What started as a laugh, snowballed into something nice.
Day 1 Friday
A trailer for some action movie barely registers in my mind, as the bit culminated in "Now on . Blu-Ray (BD), DVD and digital HD" (sound effect dun dun dun)
John Wick
Shortly after, my father's phone number was dialed and the above information was repeated to him.
He laughed out loud. He immediately said he wanted to buy a copy and give it to his close friend JOHN WICK!
My sister received a copy of the title cad in an MMS text- "Ever heard of this movie?"
Her reply made me chuckle. "Sure, Denzel Washington plays a guy that lives in the woods and talks a lot :-) "
The name John Wick resonates in our family. Our father spends about 30 weeks a year, over the 12 mos of the year. It is extremely remote, being only a mile from Western Ontario. That mile, is a lake. Surrounded by the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The asphalt enclave known as the Gunflint Trail is treasured by anyone that had ever visited. Only in the late 20s, did white people start going there. Dad's cabin dates back to a lumberjack's log camp from the 30s. It is right on the water. In the 50s, a more modern building was built a bit further back.
As mentioned, dad is up there sometimes 3 weeks a month. His main source of company is his trusty dog Gunner and a year round neighbor, the 80 something John Wick.
This John Wick is long winded. He's a very nice man.
Having researched the movie I had just learned about, it was found to have great buzz. Rotten Tomatoes certified it as "Fresh" that's better than two thumbs up from Ebert and Siskel, because RT aggregates many many reviews.
I decide to rent it. I spring for the extra $1 for the HD on Google Play. I settle down and watch it in the comfort of the man cave. Leather seats, surround sound and the 60" screen serve it up right. Popcorn could wait, it was like I was late, despite having complete control. The popcorn was never made. My eyes were glued to the screen the entire time.
Day 2
Digital rentals last 48 hours after first play. I could watch it again. Was it just a fluke? No, even on the smaller upstairs TV (36" ) it held up a second time just twelve hours from my first viewing. It was Saturday, the day for shopping. I stocked up on beer and headed to Target. In the movie section John Wick was offered $20 for BD and $15 for DVD. At first glance, the DVD did not have bonus short films. I am a notorious spend thrift. But when I remembered the $5 target gift card in my wallet, I sprang for the higher priced option.
At check out, the clerk noticed the cardboard outer sleeve containing the plastic BD case had a crease. It had been noticed but didn't care. Then I gushed that I had never "rented a movie and bought the disk the very next day before. The clerk pulled it back, read the title and said dismissively that he'd never heard of it. I assured him I had not either until the night before. He double checked the title again to help form a memory.
On the way home, I considered swinging by my sister's place and lending them the disk. I was pretty certain they didn't have a Blu-Ray so I went home. Opening the package there were two disks. Thinking that was odd for a Blu-Ray, upon further inspection, the second disk was a DVD! So my $20 " splurge" which in turn was subsidized by a gift card had yielded me two copies at $10 each, not including the card balance. ($7.50 ea with).
After watching some of the "making of -" featurettes, I switched to YouTube. There I started watching on line reviews of this movie. One stuck out. Chris Stuckman. His views very nearly matched mine. His 2013 top ten list was almost entirely in my Netflix, Hulu or Amazon watch lists. The ones I had seen, we were in complete agreement. I look forward to following this guy.
Bottom line. Watch John Wick. If you cringe at violence, don't. If you love dogs more than people, ignore that and watch it.
I say what I mean.
K
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Sent from Gmail Mobile via my Ip / KBF "Je suis Le Oignon"
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