Snowed in and watching movies on Christmas

I didn't plan on spending Christmas snowed in, not leaving my house and watching movies all day but that's just what I did. The original plan was to head home for the day/night but Tulsa and NE Oklahoma was hit by an ice/snow storm that dumped seven inches of the stuff on us. For Oklahoma, that's a paralyzing amount that shuts down businesses and streets. So, I'm housebound.

Luckily, I've got a few Netflix films and things recorded on my DVR, so I've been watching movies all day while taking hot baths, cleaning my house, eating nachos, homemade salsa and popcorn. Not a bad way to spend the day if you happen to be snowed in.

First up was the kind of cheesy 1976 science fiction Futureworld. This is the sequel to the far better Westworld and it isn't very good. Peter Fonda and Blythe Danner play reporters who go to the Delos amusement park to see if anything has changed since the robots went crazy and started killing people in the first film. No suspense, kind of dated, horrible acting by Fonda. I love Westworld but Futureworld shouldn't have been made.

Monster Thursday (2004) is something you don't see that often--a Norwegian movie that could be considered a "surf" movie! Norwegians and surfing don't usually go together but maybe there are great, but extremely frigid, waves that I'm not aware of on their coastline? Aside from the surfing, the film is a solid romantic drama as a guy pining for his best friend's girl gets the chance to spend a lot of time with her when he leaves the country. He may not be able to control his emotions.

I followed up Monster Thursday with another Scandinavian film, this time it was the charming Danish comedy/drama Chinaman (2005). I really liked this little film as it has this sweet story about a depressed plumber who is going through a divorce. With no wife at home to share meals with he begins to go to a Chinese restaurant across the street. Soon, he's helping them with their pipes, hanging out in their living room and contemplating marriage to keep one of the family members (the lovely Vivian Wu)  in Denmark. Chinaman looks great and the tender-hearted story swept me in right off the bat.