Too Cold To Think Of Clever Title

Or even one of my usual titles for that matter. I normally like where I've got my computer, but the cold is just seeping through the window. Oh well, at least it isn't precipitating.

I don't know if anyone else noticed, but AMC's been showing all of Charles Bronson's Death Wish movies this week. I was somewhat dismayed to discover there were five of them.

I thought the original was pretty interesting, because there seemed to be more thought to it, whereas all the others seem to just be about giving Kersey something that makes him happy, then taking it away from him so he can shoot lots of people. The first one let us see Paul Kersey's early attempts at vigilantism, and the toll that took on him (him staggering back to his apartment and throwing up after he shot his first mugger). Then there was the idea of his actions sparking a cultural phenomenon, with the old lady defending herself with a hat pin, and the construction workers pummeling that mugger that tried to escape through their work site. And that lead to the difficulty the mayor and the police department faced with what to do with the Vigilante once they caught him.

I liked the detective, Ochoa. He was pretty clever, not in the sense that he had a bunch of one-liners, but because he seemed to understand people easily. He had a pretty good idea of what to look for in a vigilante (though Kersey's being a conscientious objector threw him a bit), he understood why the old guy Kersey saved couldn't recall what the Vigilante looked like and he always seemed to have a good idea what his superiors were thinking when they gave him orders. Find the Vigilante, but don't arrest him. Scare him, make him stop, but don't arrest him, don't confirm he's the Vigilante. Get him to go someplace else, but if he starts up again, you're the one that'll have to go and stop him. Pretty raw deal on the whole, but he dealt with it pretty well.

Until he got shot repeatedly, anyway.