Ensconced in Celluloid

Remember that Seinfeld episode when George said he would love to be ensconced in velvet?

Last week, I felt that way about movies. Let me clarify, I would love to be continually ensconced in celluloid or at least watching celluloid and I came pretty close last week; I watched 7 movies over the course of 4 days.

The Catholic in me wants to confess. Would it be gluttony or sloth?

It started on Wednesday. I had meant to go to the movies on Tuesday night but with the snow, I didn't want to risk driving with other Pennsylvania drivers. Vermonters I trust, other states, not so much.

I rationalized that I had spent Monday and Tuesday cleaning and baking so I took Wednesday off and went to see The Wrestler while my kids were in school. What a well-made movie! I find it hard to believe that it's not up for Best Picture. I will say that I didn't care for the wrestling scenes too much but only because I don't like that sport. As for Best Actor, I still think Sean Penn tops Mickey Rourke acting-wise but that doesn't mean that Mr. Penn will win. Mr. Rourke has the come-back going for him and he did a great job in a good film. In addition, did you see his thank you speech at the BAFTAs? Hollywood eats that stuff up! Think Tommy Lee Jones.

Well, Wednesday night, I was not that sleepy so I thought I'd pop out to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button while I had the stamina. Although it garnered the most nominations, it had to be the one I wanted to see the least. And it proved true. It wasn't painful,just long and boring. It was Forrest Gump, expanded and updated for the new century. Too many similarities and I didn't really care for Forrest Gump in the first place. For example, in Forrest Gump, the saying was: Life is like a box of chocolate, you never know what you are going to get. And in Benjamin Button we have: You never know what's coming. I can't believe they nominated Brad Pitt, he doesn't do anything but age backwards, and that's the technology. Run Benjamin run!

Thursday, I had to return to my regularly scheduled life already in progress. But Thursday night was cocktail night so Brian and I sat down to watch Knocked Up. A perfect movie to go along with cocktails. I'm always putting movies into two categories: Wednesday night flicks are ones to pay attention to and Friday night flicks are for opening a beer. Knocked Up is definitely the latter. A fine film with a few laughs. It did cause a bit of a discussion about how women are portrayed in films but neither the discussion nor the memory of the movie lasted long.

On Friday, I returned to the Ritz at the Bourse (one of the arty cinemas in Philly) because it was showing the Oscar Nominated Live Action and Animated Shorts. I have never seen them so I took a gander at the animated shorts. It was quite enjoyable. Interestingly, I noticed that none of the nominated shorts had dialogue in them. Along with the nominated shorts, they showed the "Highly Commended" shorts, some of which did have dialogue. Just an odd coincidence I suppose. Anyway, I wish more theaters would show the shorts, it's just good fun.

Friday night, my daughter brought home Mamma Mia!, she had borrowed it from a friend. I didn't want to disappoint her so we sat down and watched it. Now that's a Friday night movie: a fun, cheesy romp. After we played ABBA and danced around the living room. Who doesn't like ABBA?

Saturday, on a visit to the library, my daughter picked up two movies, Miss Congeniality (remember that film? Sandra Bullock does a good job) and Swing Time (with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers). My neighbors had come over the night before and stayed too late, so when my daughter wanted to have a mini-movie marathon and watch both movies, who was I to say no? Talk about mother and daughter bonding time.

Ah! What a week! While I might feel a bit guilty, I also have that giddy feeling one gets when one has gotten away with something. I feel like I played hooky and didn't get caught.

I can't say I'd do it again but there are two weeks until the Oscars!