relax with a movie – Lee Duigon

SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER Stock Photo - Alamy

Here’s something you don’t see every day…

I am, after all, supposed to rest: doctors’ orders. I try to get my blog work done in the morning so I can take the afternoon off. That usually involves a cigar and a movie.

I am a huge Ray Harryhausen fan–greatest special effects wizard ever. Today’s movie, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger–featured more special effects than you can shake a stick at. I wonder what Harryhausen’s dreams were like.

It’s not Oedipus Rex, but it is a very fun movie from 1977 and I can’t imagine how Patty and I could have missed seeing it in the old Forum Theater (and that was fun, too! I wish it would re-open). Monsters galore, wonderful sets, and non-stop action and adventure: who could ask for anything more?

Anytime you want to give your brain a rinse, this Sinbad movie would be a good place to start.

So there’s a new Jurassic Park movie coming out, I’ve seen the trailer–and I’m hooked! But really the hook was set in 1993 (good grief, 30 years ago!) with the first Jurassic Park–which we’re going to watch again this afternoon.
I have just blown 20 minutes trying to turn my computer back on–which is one of the lessons Michael Crichton tried to teach when he wrote Jurassic Park. All those high-tech safety and security systems aren’t worth a damn when they rely on human beings never to forget anything, never to click the wrong key, never to try something cute. God made us fallible. Did He ever make us fallible! You’d think that would breed humility. But then Jurassic Park is about hubris, not humility. Homer would’ve understood it instantly.

How wonderful would it be to see a dinosaur? I’ve been fascinated by dinosaurs since I first learned how to read. Of all God’s creations, these speak most powerfully to me. Imagine the size and strength! Try–in vain, probably–to imagine what it must have been like to be a dinosaur.

I know, I know. I’m old enough now to forget dinosaurs and just watch movies about failing relationships and sinks full of dirty dishes.

Not a chance, kimosabe! Not a chance.