I have a confession...

I am a junkie. That's right a junkie.
A movie junkie. Oh, and a TV junkie. But this post is about my movie "junkiness".
It helps that my son works at the movie theater and we get free movie admission. Has there ever been a better job benefit than that, I ask you?

So, I go to alot of movies, I rent alot of movies and have every pay movie channel available. My son refers to himself and I as "movie snobs". Which if asked to explain, he would say "we like good movies, not shitty ones", ha! Really what it means is that generally we prefer smaller, indie, non-big-box-office commercialized flicks. Really, I can like or maybe even just respect a movie on many levels and enjoy a film for any of several different reasons. I love movies that "have a message or a lesson" pertaining to something I am searching for meaning about.

You know that song that goes 'round this time of year. The one about "the most wonderful time of the year"? Well it is! It 'tis the season! OSCAR SEASON that is. I have had an obsession with the Academy Awards as far back as I can remember. I am one of those weirdos that get up early on nomination day in Feb, just who hear "who's up for what". I watch the Golden Globes because they are the pre-cursor to the Oscars. It is on my bucket list to someday attend the Academy Awards even if it is just outside in the bleacher seats. I would prefer to attend with my someday-perhaps-famous singer daughter or my son who aspires to write the perfect screenplay. And I watch every award, even the boring ones. And I try to make it a point every year to see every movie nominated so I can correctly predict.

I have seen alot of movies in the past few weeks, because the "good ones" are starting to come out. The ones that are most likely Oscar-worthy. So I've seen alot, but have many more to see. My problem is that we live in a smaller city and our theaters don't get alot of the smaller, more obscure movies that I would like to see. Like "Slumdog Millionaire" or "Synechode, New York", not gonna come here. I will wait for them on video.

But there is still plenty to see. Seen recently:
The Changeling (not a horrible movie, but I'm sorry am I the only one who hates Angelina Jolie?)
7 Pounds: Thumbs down (didn't care for message)
Benjamin Button: Thumbs up (visually beautiful)
Doubt: Saw it tonight, Two thumbs WAY UP (phenomenal acting, Streep and Seymour-Hoffman, who could ask for anything more? Amy Adams was surprising good as well.)
Boy in the Striped Pajamas: Good movie (but perhaps not the best choice for a feel-good family Thanksgiving movie?)

Movies I am anxious to see:
The Reader (love Kate Winslet, and this was a great book)
Revolutionary Road (again with the Winslet)
The Wrestler
Milk (with the awesome Sean Penn)
Slumdog Millionaire
Synechode, New York
Gran Torino
Frost/Nixon
The Road (again an awesome book, brought to you by the same author as "No Country for Old Men")

Well that got long. For those of you that stayed with me, thanks, and Happy Oscar Season!