? I don’t recall that happening before…

We write quick short stories then vote for the winning work, possibly winning a small gift card or just for the privilege of composing the writers’ prompt for the next meeting.

Previously, the prompt was “Nuts to the Squirrels.” I am affixing my entry below:

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Squirrels to the Nuts
1000 words

“Cluny Brown” was a light, captivating Jennifer Jones film regarding a young woman’s quest for recognition and authentication during the unsettling times of 1930s England. Like her father, she wanted to be a plumber, which was something women never did … and no young lady should ever openly speak of anything so intimate as indoor plumbing, no matter how good she might be at fixing it. Captain Cheyenne Tyler recalled seeing the movie while in high school, many, many years ago, but the one thing about it that had stuck was Jones’ exclamation, “squirrels to the nuts!” Of course, overly debonair leading man Charles Boyer was on hand to correct her erred statement to “nuts to the squirrels,” but it still stuck and was as poignant today as ever.

Her vessel shuddered and rattled a bit, drawing her attention to where her left wingtip used to be. Considering the blazing air-battle she and her squadron had just departed, the damage to her craft was remarkably slight. Though somewhat unscathed, she was aware she was now being followed, a chase that had her jetting northeast, dodging and sweeping low between the peaks of the clouded Appalachian Mountains. Radar said her three pursuers were remaining with her, and now closing.

“So-o-o… Wanna play, huh…?” she murmured.

More and more her whole world seemed to be turning to a “squirrels to the nuts” arrangement, with the nuts now running the world and needing to take over every aspect of her personal life. From the quack-job in the White House — along with the quack’s entire first-quack family — to the quacks shooting people just going about their peaceful, everyday business — and now an insane war against space aliens and the survival of all humanity — not to mention her own high-school-graduate squadron commander who had not a clue how this newly evolving world worked anymore, how to do anything remotely right, and heaven help any who needed to ask that quack for help or advice.

Not one to generally leap for cover, Cheyenne remained relatively young and bulletproof in her own rapidly calculating mind. Intent upon her present dilemma, she pulled her ship up, back and around, bringing herself level and nose-to-nose with the approaching alien craft.

Quacky aliens.

Nothing had ever creeped her out so much as that huge round head with its triangle arrangement of three beady eyes, the lipless, flat-line mouth and no nose at all.

Not even a freakin’ blowhole! she noted.

Over Pennsylvania and now separated from her fellow fliers, Cheyenne knew she was the only fighter in the vicinity, and all she had was her gunship with its one remaining gun. She checked the magazine readout, noting her capacity was only down by 10 percent, but still realized the hazards of flying into the unknown with only one functioning weapon. Well, she actually had two weapons: the 30mm nose canon, and the Loc-Mart Velociraptor she was piloting.

Coming out of her long turn, the vessel gave a mighty shake, again drawing Cheyenne’s attention to where her left wingtip used to be. Its absence might make the corkscrew a very difficult maneuver. She considered a flat assault, but knew the corkscrew had worked many times before to disorient the enemy’s trifocal perception of things. She centered her flightpath on the iridescent craft, seeing the two other vehicles following in its wake. She considered the expected three-prong pincer assault the aliens generally employed. She would need to dive immediately to possibly surprise the pilots and head off that ploy.

With determination, Cheyenne stomped her left foot to the pedals and pulled the sidestick hard, applying afterburner thrust. She knew her fuel would be quickly depleted, so this had to work and work fast, as a definite last-ditch effort. She had started the corkscrew, with the alien craft suddenly spinning before her, as she drew nearer and nearer. The enemy opened fire, with an erratic spray of plasma, while she pumped the 30mm explosive bullets right back at them.

As expected, the lead craft dropped low, with its shadowing members spreading wide to their three-pronged assault and targeting on her Velociraptor. The closest and most lethal craft was the lead vessel, the one that already had her fairly locked. Cheyenne flattened the corkscrew and dove at her primary, still pummeling with the nose canon. The other two craft opened fire and closed in, their first shots flying wide of the mark.

The primary craft took three direct hits at engines and fuel supply, which had the vessel erupting in a flaming explosion. With a sharp cheer of delight, Cheyenne pulled back, up and toward the closer of the following craft, her canon still firing.

“And just where the hell do ya think you’re goin’?” she shouted, squeezing off another volley of strikes.

The third ship, now closing upon her flank, gave her ship a thunderous blow.

“Shit!”

She veered away from the second destroyed craft and aimed her ship at the third, finding it to be deadly close. With a quick flip of her wrist, she wrapped the Velcro strap from her glove around the trigger of her canon and let it go, now firing at 10 rounds per second.

She hit the blue button on her canopy, and the air was sucked from her, her spine pressing to the pilot seat in the sudden explosive acceleration. The wind hit her like a brick wall, as the forest-green canopy deployed behind and above her. It was a good arc, with the parachute spreading wide overhead. She looked to the last of her enemy craft, just as her Velociraptor ploughed into it, with a startling explosion.

Still panting from the exertion, she watched the two flaming vessels fall to earth. It was a woodland area, with a settlement in the near distance, which had her smiling. It was another good day, and Cheyenne remained bulletproof for her next mission.

“Squirrels to the nuts,” she muttered.
–

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Cheers, and good reading to all here,
DanS

Then there is the director’s cut, which was not done by Scott, and the final cut, which was.

These two lack the voice-over.

I prefer the Final Cut version.