Freddy vs. The Meaning of Life

Last night, after Larry had left me alone in my apartment with my DVD player, my antidepressants and a half bottle of red wine, I decided to watch as much of Agnes Varda's "Cleo From 5 to 7" as I could before I got tired. (It's a movie that shows two hours in the life of a flighty French pop star before she learns from medical tests if she's dying.)

I got through Cleo getting bad news from her Tarot card reader, Cleo annoying her maid, Cleo shopping for a ridiculously garish hat, Cleo riding in a taxi and Cleo taking a nap in her house before composer Michel Legrand shows up.

Then, Vic called me about midnight, and we talked about life, including what our troubles were and how we were solving them.

Exhausting that topic, we then talked about Freddy Krueger and the best "Nightmare on Elm Street" death scene. (My vote is the girl kissed to death who dies of a fatal asthma attack in "Part 4." Vic said she was partial to the marionette-veined sleepwalker death in "Part 3," which is a classic.)

Vic and I were discussing what the actual causes of death were for some of the people since the movie explains some of them a bit but disregards others. I mean, they actually explain that the girl kissed to death dies, outside of her dream, of an asthma attack. But they never explain what the girl from "Just the Ten of Us" who turns into a giant cockroach and is crushed in her dream actually dies of -- though I'm guessing since she fell asleep while holding barbells that she was crushed by those. And how is it that they explained to coroners how Johnny Depp's bed swallowed him and spit out his blood in "Part 1?")

Vic said she thought "Freddy vs. Jason" was OK, but that it could have been better. I said that I was quite pleased with moments from it. Vic said that the movie didn't seem to have a clear winner to her, though to me it seemed obvious who the victorious killer was supposed to be -- the one with the most body parts intact at the ending before the wink-wink ending.

I guess discussions of life are important, but, if "Part 3" is my favorite to watch over and over again and "Part 1" is the best one made, why is my favorite death scene in "Part 4?"

It's troubling.