Thursday, December 13th, 2007

My Kind of Marathon

I’ve always thought it would be fun to spend a whole day at the movies – to smuggle in candy and eat popcorn for lunch and see movie after fresh, new movie with just enough time in between to have a quick-and-dirty discussion of the one you just saw.

Now that it’s holiday movie time – when there are so many movies I want to see that I never have time for them all – I finally suggested to my friend Kristen that we have a movie marathon.

Because Kristen is a hard-working and random-schedule-having RN, all we could manage was a half marathon. A person needs to build herself up to this kind of strenuous activity anyway, right?

So Tuesday evening I wrote out a movie schedule (including star ratings for each flick), and Kristen bought Sour Patch Kids and Reese’s Pieces and Milk Duds, which she snuck in wrapped in her cardigan (and we transferred to my purse in the bathroom).

Then we settled into the almost-empty theater to watch The Golden Compass. Our consensus: We liked it, especially the ice bears and the lead mini-actress, but just as we thought The Chronicles of Narnia was heavy-handed in its way, this one felt a bit heavy-handed in the opposite way.

Next, we had a long debate over whether to see August Rush or No Country for Old Men. I’d read reviews of both and presented them to Kristen like this: August Rush – the critics say it’s mushy-gushy but the good kind; No Country – really violent but awesome, the best Cohen brothers movie yet.

In the end, we chose August Rush. Maybe Kristen is the wrong person to see an ultra-sappy “music of the heart” kind of movie with (and maybe I am the wrong sort, too) because we spent half the movie choking back laughter so we wouldn’t disturb theater patrons who might be genuinely moved by li’l August and his devastatingly handsome father and delicately beautiful mother.

I still want to see No Country, but I don’t regret watching August Rush, mostly because of Jonathan Rhys Meyers’ lips and how much fun we had making fun of the movie during and afterward. Especially the final scene – oh geez, it was hilarious.

Finally, we decided against a third movie, mostly because we’d already discovered most of the good movies weren’t out yet. We just couldn’t muster much enthusiasm for Awake or This Christmas.

So we left the theater and had dinner and wrap-up discussion. I suggested we should start a movie podcast, and Kristen said she’d freeze up if she knew she was being recorded. I brushed her off and pretended to turn on an imaginary tape recorder. Then we both froze up. With an imaginary recorder. Yeah, I think our future in podcasting is limited.

But as for the movie marathon, I think it should become a regular thing. In fact, I want to start it up again this weekend. I want to see Atonement, I Am Legend, Alvin and the Chipmunks (I loved it as a child and still enjoy the DVD of Chipmunk Adventure), maybe Charlie Wilson’s War, maybe The Water Horse, and (breathlessly, desperately) Sweeney Todd.

Movies I don’t want to see: The Bucket List. We saw the preview at the theater, and though I love Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson, this movie looks like one weeping sore of sappy, cliched hideousness.

I don’t know why I’m listing all this other than a sudden resurgence of sheer, bouncing-in-my-seat excitement for the movies. I’d almost forgotten how much I love-love-love going to the movies. I love the darkness and the combination of salty popcorn and sweet Reese’s pieces. Best of all, I love the discussion afterward and reading the reviews at Pajiba: Scathing Reviews for Bitchy People and telling people about them and finding new favorites and new things to hate.

So let’s talk about movies a little while, okay? Which holiday movies are you looking forward to seeing? Please don’t say The Bucket List – if you do, I don’t think we can be friends anymore. … Just kidding, one of my favorite movies is Center Stage, so I’m in no position to judge.

posted by K | filed under Extracurricular | 5 Comments

Comments

5 Responses to “My Kind of Marathon”

  1. Mary on December 14th, 2007 6:29 am

    I want to see Charlie Wilson’s War, and maybe There Will Be Blood (that sounds like a real ho-ho-ho Christmas movie, right?). I say No Country last weekend and it was great. I’m not generally a Tommy Lee Jones fan, either. At the end of the movie there was dead silence in the theatre…I think everyone was thinking the same thing that I was…which was did this movie just end…was that the ending?!

    No Country was very true to the book.

  2. Kristy on December 14th, 2007 10:51 am

    Here’s my list.
    -Sweeney Todd
    -I Am Legend
    -P.S. I Love You

    I always thought about doing the same type of marathon; but then figured after 2 or 3 movies, I’d be upset that I “wasted” my day sitting on my butt doing absolutely nothing. Glad to know that someone took the challenge and had positive results, maybe I should reconsider.

  3. Kristin on December 14th, 2007 2:59 pm

    I’m on the fence about P.S. I Love You. The previews look so darn charming, but I don’t think I can handle a movie about someone’s significant other dying. As it is, I get a little scared any time Darwin is five minutes late getting home. He’s the same way – we’re always getting all panicky and thinking the other one is dead. Morbid, I know.

  4. Sandy on December 19th, 2007 12:24 pm

    Is there any chance of us seeing a picture of you in that darling hat and your vintage fur stole in front of a Christmas Tree?

  5. Sandy on December 25th, 2007 9:32 am

    Kristin & Family – Merry Christmas!

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