Let's All Go To the Movies

This is one of my favorite times of the year -- the holidays are pleasant memories and people are still in pretty good moods, the weather is crisp, and the playoffs are on. The best part of it is the Oscar push -- the studios release their best pictures just before the end of the year and flood the theaters with really, really good stories. I try to see 'em all before the Oscars so that I can cheer or boo appropriately. I have a lot to do in the next 6 weeks.

I've gotten a decent start with Slumdog Millionaire, Doubt, and Milk. So far, Slumdog Millionaire is my hands down favorite -- it is completely beautiful in its gut-wrenchingness. I genuinely think it's one of the best movies I've ever seen, and I never want to see it again -- I'm sure I would come undone. Doubt was a subtle story with tremendous acting that resulted in an excellent movie -- careful, well thought-out, and one that you want to talk about with anyone who has seen it (do you think he did it?!?). Milk was compelling -- Harvey Milk was clearly an original with a vision that life can be different, if you're willing to make it so. Sean Penn was completely convincing -- it's hard to forget that big actors are big actors and believe that they are really someone else in these roles, but he succeeded in this one. I've been glad to see all of them, and look forward to getting to Frost/Nixon, Valkyrie, The Reader, and when in the neighborhood, Reservation Road and The Wrestler.

Everything seems to have taken on a different meaning for me as I go through this time in my life, and while I spend a lot of time trying not to think about big important things, I'm so glad to have this list of someone else's stories to get swallowed up in and to give me a structured way to think big thoughts, instead of the irrational coo-coo ways that I tend to implement when left to my own devices.

Who will win? Who cares. If you've seen something great, I'd like to hear about it.