Company

Still haven't got to see either Spider-Man 2 or Fahrenheit 9/11, but I did manage a bit of Johnny-come-lately catch-up yesterday by hiring DVDs of Identity and Camp, both of which had slipped through the filmgoing net until now.

I remember seeing the trailer for Identity sometime last summer and thinking "I know exactly what this film is about and what its big twist is going to be" -- the title alone pretty much gave the game away. It was gratifying and yet at the same time rather depressing to find that I was dead right; daft high-concept Hollywood trash plotting is so fucking predictable.

Most things about Camp were also pretty predictable, but it was nevertheless lots of fun: funny, exuberant and sexy. As a longtime Sondheim queen I was already sold by the time the bus full of kids on their way to camp sang "Losing My Mind" (the eventual cameo by the man himself didn't hurt, either), and all in all it was a thoroughly nice and enjoyable film.

It also reminded me what a great show Company is. Haven't listened to it for ages, because I only have it on vinyl and that's filed away somewhere out of reach. I think I'll have to get it on CD to rip to the iPod... although there was a time when just the opening lyric of "Being Alive" could make me burst into tears in the street, so perhaps I'd better save that for when I'm feeling more emotionally stable.

Posted by matt at July 26, 2004 11:58 AM