That’s Going in the Quote Book #38

I had a long-lasting internal debate about whether or not I wanted to see the movie Strange Days (1995).

I remember seeing ads for it and thinking it might be interesting. But I also remember being skeeved out by Ralph Fiennes in the movie poster. He’s just so … greasy.

Then the following year, The English Patient came out, a movie I hated based on a book I thought was wildly overrated. And I’m afraid poor Fiennes, who had an already iffy status in my mind, bore the brunt of my displeasure. (I feel I should mention that I’ve never seen Schindler’s List, and back then, I doubt I even realized Fiennes was in it. Strange Days was, to the best of my memory, the first time I’d ever heard of him.)

So I continued to not watch Strange Days. But for years, every time I saw it at Blockbuster – which was a lot – I always half-considered renting it before settling on something else.

Enter La La La Human Steps.

La La La Human Steps was a Québécois modern dance troupe that was known for their acrobatic, athletic style. They seemed to experience a surge in popularity in the later ’90s. Or maybe they’d always been that popular, and I was behind the times.

Anyway, one of the specially themed arts TV stations – the ones the cable company made you buy an extra ‘package’ to access – had a clip of a La La La Human Steps performance that they would run when they needed to fill a few minutes between programs. It was on a lot, usually several times a day. And instead of using that time to grab a snack or go pee, I’d watch it.

Every time.

Now, I know fuck-all about dance, so I can’t comment with any authority on the subject. But I can say that Louise Lecavalier, she of the blonde dreadlocks, is like a force of nature onstage. She’s the reason I watched that clip every time it aired. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.

Did you know she’s in Strange Days?

Me neither! Not until I saw the trailer, in which she appears for all of two seconds, that preceded one of those other movies I ended up renting instead.

Needless to say, the next time I visited Blockbuster, I came home with Strange Days. I’d say that my initial instinct not to bother was the right one, though, as I have zero memories of it. I even read the plot synopsis on Wikipedia to jog my memory before writing this article, but not a single thing sounded familiar.

I’d question whether or not I’d actually seen it, were it not for the quote in the book:

His ass is so tight, when he farts only dogs can hear it.

It’s a great quote … but my, what a meandering journey it was to find it.

To read previous posts in my Quotes series, click here.