I am a devoted cinema-phile. For the past few years, Jeff and I have made a weekly date night a number one priority as a means of preserving our sanity. Weekends at our house can be an exercise in endurance with Jack home and requiring our constant attention, with the exception of when he has therapy. We find that Jack plus three other boys in wildly different stages equals frenetic Saturdays. By five o'clock we are thoroughly weary and ready for the dark, quiet, kid-free ambiance of the megaplex. Of course it's not really happening right now with one little preemie in the house, but normally we see movies within a week or two of their premieres.
Last winter was the first time that Jeff and I sat and watched the Academy Awards together. It was like a really sneaky, fabulous little date: a Sunday evening, kids in bed, and a big bowl of popcorn on our laps. Scandalous! I think we even pulled out a bottle of bubbly (Martinelli's) left over from the holidays and acted like we were totally living large. The best part was that for the first time in our lives, we had seen nearly all of the movies nominated for the bigger awards. We finally had a horse in the race or a dog in the fight, or however that metaphor goes. It was really fun! This year, with our wild ride of having a fourth child, and a preemie to boot, we are sadly less schooled in many of the Oscar contenders. I still anticipate watching the awards as a voyeur, however.
Going to the movies is like the quintessential escapist activity. We leave our worries at the door, load up on cinema snacks, and allow ourselves to be entertained for a couple of hours. I have embraced this miniature weekly holiday to someplace other than my own life, because the respite freshens me for another round of exertion in parenting. I'm refilling my cup and recharging my batteries, and all that. It's my break, and it makes me nicer to be around. And I just love movies!
Of the movies that I was able to view this year, these are my favorites: The Help, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two, The Debt, Jane Eyre, Midnight in Paris, The Muppets, and Twilight Breaking Dawn Part One--psych! I did not care for the latest installment in that franchise. I know that I have missed some good flicks, though, and I want to catch up with them eventually. At the top of my list are The Artist, Moneyball, and Warrior. Please weigh in and fill me in on what's worth seeing and why. I want your opinions!
I am so not able to give any advice on this subject! I rarely get to the big screen, when I get to get out, I want to play! Talking and obscene giggling are usually frowned upon in our theaters. Our escape usually consists of delicious food, maybe racquet ball, then home for a Redbox, or if we are too exhausted, Netflix. I am definitly a fan of zoning out of my life and into anothers' for a couple of hours.
ReplyDeleteWe saw Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close last week and I really recommend it--especially to my literary friends like you! If you haven't read the book yet, I also highly recommend it. Reading the book isn't necessary before seeing the film--whatever order you are able to make it happen is just fine.
ReplyDeleteI'm a huge movie fan, too--it's my favorite date night! Andy and Rachel saw Hugo and highly recommend it, too (it's for grown ups).
You got to more movies than me. I am impressed. Our typical Saturday night: renting/borrowing a movie (or watching something DVRed), putting the kids to bed, and getting sushi take out. We are real party animals. Our favorite is going through seasons of TV shows on DVD. Our favorite: Castle!
ReplyDeleteSpence and I LOVE going to the movies on the weekend! Especially since they opened the new imax theater a couple blocks away. Dinner and a show-one of our favorite Friday night dates :) We have not seen The Artist, Moneyball, or Warrior but my brother, Andy, says Warrior was awesome. I have to recommend Hugo as well. It's a beautiful story and beautifully filmed.
ReplyDeleteBrett is a movie junkie. It's his hobby. Some men fish, hunt, hike, bike, etc. Brett watches movies. He's really good at it. So good that he earned the nickname "Netflix" when he worked at Micron. He is known to watch 10 or more movies per week in our home theatre.
ReplyDeleteOur favorite for this year is "War Horse." You must see it when you can! It is cinematically beautiful, true. But my favorite part is the people. There really aren't bad guys -- just people doing their jobs. One guy is kind of a jerk, but not horrible. No evil doers! And the good guys are really, really good. The horse meets a lot of people on his journey that help him. It was rewarding to be reminded of all of the good people we run into everyday.
Plus, everyone 10 and over can see the movie. The war was realistic without being too real (fighting, violence, but no blood and guts). My mom loved it, too!
We just saw Moneyball-suprise Brad Pitt doesn't eat in ecery scene in this movie- thank goodness (am I the only one who notices that?) It was a good film, not really about the players of the games, so it made it not the same old story, but it limited those you connect with during the movie also. I thought Jonah Black was great. We liked it, but not loved it.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any helpful commentary as I too have had a lack of cinematic involvement this season. I will say that I just adored the Muppet Movie and of course cried my way through the final Harry Potter.
ReplyDeleteI just love reading your blog Megan! I really do need to stage some sort of get together, it's been far too long. In the mean time, thank heaven for the internet!
Well, since we have boys too (and we really like comic book hero movies), we enjoyed Green Lantern, Thor, Captain America. We also liked the 4th Pirates of the Caribbean. Because time is of he essence, we enjoy watching Netflix shows at night when the kids are asleep. We've watched every episode of "Merlin" (those we watched with the boys) and started watching the Tudors together. The documentaries are great too. If you only have about 45 minutes, those shows are perfect because then you still have time to read before bed. :) We don't get out much either, but when we do, we try to change it up. Last year we saw a bunch of plays, and recently went out with friends to see a bluegrass concert up in SLC.
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