Contradictory

I can fully explain my tastes but I can't account for them.

For example, I've been itching to confess my current tv guilty pleasure. It's not American Gladiators (I tried to watch, I don't get it). It's not Lost—that's not a guilty pleasure. My guilty pleasure is Las Vegas.

I could say that I started watching Las Vegas because it immediately follows one of the best scripted dramas on tv and one of my favorite shows of all time, Friday Night Lights, but that would be a lie.

Truth is, I don't know why I started watching Las Vegas. I didn't even like it very much way back when but I find that I look forward to the show with something akin to enthusiasm. Bizarre. In fact, now that Tom Selleck has replaced James Caan as the paternal figure, I like it much more. (Of those two, I'd pick Caan every time as the better actor—maybe that was the problem? No one does cheese as well as Selleck, though he brings some gravitas to silly roles these days (see: Friends).) I was never a big Magnum P.I. fan, though I watched it a little, so it surprises me to find Selleck appealing.

I have many reason not to like Las Vegas. First, it's set in Las Vegas, in a casino, and I hate both of those things. Second, all the women look like supermodels (so do most of the men), which is unrealistic and anti-feminist (though a subplot recently had a guy break off his engagement because his fiancée got too skinny). Third, the plots are paper thin and the character development is minimal.

So, why do I like it? Maybe because it's so easy to watch. No thinking required. It's like candy, pretty, empty candy. This season, the show is at its goofiest. The remaining cast of characters has melded into a little dysfunctional family. (Three major characters are gone, replaced by two new ones and a third promoted from within the ranks.) I consistently like that: family values shows about unlikely families.

Make no mistake, even though none of the characters are related, this show is about a family. With the departure of James Caan and his wife (Cheryl Ladd) the only actual blood family was lost. The daughter remains. She is knocked up by, but not married to, the leading male character. (They had casual sex many seasons ago and, after many twists and turns, have ended up in "real love.") Two other characters get married by accident—but guess what!—they really love each other and stay married. Add one misanthropic "I'd rather be single" female character and Tom Selleck, mostly benignly, watching over them all and it's a perfect little group of mismatched characters who do their best to take care of each other. The question should be, how can I not like this show?

Maybe completely tossing reality out the window is why it works for me. Seriously, there is no way this motley, beautiful, crew could actually run a casino. But the show is fundamentally good-natured, which endears it to me. Dark things happen, but rarely (jettisoning a good chunk of the previous cast has cured that), and everything gets resolved in a happy, loving way. No, it's not a good show, but I will probably keep watching it.

What I can't quite reconcile with my liking of Las Vegas (and ability to write at length about it) is my excitement about seeing Smiles of a Summer Night this weekend and my disappointment at having to miss one of the more obscure Bergman's playing immediately prior.

I'm a mass of contradictions—but interesting ones, I hope.

Grateful for: varied tastes.

Jane Eyre

I have a weakness for Jane Eyre. It is absolutely my favorite story of all time. While I have stock answer for favorite movie (Born Yesterday) and favorite book (Jane Eyre), I somewhat doubt my favorite movie answer. After last night, though, I don't doubt my favorite book answer.

Last night, I stayed up to 1am watching a two-part Masterpiece Theater Version of Jane Eyre. It was good, not great, but I found myself incapable of turning off the tv or taping the end to watch later. I had to watch, that night, to get to the sweet ending.

This version tried to introduce "science" in the form of a naturalist houseguest and it didn't quite work for me but I admired the effort. There was also rather more canoodling between Jane and Mr. R than was plausible. No sex, but a couple of "sexy" scenes and I was like, "Oh, no, that is NOT Jane." But, overall, it told all parts of the story, including some of the early years which are often skipped entirely in film versions. Skipping them, I think, is a way of minimizing the importance of what happens to us in childhood. While this version emphasizes the "interesting" parts of the novel, it does give full coverage, which is great and challenging.

What I love about the novel isn't the plot as much as it's the main character. I love Jane. She knows herself so well and that is why I admire her.

I might not make the same choices as she made. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't (when I first read the book, I was sure I would). The ardent Christianity bothered me on my second read and I don't like it as a motivator. What I do like is that Jane will do as she sees fit, no matter what anyone else tells her. She also carves out her own version of Christianity to follow—she is not a puritan and can't completely turn the other cheek, but certain forms of immorality are unacceptable.

One great scene in the movie, which I'm not sure was in the book, Jane is telling someone [St. John] why she loves Mr. Rochester, even though he is a "bad man." She says, "I always knew myself but he was the first person who recognized me. And loved me because of it."

Exactly! We may be perfectly self-sufficient and independent and able to live without love (if necessary) but there is nothing sweeter in this life than being known and loved for who we are.

Segue to Mom….

And, that, I think, is why things are so hard and so easy with my mother. I have always known who I am. While I may muck around and make bad decisions, my basic sense of personhood and self-worth remains undisturbed. I only blame myself for the things that are my fault. I'll go out of my way to discover them but I won't take responsibility for things I can't control.

While the stuff with Mom is disheartening, because I assume that she does recognize me and love me for who I am, not just because I'm her daughter. I also know that I am who I am, and I am worthwhile, even if she can't always see it. What she thinks of me doesn't change me. It might make me feel bad, but that's all. It's not true just because she thinks it.

And, of course, she doesn't actually think it. She feels bad and dissatisfied about our relationship. She is torn between feeling underappreciated and worrying that she didn't do enough for me. But those feelings are coming from her and there is precious little I can do to change them.

We finally talked about all the issues on Saturday and, while frustrating at times, it was a good conversation. I'm glad that Mom said what she needed to say. What I needed to say was that I wasn't sure that anything I do will satisfy her. She agreed—she wasn't sure what it would take either!

The good news is that things are resolved, for now. And I am resolved that, in the future, I will remain calm and patient and not be offended or angry. I will listen and remember that I know who I am and I can handle it.

Plus, I'm going to reread Jane Eyre. It's about time.

Grateful for: Jane Eyre.

The good and the bad

The good is that I had a good time on New Year's Eve. The celebrations were minimal, which was perfect. I went to Pele's house, hung out with a few friends, ate a bunch, drank a little, played some games and talked a whole lot. Perfect. I was still recovering from my cold so an easy night was all I could handle.

I slept late on New Year's day. I stirred around 9am and noticed Tabitha the cat sleeping near me, on top of the covers. When I woke up around 10:30am, she was still there. Highly unusual. Turns out she managed to knock over the canister with her food so she had no need to cry for breakfast. She was all tired out from her New Year's feast. I honestly don't think there is any way to keep her from being a fat cat.

I hadn't quite decided what to do with my day but I figured I'd call Mom and say happy birthday (Jan 1 is her b-day) and maybe catch a movie.

The bad is that before I had a chance to call Mom, I got an email from her. She thanked me for the present I'd sent and said I shouldn't call her unless I was ready to deal with her issues.

Huh?

I thought everything was hunky-dory and I sent her an email to that effect. Her response was that our last conversation was about unimportant things and avoided the "real issues." Eventually we established that I could call to say happy birthday but that I shouldn't expect to have a long conversation.

I continue to fail to understand why our friendly conversations don't "count." Mom and I talked about as much real stuff (family, health issues, friend-updates, travel plans, minor annoyances) as I do on an average day with any of my friends. I mean, Pele and I have serious conversations, but we also spend about 10% of any conversation talking about football (it's not just for guys!). Ideally, I'd have a friendly, easy relationship with my mother with room for serious and frivolous conversations.

I have more to say about Mom, but what about some good to break it up? More good is that after my perplexing email exchange with Mom, the phone rang. I'm hesitant to answer my landline these days since it's usually a solicitation but I overcame my resistance and found myself talking to B2, my brother in Israel. (The home phone rings and it's most likely to be, in order: sales person, Dad, Mom, B2, B1.)

B2 was calling to tell me that the Big Box 'O Scarves had arrived in Israel safely and that my nieces (and niece-in-law) were delighted and wearing them all the time. In fact, it had just gotten cold there so the timing was perfect. Also, since people keep their houses colder in Israel, a lot of people wear scarves indoors. Perfect! I was so happy and gratified. It was a labor of love making those scarves. The process made me feel more connected to my nieces as I thought about each of them as I worked on her scarf. It's icing on the cake to know that they are wearing them and appreciating them.

B2 and I chatted about other things as well and it was quite a pleasant and friendly conversation. We don't talk very often but it's always good to hear from him.

After that, I decided to get out of the house and go to the movies. I also decided to call Mom on the way there. Somehow that conversation was going to be easier on the move.

I called and we eased into a friendly, random conversation. It seemed fine but when it was time to go, Mom let out a wistful, "So I guess we'll just keep avoiding the serious issues."

I said, "Look, I don't have a problem so I'm not really sure what the issue is."

"Sure, YOU don't have a problem."

"The only thing I can think of is the prayer shawl [a gift from my mother on the occasion of my Bat Mitzvah lo those many years ago] and, I don't know, I just think that if you want something, you should ask for it."

"That was not the point."

"What was the point?"

We ended up having a semi-productive talk about the prayer shawl. She said she didn't want it. What she did want was to know how I felt about it. I said that if that were the case, she should have asked me how I felt instead of implying that I didn't care about it. When we established that I do, in fact, care about the prayer shawl even though I don't intend to wear it, she seemed satisfied.

(As an aside, it really bothers me that I have to account for my feelings about this object to my mother. Why can't I just have my feelings? Why are my feelings any of my mother's business? I am trying to be sympathetic but this is a tough one for me to accept.)

You'd think that would be good. But no. Mom ended our conversation like this, "Well, that's one thing, but there are still more issues we'll have to deal with later. We can do that by appointment on the phone or I can write to you."

I said, "Happy Birthday!"

Yeesh.

Then I went to see Juno. (This is full of spoilers, be warned.) I'll say it was a fine movie but one thought kept running through my mind as I watched, "Why are they talking that way?" the jargon/slang used by the teenage protagonists was too clever by half. I am no enemy of quirky slang dialog in teenage movies—I thought it was used to great effect in Brick. But Juno went too far in this regard. Also, the theater was crowded and the laughing stepped on many of the lines. I would actually need to see it again to hear everything. Did I like it? I'm not sure. I liked a lot about it but I didn't seem to find it quite as hilarious as everyone else. Was it the woman's Knocked Up? I don't think so. It wasn't from a "full grown" woman's point of view—it's the story of a sixteen-year-old girl. A relatively mature one, but not an adult. Knocked Up mostly took the man's perspective—a grown man who acted like a sixteen-year-old. It's not equivalent. It's not about a woman who should be, but isn't, ready for adult responsibility. It's about an almost adult girl who isn't ready and knows it and figures out a way to be responsible (I guess). You know what bothers me about this picture? It's not the short-shrift given to the abortion option, which, thankfully is at least presented. It's the short-shrift given to the sex that leads to the unplanned pregnancy. Now, it may be silly to ask that sex be motivated between teenagers. They are teenagers! They all want to have sex all the time! Ok, I was a teenager and I remember what it was like. That's not what it was like for me. Juno is a girl who is very cool and smart and, perhaps we're all meant to identify with her, but I only sort of did. The sex is never shown, which is good. But it's never clear how it comes to be. I wanted to know more about her relationship with the boy. It's still a boy-gets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-fill-in-the-blank-girl story. Where are the details? Why must it be so elliptical?

And, why are they talking like that?

Possible favorite line: "I'm a cautionary whale." Particularly amusing from the too-tiny-to-be-believed Ellen Page.

Happy New Year! (Better late than never!)

Grateful for: friends.

Short fuse

Last night was my swing dance lesson. I cannot tell you how hard it was for me to get myself there. Well, physically, it was easy, since I drove. But mentally? Hard, hard, hard.

I kept smiling and that helped. Most of the time, I enjoyed the lesson. The couple who teaches intersperses a lot of shtick with the actual lesson and I laughed. So far, so good. What was not good was a run-in with one of my partners.

The class is taught in a big circle. The women (followers) stay in place and the men (leaders) rotate from partner to partner. (The women could rotate—who does the actual rotating is inconsequential.) In this part of the lesson, each leader was to dance for one minute with each follower and then rotate. One of the instructors calls out "rotate!" when it's time.

My partner for this minute was a tall fellow dressed in jeans and a button down shirt. He had a prominent forehead and a receding hairline . He looked a bit like the guy who plays the father on "That 70's Show" except he was a brunette.

We get to dancing. He stomps on my foot. Now, my foot has been stepped many times at dances but very rarely by my partner. I say, "Ow!" He says, "Are you ok?" I say, "Yes." But I'm grumpy.

We keep dancing. He tells me, "You need to be more squared up to me."

Ok. I square myself. For this particular move, we are side-by-side and he has his right arm across my back. The lead requires that he give me a push with his right hand. But instead of resting a flat hand just below my shoulder blade, he tightly grips my waist. This is a common mistake and it can hurt.

I say, "It would help if you released that death grip on me."

He harrumphs and leads me to the next move. He says, "You have to hold your hands more like this."

I say, "Enough!"

He says, "What?"

I say, "Stop telling me what to do."

He says, "I'm just trying to help!"

I say, "I didn't ask you to help. Enough." I stop dancing and stand with my arms crossed until it's time to rotate.

He was a complete jerk. First, he stepped on me. He never apologized. Why not? Because he thought I was doing something wrong. But no other guys have stepped on me and I've been doing that move "wrong" all along. He was seriously hurting me with his steely claw of a hand, but, again, I was the problem.

Please. I'm the follower. If you lead correctly, I will follow. I dance with a lot of clumsy, inexperienced, nervous guys during the lesson and not one of them has tried to tell me what to do. Sometimes, if a move goes wrong, I'll say, "my timing was off" or "my steps are too big" and the guy will say, "no, it was me" or "I'm doing the same thing" because, we're in it together. Plus, we're taking the lesson so we don't need to instruct each other. If one of my partners asks me what's going wrong, and I think I know, I'll tell him. Otherwise, I keep my mouth shut. Even if you're hurting me! (I have a low tolerance for pain, but I can suffer for a minute or two.) If I haven't asked for help, then please don't offer it. This isn't life and death, it's dancing. No one but me and my feet and fatty tissue are going to get hurt.

After that, all my partners were easy and friendly and the usual mix of competent and clueless. Just like you would expect from a lesson.

When the lesson was over, I danced with a few people. I screwed up a few times and laughed and apologized. They laughed and shook it off. I tried to stay later but I just didn't want to be there. I wanted to be home in bed, which I was by 10:30pm. Sigh.

On another note, I was too lame to call my brother, but I did send email apologizing about forgetting his birthday. He was cool. Then he told me they're planning to be down here in January and did I have time to see them. Of course I said yes.

See, this is my problem with my brother. They've never made plans to come to visit me. And, yes, I've invited them (not for a specific occasion, but I've issued an open invitation more than once). Do they plan to come see me? No. Do they ever invite me to visit? No. I have to invite myself. They have other friends in Virginia, and they make plans to see them. They make plans to go to CA to see my sister-in-law's sister.

It's so frustrating to feel like I'm so low on his priority list. I guess I should talk to him about it but I can only imagine being made more unhappy by such a conversation. I've been stewing about this for the last who knows how many years—what's a few more weeks or months?

Man, I really need to perk up! I have not been in a movie-mood for weeks, but I've decided that X-mas weekend, will be an all movie weekend. AFI is playing a few classics and I have my eye on a few new releases. I'm going to a movie on Sat, Sun, Mon and Tues if it kills me! I might even go see a band on Sat night. Woo-hoo!

Those of you who know me, please get in touch. I have free passes for AFI. C'mon, you know you want to. I promise to be nice as long as you don't try to give me a dancing lesson.

Grateful for: the friendly dancers.

Lost and found

The other day, the Fourth of July in fact, I decided to watch one of my old DVDs. I own about 20 videos and DVDs, but I don't watch them very often unless I'm with other people. Once acquiring one of my favorites, I tend to watch it rather less than in the old days when I had to go to the video store (anachronism!) to rent a copy. I wonder if others are the same? I only buy two kinds of movies: ones I've never seen or ones I'm sure I want to see more than once.

I recently realized that if I have a rerun or favorite movie on in the background, it helps me work. I tend to watch the tv if it's on and my more typical background noise is the radio. But the news (especially these days) is hard to ignore. What I can ignore is a rerun or the umpteenth viewing of The Philadelphia Story. I need that friendly noise to get writing done. I ignore it mostly but glance up to see my favorite bits.

That day, I decided that I would watch Spellbound. It's another old favorite and I haven't seen it for a while. Its surreal overtones fit my mood. I pulled out the case only to find it empty. Empty? It’s not like me to misplace DVDs, CDs or books. I put things back in their cases. Another DVD was missing (another Hitchcock film) and the last time I saw that was with Owen (you remember, my most recent ex). I sent him an email asking if he had the discs, assuming they were both in the same place. I also called Pele to see if I'd left them in her car. No dice. Owen responded the next night--he didn't have them either. I figured they'd turn up eventually--probably as soon as I bought new copies.

To that end, I checked amazon.com, place of the original purchase. I searched for Spellbound and found it on offer for the amazing price of $49.97--used! The highest priced new copy was going for $333! Of course, there was a reissue for $10.49, but the Chinese writing on the box made me question its potential quality. I didn't understand--I got Spellbound as part of a boxed set with four other Hitchcock movies in 2004 and the whole thing cost me $106 (including shipping). What has happened?

Well, according to one comment, Criterion, the folks who produced my box set, lost their rights to issue these films and they went out of print--and became collectors' items.

As I browsed the comments, I got a little wistful for my missing copy of Spellbound. I'd watched most of the special features…very good ones…and I've seen the movie probably four or five times, but still, I wanted the opportunity to see it again.

On Saturday night, I still hadn't found it. I'd given up looking. Pele had a party that evening. I biked to her place in Arlington--it should have been seven miles but I added some amount to that due to many wrong turns. Good exercise, or something.

The evening was pleasant. I got more talking time with "the boyfriend," which was pretty much the highlight--I think there was not a single unattached man there! Oh well. I also enjoyed seeing C-money and DrJ. Lamenting my shoulder woes to DrJ, who is a fervent soccer player, I asked, "Is there a soccer league for people who don't know how to play soccer and are bad at it and slow?" Surprisingly, the answer was "Yes!" So, I may have new sport eventually. (Right, I haven't written about that for a while--I'm taking a rowing break because the shoulder isn't recovering. I'm doing the PT, 3 times a week, but I'm off the meds. So far, still hurts, but I'm hardly disabled.)

I did not bike all the way home--I let the metro carry me from Clarendon to Eastern Market and biked from there. On the way home, it occurred to me that the DVDs might be in my suitcase--the one I don't use very often.

I checked when I got home, but they weren't there. I took all the DVDs out of their storage spot again and looked behind the CD cases. Still nothing.

Finally, I checked one last place--a backpack I use rarely but sometimes take for longer trips. And there they were! In a little sleeve I use when I try to save space. They must have been in there since…New Years. I bet I brought them with me to the west coast and never watched them.

I was so relieved. I almost popped Spellbound into the DVD player, but I resisted. It was after 1:00am and time to sleep. I placed both discs carefully in their cases and breathed a sigh of relief. I also thought, I have too many damn bags. And, I need to do a better job of completely emptying them after EVERY trip.

I'm also incredibly lucky that this was my biggest problem this week.

Grateful for: Hitchcock.

Current events

I keep meaning to write about the trial. I thought I'd want to write about it immediately, but, despite my love of the experience, I really needed not to think about it for awhile. Mission accomplished!

What else have I accomplished? I went to a happy hour on Friday and had a good time. Met some folks and talked their ears off, but no complaints on that (so far). On Saturday, I got to see the Mystics' opening game with Dr. J, thanks to Nancy, who gave me her tickets. (I don't think I've thanked her enough, actually.) The seats were great and we enjoyed marvelling at the 7'2" player on the other team. She couldn't move very well, but being that tall and moving at all gives your team an advantage. Their best player was a 5'5" guard, however. Represent! Sadly, the Mystics lost, but they were in it the whole game.

After the game, I was on my own so I went to see Spiderman 3. What can I say? It was pretty and I can't hate Kirsten Dunst, but what was with all the big boy crying? I'm for gender equality but the emotions didn't resonate for me--most women wouldn't cry in these circumstances. Also, the transformation of Peter Parker to a "bad dude" was about the most unconvincing in movie history, which is sad because movie transformations (librarian to hottie; wimp to badass; nerd to superhero) are the bread and butter of screen storytelling--meaning, it's just not that hard to do--and to see it flubbed so completely, well, that was disheartening. Maybe Tobey Maguire's round face is not suited to such a transformation, but there had to be better ways to handle it. All the reviews were right: beautiful effects, lousy storytelling, underused villains and a huge disappointment in comparison to the first two Spiderman movies.

Yesterday marked the first day of a week-long knitting moratorium. I have a ton of projects I'm working on but my shoulder is killing me. Knitting exacerbates it. A lot. I'm forcing myself to take a week off, but I'm not happy about it. I was dosing myself on appropriate pain killers, but I decided I needed some time off from those too, which means my shoulder pretty much aches full time. I think resting it will help. We'll see. I went to physical therapy for this a few months ago and I'm doing the recommended exercises, which should help. It's quite frustrating because my knitting obsession hasn't weakened in the least, but my physical ability to carry on is not there. Apparently, this is a common problem for knitters and the solution is easy: rest. So I'm resting, dammit.

I'm getting to work on the posts about jury duty soon. Tomorrow! Maybe. And, also, I'm getting back to work-work, which is plenty busy (good) and not weird and awkward at all (relief).

Grateful for: time.

Short reviews

I'm getting some reviews up at my movie site, so take a look if you have time. I'll be updating throughout the day.

Music and Lyrics
Breach
Notes on a Scandal
Children of Men
Pan's Labyrinth

Grateful for: the movies.

The good fight...or film

Many months ago, I had a discussion with Spesh about movies with good politics. A film's politics are primary to Spesh. I care but to a much lessor extent. A movie with a good plot, acting, writing and no message at all is fine with me. When I go to the movies, I want to be entertained. I don't want to work. The best films, even if they're serious and have good politics, make the work (aka "thinking") easy. But when I am not in the mood to think, I go see Wedding Crashers or Dude, Where's My Car? I can laugh and forget myself for a while. Spesh wouldn't be caught dead at either of those films, but I've willingly and happily seen both. 

While I see a lot of entertaining crap, Spesh and I mostly agree on what is good. We have similar tastes--in both low and high culture films--as evidenced by all the sub-par movies we couldn't stop watching on cable when I visited him in Israel.

We started to make a list of the best films with good politics. We came up with five:
Salt of the Earth
Matewan
Norma Rae
The Grapes of Wrath
Bullworth

I'd add:
The Battle of Algiers

I remember how we felt after seeing Bullworth. We (I think C-money was there too) were blown away by the sheer audacity of the picture--the outrageousness of old, white, Beatty rapping about socialized medicine. It was extraordinary. Spesh was ready to vote for Beatty for president right then.

I saw Norma Rae when I was 10, living in Knoxville, TN. It was screened on campus and despite the "adult" content, my parents took me. (That wasn't unusual--they often took me to films inappropriate for my age.) I'll always I remember how I felt the first time I saw it. How sad Norma Rae was and how exciting it was when she stood up in the mill and held her "UNION" sign. Even though I didn't really understand what it meant, it brought tears to my eyes. That film may have made me a life-long union supporter (or maybe it was my left-wing parents).

The Grapes of Wrath is a great, classic film. Its visual language is so compelling, the characters hardly need to speak. It's probably one of the best things Henry Fonda ever did.

Matewan is a good film. Unfortunately, like most of Sayles work, it could have been better if a little more attention was paid to the characters. He gets that right, for once, in Lone Star (which has good politics, but might not meet the Spesh test). Despite the important and interesting topics he covers--and his courage in filming them--his work always just misses the mark for me. Still, Matewan clearly belongs on the list.

I don't know if Spesh would agree with me about The Battle of Algiers, but it fits. It's a powerful and disturbing film. Given the current situation in Iraq--or any situation where there is "terrorism"--it's quite instructive. If you get a chance, do see it. You have to think, but it's worth it.

That's what we came up with, but I'm sure there are more...any suggestions?

Grateful for: movie thinking.

Drop me a line.

Best dressed

I'm not sure what it says about me that I answered every question on the Washington Post's Oscar Dress Quiz correctly--and it wasn't even hard! It probably means that I usually watch the Academy Awards, which is true. I have little respect for the ceremony, but I do enjoy evaluating and dissing the formal gowns. The men's tuxedos are usually dull or misguided. Boys, you have it so easy! How can you screw it up?

Last year, I'd only seen one of the Best Picture nominees before post time. This year, I've seen two. I'm replicating and updating my table from last year. I've caught up on a few of the movies I missed last year but laziness prevails.

Here is my track record for Best Picture for the past two years (* indicates winner):

Year	Film	Saw it?	Opinion
2006	Babel	No	Heard it was more confusing than great, though visually stunning. Don't have a strong desire to see it.
	The Departed	Yes	Saw it, loved it. My boy Marky-Mark better win for Best Supporting Actor. He was swell.
	Letters From Iwo Jima	No	Who has seen this? I'm curious.
	Little Miss Sunshine	Yes	I wasn't as blown away as some folks, but there were plenty of laughs.
	The Queen	No	Am I really supposed to want to see this? Bor-ing.
2005	Brokeback Mountain	Yes (after the awards show)	Just about the saddest little movie ever made. Very pretty, too.
	Capote	No	Supposed to be good and I'll see it eventually.
	Crash*	Yes (after the awards show)	This claptrap won? Why am I not surprised.
	Good Night and Good Luck	Yes	Fine film, perhaps a little too pointed in its critique of GWB and too light in its treatment of characters and plot
	Munich	No	Didn't see it. Spesh said it would be wrong to pay for it and we almost snuck in once. I may see it someday.

Note: This is the first of at least two movie-themed posts (or the second of three if you count my ode to The Avengers yesterday). Tis the season, right? This year, the Academy Awards are being shown the day before my birthday and I'll be watching in celebration. To the very end. No matter what.

Grateful for: more movies!

Action packed weekend

As it turned out, my weekend contained no yoga. It did contain babysitting, movie going and the stuff exchange part two.

The babysitting was a list minute favor for, TR, who had tickets for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf on Saturday night and didn't realize it was THAT Saturday. I was planning to go to a play myself that night, but I moved it to Sunday afternoon. TR was taking his wife on a date, but it's not exactly the play I would choose for that event. His wife did the choosing, though. I've seen the movie and it's exhausting; high quality, but exhausting.

The original plan for Saturday was: hot yoga, a four-hour movie at the National Gallery and the theater. It was then modified to anti-war rally, four-hour movie and the theater. The final modification was anti-war rally, regular length movie and babysitting. I think the final iteration turned out to be the best. The four-hour movie plus theater never seemed like a particularly good idea. TR's kids are very easy, they fed me and I watched their netflix movie (Mrs. Henderson Presents--so-so, but sufficiently entertaining). 

The plan on Sunday was originally: pick up order at College Park REI, meet Nancy and kids for Indian lunch nearby, grocery shop, hot yoga. Because Saturday was modified, Sunday became: REI, Indian lunch, theater matinee, grocery shopping. But it change again when I got a call from an old friend whose mother just died. I'd been meaning to call her, but I dropped the ball. She said I could come over on Sunday and I agreed. I had the car all day and she lives in Arlington. It occurred to me as I drove to her house that I could drop by Owen's afterwards and get the rest of my stuff. I also thought that if Pele was around I would stop by her house (she also lives in Arlington). So, Sunday became: REI, Indian lunch, grocery shop, live theater, condolence call, stuff exchange part two and movie with Pele.

I called Pele while I was driving to Owen's house and we decided to go to the movies. When I got to Owen's, he and the roommate came out with my stuff and Pele called to tell me the movie was starting in 10 minutes at a theater a 15 minute drive a way. I said we should try and make it anyway, what with the extreme length of previews these days.

Owen stood outside in the cold while I talked to Pele. When I got off the phone, I asked him for directions and he was vaguely helpful. Then I said, "So, how are you?"

He said, "I'm ok, how are you?"

"I'm good," said with conviction. We looked at each other. "So, is that all you have for me?"

"What? Oh, I think that's all your stuff." (Except it wasn't--he still has a book I loaned him. I'm letting that one go.)

I said, "No. I mean words. Do you have anything else to say to me?"

"Uh, no, I guess not."

"Ok." I laughed and said, "Why would you? You don't talk."

He smiled and said, "I guess you're right."

With that, I sped off to the next location in Arlington. I felt bad. Maybe I should have been nicer. It may well be the last time I ever see or speak to Owen. I'm glad I had somewhere else to be.

Pele and I missed the first few minutes of the movie, so we stayed around for the next show to catch them. We used the extra time for some much needed chatting, so being late actually had its advantages.

One of the other amusing side-effects of my unexpectedly packed Sunday was that my dinner consisted of movie theater popcorn, 1/2 a box of Milk Duds (please admire my restraint), a can of soup and some crackers. Ah, yes, the dinner of champions.

(I have a little piece in the works about the protest. I may get it up later today. I also may eventually post reviews of the movies I saw, but who has time to write them?)

Grateful for: taking care of business.

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Me and The Academy

Movie buff that I am, you might think that I am very into the Oscars®. And, in a way, I am. I'm very into chortling with disgust at the crappy films that get nominated. I'm very likely to roll my eyes, sigh and otherwise express dismay at the kinds of things that win. Titanic? Shakespeare in Love? Please. I'm all for entertainment, pretty faces and high production values. But I also value humor, honesty and good dialogue. These things are often sadly lacking in Oscar® winners.

Last night, C-Money sent an email to a group of us with a link to this years Oscar® nominees:
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck
Munich


I have only seen one of these, Good Night, and Good Luck. It's especially surprising given the relatively high quality of the group.

Dr. J said I needed to get busy.

The Animal wrote, "Wow, when's the last time you've only seen one of the nominees?"

I wondered the same thing. I decided to check. Here is my track record for Best Picture for the past five years (* indicates the winner):

Year	Film	Saw it?	Opinion
2004	Finding Neverland	Yes	Have no idea why it was nominated.
	The Aviator	Yes, but after the awards show	It was ok, but far from great.
	*Million Dollar Baby	Yes	It was pretty good. Not Best Picture good.
	Ray	No	I don't care to see it, but if someone rented it, I would watch.
	Sideways	Yes	Dragged my then bf to see it against his will. He loved it, I hated it. Probably the most worthy film in this group. At least it had integrity. Since I despised the main characters, I can't be enthusiastic about it.
2003	*The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King	Yes	It was very loud. A little confusing.
	Lost in Translation	Yes	This is a good, depressing movie. I'm surprised it was recognized at all. Maybe that's the power of a famous name. Or the universal love for Bill Murray.
	Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World	No	You've got to be kidding. This was nominated?
	Mystic River	Yes	I liked it. I thought Kevin Bacon was very good and should have gotten more recognition for his work in this.
	Seabiscuit	No	Eh. I could be persuaded to see it, but have no plans to.
2002	*Chicago	Yes	You know, I like a good musical, probably more than the average person. But Best Picture? C'mon people! This is just sad.
	Gangs of New York	No	Supposed to be a brilliant failure. Anything by Scorsese is probably at least interesting. Have no burning desire to see it.
	The Hours	No	I read the book and didn't like it. Soured me on the idea of seeing the movie.
	The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers	Yes	Very loud. And pretty confusing. And bizarre imagery.
	The Pianist	Yes, but after the awards show	I like Polanski and it was a pretty good picture. Probably the best of this group.
2001	*A Beautiful Mind	No	No desire to see it. Like we need one more movie about a crazy math guy.
	Gosford Park	Yes	This is the kind of thing I like, but I didn't love-love it. I'm surprised it's in here, though.
	In the Bedroom	Yes, but years later	Disturbing, but very good. Anything with Sissy Spacek and Marisa Tomei gets my vote. Probably the best of this group.
	The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring	Yes	Very loud. Very, very confusing. All the weird perspective stuff gave me a headache.
	Moulin Rouge	Yes	I like me some musicals. This was fun. Pretty costumes.
2000	Chocolat	No	From everything I heard, this was drek. What, not enough American movies this year? Have zero interest in ever seeing it.
	Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon	Yes	Loved it. Was it best foreign film year or what?
	Erin Brockovich	Yes	Great fun, good performances, particularly by Albert Finney. Julia Roberts isn't bad either and has fun parading around in her trampy outfits. My pick.
	*Gladiator	Yes	Does The Academy love some Russell Crowe or what? I like this one quite a bit, but it was essentially silly.
	Traffic	Yes	Good, not as deep as it should have been.

So, when was the last time I'd only seen one of the Best Picture nominees--ever? I checked the records all the way back to 1927, the first year Academy Awards® were given. From 1929/1930 to the present, I've seen at least one of each group of nominated pictures. From 1944 on only five pictures a year were nominated. Of those, I have never seen fewer than three of the five nominated films.

Of course, this is a little silly, because I've seen more than two-thirds of these pictures years after their original release dates--including the ones released after I was born. But the answer to, "when was the last time you've only seen one of the nominees?" is, "never." There are twenty-three years where I've seen all five nominees. Of all 77 years, I've seen 73% of the nominees. Wow. I knew I was a movie buff, but if there is such a thing as proof, I think this may be it.

I was going to show you the data, but it's a bit too tedious. My source was the official Academy database. It's impressive, but, unfortunately, doesn't output the data in a very useful format. Fun stuff, though.

Those of you who didn't think I liked numbers may have to revise that opinion now.

Grateful for: the motion picture.
Drop me a line.