I've been ill today and off work. So I spent most of the day under a duvet on the sofa watching movies:

First up was “The Incredibles” - for the second time. It's quite amazing what they can do these days with computer animation and some of the sets look almost indistinguishable from reality, apart from the exaggerated actor-models on screen. I'm sure everyone knows the story anyway, but just in case: after lawsuits against super-powered heroes start, they're forced to go undercover and stop using their abilities. Nigh-invulnerable Mr. Incredible takes a job as an insurance clerk whilst his wife Elastigirl brings up their three children, Dash, Violet and Jack-Jack. Offered the chance to do some real heroing by the sexy Mirage he finds things aren't all as they seem and has to face some of the consequences of his actions in the past.

I remember not wanting to go see this in the cinema because it seemed kind of creepy to go and see a kids movie, but after watching it, it seemed it should have been aimed at a more adult audience. I mean, the bad guy's loyal henchmen ride around on flying circular saw type things and, frankly, appear to be violently killed in most cases. Mr. Incredible at one point thinks his entire family has been killed and gets pretty emotional about that. I think you'd also have to be a pretty precocious kid to get some of the references, especially, if I'm right about it being one, the tribute to Bond movies when Syndrome's rocket drops it's first stage.

As a footnote, if Marvel has any leg to stand on in their case against NCSoft over City of Heroes, how come Elastigirl and Violet haven't come under their lawyer's gaze?

Next up was “But I'm A Cheerleader”, a feelgood comedy (except, presumably, in US “Red States” about cheerleader Megan who's vegetarianism, Melissa Etheridge poster and distaste for her boyfriend's french kissing clue her parents into her lesbian tendencies. In response, they ship her off to “True Directions”, a camp which promises a five step program to curing homosexuality. Unfortunately, step one is admitting you're a lesbian and after Megan realises she is, she promptly falls for the rebellious Graham who's also been sent there to be cured of being a lesbian by her rich, inattentive parents (who, frankly, shouldn't be surprised after giving her a boy's name really).

The course of true love never runs smoothly, and various things go right and wrong for Megan and Graham as the movie gets to the inevitable happy ending. The boys at True Directions have particular difficulties in coping with the love that dare not speak it's name, for not only are they being trained in fixing cars, chopping wood and scratching their balls by RuPaul (in a rare out of Drag performance) but the camp owner's son Rock has a suggestive manner with his gardening implements. However, perhaps the greatest impediment to the camp's success is in step five of the program which, for the girls, involves a simulated sexual relationship with Rock whilst both parties are dressed in body stockings replete with concealing fig leaves.

All in all a decently funny movie. So I decided to flip things to the other side by watching “Saw” next.

I remember Brianthe recommending this a while back (“You have to see Saw”, he said. I said the kids in the park were using it...) and it's a very effective serial killer movie. It opens with Adam (played by writer Leigh Whannel) and Dr. Gordon (Cary Elwes of Princess Bride and Hot Shots! fame) chained to opposite ends of a room with a dead body in the middle. And then things get really bad. It turns out they're captives of the Jigsaw killer, who seems to be a sadistic version of Bernard Falk from “Now Get Out Of That” and who sets up elaborate puzzles-cum-death traps that are supposed to give the victims a fresh perspective of life, should they survive. The links between Adam, Dr. Gordon, the killer and Danny Glover's mad cop are complex and I won't reveal them here. Suffice it to say, I did not even think of that being the ending.

There's a sequel due around Hallowe'en 2005 apparently, though there's no info and the listed director doesn't seem to have been involved with the first, so it could just be a cash in on the first one.

Finally, I finished the moviethon with “Sole Survivor”. This is a “lost” classic made-for-TV movie from 1970 starring William Shatner (you know... the guy who did that Star Trek thingy) that I saw once many years ago and loved. It's never been officially released on DVD by Warner Bros but you can find people around on the Internets who're willing to make DVD copies from the few broadcasts that have happened if you're careful. Or you could click here - whatever floats your boat.

“Sole Survivor” was inspired by the discovery of a real life crashed WWII B-24 bomber that was found 16 years later in the Libyan desert. In the movie, five members of the plane's six-man crew are still at the wreck all those years later and it soon becomes apparent that this is not because they survived. In fact, they're all dead, but they hang around because they're waiting for their bodies to be returned to the States for a proper burial. When the plane is finally found, a US Air Force investigative crew (led by Shatner) turns up with the sole survivor of the flight in tow, and he is now a big shot general at the Pentagon. Unfortunately, General Hamner bailed out of the stricken aircraft over the Mediterranean without the permission of the captain and without giving him enough information to get the plane home. At the original investigation he lied and said everyone had bailed out at that time, so the presence of the aircraft some 700 miles south of where it was supposed to be is a bit of a problem for him.

Fortunately for him, and due to his not telling them of the 42 mph tail wind, the crew thought they were over the sea when they did bail out and took the sea survival kits rather than desert survival, so the crashed plane looks like it could have flown the rest of the way on it's own and Shatner, as a Lt. Colonel approaching his 20-year pension and not wanting to rock the boat, is willing to rubber stamp this. The dead crew meanwhile, wanting some manner of revenge on Hamner and for their bodies to be found and shipped home have to gather themselves and get the investigators to find the clues that prove they were with the plane when it was over the desert.

It's a really cool ghost story/whodunwhat and I wish Warner Bros would release it on DVD. The DVD copy I have is serviceable, but the transfer from NTSC video has not been kind to the picture.