Spending my whole birthday sick and most of it sleeping sucked. One of the few highlights was that Mad Men is back. How are we fortunate enough to live in a world where Game of Thrones and Mad Men return within the same eight days?!? Such great dramas, and the two hour season premiere of Mad Men didn’t disappoint me one bit. It was full of the foreboding imagery, the quiet desperation, and the same remarkable truth uttered in small moments. My favorite example from this week: “People will do anything to alleviate their anxiety.” Yep, that’ll preach.
Already, some of you lovely folks have offered to help out with some of the things on my list. I will most definitely be taking you up on those offers, many times over.
In that spirit, one of the primary places I could use some buddies is in the theater-going habit. Perhaps it seems silly to create a goal pertaining to how many movies I will go see in the theater, but I like it. Going to the movies the old-fashioned way is something that easily slips through the cracks, something that I seem to let slide and won’t do for months at a time. However, I also know that when I finally get there, it is good for my soul.
Seattle’s Cinerama
It was first at movie theaters as a kid where I fell in love with movies to begin with. There is a magic in sitting in community (especially when one is fortunate enough to be graced with a great co-audience), as the lights go down and the previews roll that cannot be recreated in the living room, no matter how great the home entertainment system. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Little Mermaid, Jurassic Park, and Robin Hood: Men in Tights are among my early theater memories, adding extra power to the movie-watching experience. As far as audiences go, I know there are films I enjoyed more because of how great the folks in the theater with me were. It’s pretty great when you find yourself watching a movie with a few hundred other people who get the same subtle jokes and love the same moments. Wonderful.
Anyway, it’s a lot harder to get myself to the theater when I have to do it alone. I’m way behind the needed pace to see the 36 movies I aim to see. I’m not against going to the movies alone, but it is far easier to get my ass to the theater if I have partners in crime.
So, are there able-minded folks out there willing to join me in some movie joy?
Here are ten movies coming up in April and May that I want to catch in the theater (not including films that came out before this weekend):
I suppose April is a bit late to start sharing the stuff I want to do in 2013. Better late than never? Every year I make a list of stuff I want to try to do over the course of the year, that way I can look at it from time to time to offer me some motivation to get cracking on my goals as the months pass by.
Some are purely story based, i.e. movie or book related. Some are more concrete and harder to accomplish. They aren’t vague resolutions, like “Get In Shape!” Instead, they are specific, like “Run a 10k” and “Run a 24 Minute 5k.”
I’ve decided to share the list with you, because that will add a bit of added impetus to get this stuff done. Some are personal, but whatever, here’s to throwing caution to the wind! I think I’ll offer more specific updates eventually, and go a bit deeper into a few, but for now, here is the list so far:
Read 52 Books [As of this writing, I’ve read 14.]
Finish My Integrative Project
Complete My MDiv
Watch 250 Movies [I’m behind on this one, 62 as of this writing.]
Find a Way to Afford Therapy Again
Start Blogging Consistently Again [Check!]
Finish ‘Trigger Fiction’
Run a 24 Minute 5K
Run a 10K [Did this for the first time last week.]
Try to Publish Something
Finish Writing a Novel
Organize The Basement [It was in rough shape, but I’ve made really great progress so far!]
Come Up with a Legit Halloween Costume, Also, Attend or Host a Big Halloween Party
See 36 Movies in the Theater
Actively Work to Get Medicated [In process, but there’s definitely been an improvement!]
Attempt Karaoke
Get Weight Back Into the 160’s
Buy a New Suit
Master Five Cocktails, Along With Their Common Variations
Run An Officially Timed 5K
Work Full-Time [Conventionally or Unconventionally]
Complete Two+ DIY Projects
Host Six Parties and Six Dinners
Leave the Continent [We’re going to Scotland and England with Em’s family in July.]
Finish Patronizing All Downtown Ballard Restaurants
There are a few things I want to add, things related to concerts and whatnot, but for now, there is the 2013 To Do List. I also made one for my 30’s for my birthday last year, so I’ll share that one soon, too.
Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn’s films are extremely beautiful, and extremely violent. I really love the way Refn sets up every single shot, and how his musical choices at once complement and contrast with each scene. He also gets really amazing performances from his leading men. Thus what made Drive one of those films I just couldn’t get out of my head, it stays with me still. It’s a film I’m sure I’ll see many more times to come. It captures me in so many ways, none of them comforting. My response to Drive is here.
I’m really excited that Gosling and Refn have teamed up again, and the trailer appears to indicate another film that is both remarkable, and difficult to watch. Gosling looks like he’ll be as perfect in this as he was as The Driver.
Now, if only Gosling and Refn would team up yet again, while also bringing back Tom Hardy (who was amazing for Refn on Bronson).
March’s reads were all pretty light, as it was a busy month in a number of other respects. The good news is, the books were all enjoyable to varying degrees.
The Raven BoysI’ve already written about. The Peculiar is an imperfect yet impressive debut by a kid who started writing the book when he was sixteen. The Age of Miracles is a coming of age story set at the end of the world. Siddharta is a lovely story marrying western psychological concepts and eastern spirituality. And I decided to read Alice in Wonderland to check another classic off of my list, it had a delightful British wit that made the story more enjoyable than the adaptations I’ve seen.
Hopefully I can get through an even better pile in April!
As film franchises go, this one is pretty special. Before Midnight marks the third film in the series, and continues the trend in which a new film comes out every nine years. Each installment gives us another brief glimpse into the lives of two characters who met on a train and spent an evening in Vienna in Before Sunrise.
They are both highly praised films, but Before Sunset is the one I really love. Seeing these two people trying to come to terms with who they are as adults, even people as successful as these two characters, wondering about the gap between who they dreamed they would be and who they are actually becoming… and the pain and honesty in the two lead performances is just so wonderful. These really are two of the smartest actors in the business. The films are also beautifully filmed and directed as well. The writing is sharp, and the lead actors actually improvise a lot, too, making the dialogue really natural and genuine. I’m so excited for the third film.
If you haven’t seen the first two films and ever plan to watch them, I’d recommend skipping this trailer so it doesn’t spoil anything.
Game of Thrones is back, bitches!! Although we didn’t get all the great characters back in the premiere.
GoT is my favorite drama on TV, and I’m not alone. A ton of people watched the season three premier live, and loads of people don’t watch HBO shows live, but watch during re-airings or On-Demand. Also, apparently it had the biggest pirating swarm of any television show episode, ever. People can’t get enough of this GoT action.
For me, the show is a perfect storm, because not only do I love the show, but I also read the first book when it was released in 1996, so I’m what you would call an O.G. (Original Gangsta for the uninitiated). This means that I know what’s coming for the most part, I know who lives and who dies, and while you might think that would ruin things for me, it doesn’t at all. The show is so well made, and is such a great adaptation in a lot of respects, that I enjoy watching the viewers who haven’t read the books deal with events as they occur. You thought people lost their shit because of Downton Abbey killing off important characters? Hahaha. Haha. HA. Hahahahahaha. Just wait.
The end of every episode is a disappointment. I just wish it would keep going. I start getting worried as the minutes tick by, because I realize the end of the episode is soon approaching. So sad. I only watched this week’s episode once so far, but for episode two I will probably get back to my habit from last year, in which I watch the episode alone on Sunday night, and then watch it again with Emily and my friends on Monday night.
I never slept last night, so I sure am tired, but here is some good news to share before I catch up on some sleep in a much needed way. I just read on Vulture that David Tennant and Billie Piper are returning for the 50th anniversary special of Doctor Who. Now, it’s always possible that it will be in some really lame way, like a single thirty-second scene. Also, based on the way we last saw Billie Piper’s character, Rose, this might not be Tennant’s original Doctor character, but may be the second version instead… still, just the possibility that we will see the two versions of the Doctor interact gets me all hot and bothered.
Either way, David Tennant being back is good news no matter what! He is risen, he is risen, indeed!
