On Tuesday I went to see No Country for Old Men, the new film by Joel and Ethan Coen. I haven’t written a review yet because it made pretty much no impression, amazingly — I feel like I should’ve gone with my gut and watched 3:10 to Yuma instead.

This is the second film in as many weeks where it’s by favourite filmmakers of mine and yet the lingering feeling is one of apathy at best. To be honest, I had a much better time seeing 27 Dresses. Screw it — the next film I’m going to is Dan in Real Life.

I’m going to dump Foxtel and Quickflix in the next few days, too, I think. I’d rather put that money towards something productive… like a Star Wars Galaxies subscription or something.

Oh, and I found a great bootleg recording of the Sydney Police concert, and listening to it again, I now believe “Driven to Tears” was the moment my jaw fell open and I realised that Andy Summers is a guitar god comparable to Robert Fripp. Hopefully I’ll see his exhibit in Sydney before it closes…

In March I’ll be seeing Toto live, which should be a fun night out. Plus, it’ll cement my status as an uber-dag, which is never a bad thing — after all, it only confounds people further when I then play King Crimson or Porcupine Tree. Speaking of which…

Porcupine Tree have announced that they’ll be playing Sydney in April, so I’ll be buying tickets to that show, too, of course. Anyone who knows me knows how big a fan I am of them, so I’m dying to see this show.

And incidentally, I saw Sweeney Todd on Tuesday, the first Tim Burton film I’ve seen at the cinema since Planet of the Apes in 2001… and I was disappointed. Very good, but not great; I still think his adaptation of Alice in Wonderland will be spectacular, however.

I love Frank Herbert’s original Dune novel — it’s one of my favourite books, and I have a real soft-spot for David Lynch’s bizarro adaptation as well.

But I’m still waiting for a Dune film that works as a piece of cinema in its own right. Lynch’s Dune captured the atmosphere of the novel but its narrative was a confusing mess; the TV miniseries was a dull and uninspired retelling of the events of the novel without any kind of vision. Is it too much to expect an adaptation to be both bold and coherent? (For the record, I found Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films fairly sterile and dry as well.)

Now there’s a new Dune film on the horizon. Could this be the Holy Grail? Probably not, but I hope I’m wrong.

I was slightly annoyed when Rescue Dawn wasn’t playing locally, but I kind of understood.

But now The Darjeeling Limited, the new Wes Anderson film, isn’t anywhere near me, either! I know Anderson’s films are a bit offbeat, but it stars Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman — it’s not like it’s not marketable.

But hey, I always have the option of watching the new Alien vs. Predator movie…

On Wednesday I got the Blade Runner Ultimate Collectors Edition 5-disc DVD set. It’s… superb.

The only set that I own that comes close to it is the Criterion Collection Brazil 3-disc set. Personally, I find the Brazil set more interesting (because it’s an in-depth look at studio interference), but the Blade Runner set is absolutely comprehensive in terms of editorial choices in filmmaking.

Both films are landmark 1980s science fiction pieces by real auteurs. Brazil I just find personally more relevant.