The Keep (1983)

1983 is one of those years, for me, that everyone has, where many things from your life revolve around it. A year that, just hearing it, puts images in your head of what you were doing.

Now you can add the one to the right to that list:

I've always wanted to see The Keep, but it always alluded me, now thanks to Netflix, that magical place of all things "need to see it" I finally have.

As I've heard, atmosphere is the name of the game here. The first third of the film has a great buildup. Music, lighting, set design all are top notch for early eighties. The mid-third of the film lags because of the required female lead love interest sex scene. Which might be great in another film, but after the first two red-shirt deaths from " where is the rest of my torso", just slows down the intensity at this point. Ian McKellen's makeup (he plays a man who through disease appears 30 years older than he is) is so good that you need to compare the movie to how he looks now. Scott Glenn plays the quiet hero well. And the demon is well designed. Hard to believe that a movie that has this many know actors and great cinematography has still never made it to DVD yet.

Dreams Destroyed

Yea, I know.

Who the hell is this? and why is he posting something that has nothing to do with his blog subject.

And it's 3 years later.

Well it's one of the many things that disappear before you can say, "Does anyone have a job where hard work and care for what you do mean anything, anywhere?". So I'm doing what so many others have done before and shout out, just a little weak and tired one to anyone who has spent so much time doing their best with a bottom line that agrees, but you are told the mind jolting statement, "but if you did it our way you would have made even more".

Has anyone made the unfortunate choice of responsibility over dreams. Now this question has limits before an answer. Your college cannot have been parent paid. But you cannot have had so little to have had grants, yes there is a no man's land in between.

You have to have worked retail for many years. Missed more holidays than you can count because you are open for the customers. But strangely, corporate doesn't answer if you call them on that holiday. Be told that you don't try hard enough by your bosses when you have made a profit every year for 17 years. Being told that your people can't have the following off:

Any time from Oct 15 to Jan 5

The week before or the week after Valentines, Easter, Back to School week, and any federal holiday for our customers.

Add that up, that's 19 full weeks unavailable, then be asked "why do your people have so many vacation days?" Funny, most people don't like taking a sunny 20 degree Feb vacation.

How about seeing that in 20 years retail goes from what it means "trade, goods for money". To a lame constant barrage about customer service which means "Let the worst people you have who are treating going to a store as a gameshow, and let them demean you and your employees to let them have as much as they want as long as your bosses don't have to talk to them." All the while the good customers aren't even given a hello because you are trying to make the person up front why she can't use so many coupons that we give her money.

I have much more but it will wait.