Tradition

A friend and I used to have a tradition of making up a top-ten list of the movies we’d seen during the year. Actually, we used to see so many movies that we sometimes had top-twenty lists. This friend was sometimes able to say she saw at least one movie a week, often even more than that. I was intermittent about movie-going; some years were heavier than others. Still, I usually managed to cram in some of the summer blockbusters, or at least the year-end releases. This past year the following movies were memorable for me: Zodiac, Knocked Up, Hairspray, 3:10 to Yuma, and No Country for Old Men. I mention these five because they were the only movies I saw all year. Even taking into consideration those years when my moviegoing was light, this year was unusual. Part of this is due to the huge change I made in my life. I don’t have a circle of friends or even casual acquaintances to see movies with here in Buffalo. My brother and I have seen things in the past, but we didn’t rush out to see anything this year. I wasn’t compelled by the latest Pirates of the Caribbean installment and I’m not into Jason Bourne. I watch more movies on cable and DVD that I did in years past, but even that has dropped off as the months have gone by. In New York City, one felt socially pressured to participate in the sport of moviegoing. Moviegoing there is practically an amateur sport that most people participate in whether they know it or not. I would even go so far as to say that movie-avoidance in New York is a sport. You are bombarded with trailers and posters and publicity; you are likely to hear about movies before they open, as they open, and after they open. So the admission that one didn’t go to the movies in New York City would be like saying you didn’t read, almost as bad as farting loudly in a crowded elevator. Here in Buffalo, I feel in no way pressured to see the latest from the Brothers Coen or the newest documentary about the situation in Iraq. I read, of course, but not the way I did in New York; all that time on public transportation was especially useful there. So I miss long stretches of reading, but maybe I’m still adjusting. Because I’m in a car for several hours a day, I do listen to NPR more avidly, even compulsively. I websurf more, and stay in touch with current events via Internet, but I’ve stopped watching cable news, which has frankly gotten pretty silly. (The tipping point was CNN’s unveiling of an expensive new Weather Center the year after Katrina. The set looked like the stage of American Idol; you could feel the producers rubbing their hands in anticipation, then disappointment when an active hurricane season failed to materialize.)
But today, with the first truly heavy snowstorm of the year, I was ready: I wanted a movie, something escapist, ideally set on a tropical island, because of the weather outside. And there was nothing. Nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing. Bee Movie. August Rush. Awake. Hitman. Alvin and the friggin' Chipmunks. Nothing.
(Sigh.)
Well, at least It's a Wonderful Life was on Friday night. Suspicion is on Turner Classic Movies, and I bought the Tim Weiner book on the CIA. A birthday present for myself, a tradition that hasn’t changed. Even if the kind of books I’m buying lately have changed. But that’s another story.