Get Busy Livin'

One of my ex boyfriends was something of a movie buff. But he didn't like just any old film. He liked those films that other people didn't, at least that's how I saw it though he once tried to explain it to me a little differently to that. He said that he liked movies that were little appreciated on release but later became cult classics. Slow burners, he liked to say, give off the most heat in the long run. I wasn't convinced and when I discussed it with the girls at the agency they weren't convinced either. I mean, there's a reason why lots of people go to see a particular movie. It must be good if everyone, just everyone liked it, right?

Well, wrong! One of the escorts, an Eastern European girl called Tanya said that she had once dated an auteur – I didn't know what that meant so I had to look it up – and he had introduced her to avant garde cinema. Apparently it had really turned him on to be sitting with her in some art house cinema watching an old black and white movie before going home to make passionate love, often role playing characters from the film they had watched earlier. I have to admit that did sound sexy!

Anyway, tanya explained that there all sorts of reasons why some movies don't sell particularly well to begin with. It can be down to marketing budget, timing, what is fashionable at a specific moment and what just frankly isn't, whether a specific actor is 'hot' or not and, crucially, the IQ of the target audience. I think she was basically saying that I am just to thick to appreciate certain films! She may have a point but I like what I like and my passion is for movies about passion. I like romance, good looking actors and plenty of smouldering sex!

Tanya wasn't too impressed with my rebuttal and began reeling off all sorts of films that initially didn't set the world alight but later came to be regarded as classics and in some cases made a whole load of money. A few of the movies she mentioned didn't resonate with me such as Citizen Kane. I can't imagine why anyone would want to watch a film about a communist! But there were others that did ring a bell – Dirty Dancing for example. I just love, love, love that film and I can probably recite entire passages of dialogue! “Nobody puts baby in a corner,” LOL.

Another movie she mentioned was '

'. The reason I know this film is because my ex boyfriend insisted we go to see it at a local cinema that specialises in re-runs of old movies. I have to admit that I really enjoyed it, for the most part. Some of the prison stuff wasn'to to my taste and if you have seen the film you will know what I mean. But other parts were just the right side of sentimental, some parts were lovely and whimsical, there was lots of metaphors for living life to the full and I had no end of sympathy for Andy, the lead character who is falsely imprisoned for the murder of his wife who was having a hot and steamy affair with a tennis coach.

Spolier alert: there is one scene where a character called Red is directed to a specific tree where 'treasure' has been buried. It's a lovely scene and the tree is majestic and magnificent oak. I read in the paper today that the tree has been felled. Quite sad really, and something of a metaphor in itself. As I say to my escort friends, 'get busy living!'