' ' Cinema Romantico: Huge Post Coming Tomorrow

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Huge Post Coming Tomorrow

If I've said it once I've said it 4,700 times: often the most essential movie-watching experiences of our lives are entirely unexpected. Like I'm sitting on the couch of my Urbandale townhouse one weekday evening and my roommates are all gone and I'm scrolling TV channels looking for a movie to watch and I happen upon the Sundance channel and something called "The Myth Of Fingerprints" which I've never even heard of except it appears Julianne Moore is in it and, hey, I dig Julianne Moore and it appears to be starting right now and so why not? I watched it. And now it's my third favorite movie of all time, on the coveted top row of my DVD shelf right next to "Last of the Mohicans." I mean, what if I had not been home that night? What if I'd found the movie 10 minutes after it started or 10 minutes before it started? Would have I watched it? What if I had not watched it? My God, what if?! DON'T THESE KINDS OF THINGS BOTHER ANYBODY ELSE???

Did you know that I was not really all that interested to see "Atonement"? Seriously. I had not read the book, had not so much as seen a preview, did not know much about it at all, but that Friday evening I wanted to see the 5:30 show of a movie at my favorite theater in the city and everything showing at 5:30 I'd already seen......except "Atonement." So I bought a ticket. Two hours later I was watching the credits roll with tears rolling down my eyes and then I went and saw it again less than 48 hours later and then when I was home for Christmas two weeks afterwards I dragged my mom and sister at gunpoint to the theater to watch it and now it sits on the coveted top row of my DVD shelf right next to "The Myth Of Fingerprints" and, well, WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF IT DIDN'T HAVE A 5:30 SHOW THAT DAY???

Well, a couple weeks ago, again, out of the absolute blue, on an exceptionally frigid Saturday afternoon, via DVR, I had a massive movie watching experience. I had planned on going to see "Biutiful", one of the Oscar nominees for Best Foreign Picture, but it was, like, 12 degrees outside and there was so, so, so much snow, just endless banks of snow in every direction and down every sidewalk, which turned even the usual 3 minute walk to the grocery store into a trek reminiscent of Shackleton's Trans-Antarctic Expedition, and I knew "Biutiful" was going to be super depressing and I just didn't have it in me and so I stayed home and turned instead to my DVR where I'd recorded a couple films I'd never seen that were part of Turner Classic Movies 30 Days Of Oscar and so now, in retrospect, we can safely assume one of the main reasons for The Great Chicago Blizzard of '11 was to keep me home that Saturday so I could watch this particular movie. Thanks, movie gods!

One interesting thing about falling so hard for a film is how uninteresting all other things cinematic become in the face of your true love. At the time of "Atonement" my friend Rory and I had our short-lived Cinematic Arena blog where we both saw the same movie and then debated it in often ornery tones and we had decided to see "The Golden Compass" that weekend and debate it and so I went and saw it the day after "Atonement" and, honestly, I did not want to be there. I could not focus. I'd hear, like, two words Nicole Kidman would say and then I'd drift back to that lush montage of James McEvoy and Keira Knightley prepping for the dinner party and eventually I'd come to and have no idea where this current movie was or what was going on. Is that polar bear talking? A couple weeks later "Once", a movie I also fell hard for, was released on DVD and I had been waiting and waiting desperately for that DVD but, I don't know, man, it just lost something in the face of "Atonement." I didn't want to admit it but it was true. Kinda like how in the face of this particular massive movie watching experience of a couple weeks ago I've sort of lost interest in Natalie Portman's drive for an Oscar (which no doubt comes as a relief to some of my readers.) Don't get me wrong, this doesn't lessen Natalie's fine work as Nina Sayers or my rapturous feelings toward "Black Swan" on their own terms but in the face of what has unexpectedly occurred I'm helpless. Natalie's great and all but compared to this......

But because of what I saw and what I felt and what it meant and so forth I wanted to give it some time and let it soak in so I could ensure that my initial gut reaction was accurate and then be able to type up a post in complete control of my facilities without employing my typical extravagant prose. Well, I reached a definitive conclusion that my gut reaction was right but I still typed up a post by employing my typical extravagant prose. It's me, man. It's all I know.

Nevertheless...I wanted to build it up a little bit because, hey, it's more fun that way. This is significant stuff. Trust me. Cinema Romantico will never be the same.


3 comments:

Wretched Genius said...

I loved Yogi Bear as much as the next guy, but there's no reason to build it up this much.

Castor said...

"lost interest in Natalie Portman's drive for an Oscar (which no doubt comes as a relief to some of my readers.)" Ahaha indeed sir...

Now I know you really like Sienna Miller but GI Joe is truly terrible!!!

Nick Prigge said...

Damn it, Brad, it was supposed to be a surprise! But seriously...

Don't get TOO excited about my lost interest in Natalie Portman. I did type up a slightly epic post about her prior to this massive movie watching experience that's still to come. But you can always skip over it.

And perhaps this is also a good time to report for anyone who didn't know that Sienna Miller just split again with Jude Law. Which means I still have a chance!