Hot Streak at 10:38 PM

You know, the good thing about not having time to watch a lot of movies for a while is that since I finally got to check out a bunch of movies, they've all been great. The first movie I saw this year was "Next", which was fine. I give it 3 stars out of 5, mostly for unintentional (or intentional) Nicholas Cage humor. Seriously, when he's in a goofy movie, he can be fun to watch. But anyway, let me just enumerate to you the movies I've seen since then, with their accompanying star ratings:

"Eastern Promises" (****)
"Shoot 'Em Up" (****)
"Glengarry Glen Ross" (****)
"Frenzy" (****)
"The Orphanage" (*****)
"3:10 to Yuma" (*****)
"Cloverfield" (****)

That, my friends, is seven straight movies that I have loved. Seriously though, "Cloverfield" is awesome. My wife saw it in Delaware today with her dad and brother, and I didn't want to wait, so I went and saw it myself. I want to watch it again right now, actually, to see stuff I missed before. Apparently the movie is getting some mixed reviews, though. It seems to be largely popular among critics, but it didn't get a great reaction at the theater where I saw it, or the theater where Jessica saw it. Also Jessica and her company disliked it. I don't know what there is to dislike, honestly. But I won't get into that right now, at least until a couple more people see it, and we can have a discussion.

In other news, my mom is the first to acknowledge that she has been tagged, so go check out her blog if you will. The rest of you, get to it, will you?

The Scene at the Theater at 11:11 PM

As Zimm told you, we saw "The Orphanage" last night. And also as he told you, it was absolutely fantastic. I find no fault with it. It was scary in the way that a movie is supposed to be scary. It doesn't gross you out, it doesn't exploit violence or cruelty, but it gives you something to be scared of, and a story that keeps you on the edge of your seat. I think it might also have been the first time I've seen a foreign language movie in the theater, oddly enough. I'm certainly not averse to seeing movies with subtitles, as this was the third Spanish-speaking movie from Guillermo del Toro that I've seen. "The Devi's Backbone" and "Pan's Labyrinth" were also awesome, so I'm officially a fan. On the way to the theater, though, there was a fun exchange with the girl working the ticket counter. It went as follows:

We join our heroes as they enter the movie theater, already running a bit late for El Orfanato, the movie they plan on seeing on that particular night. It's late in Fort Wayne, and there are no patrons ahead of Zimm and Tha Docta as they approach Girl at the Ticket Counter.

Zimm: I'd like one for El Orfanato.

Girl at the Ticket Counter: What?

Zimm: The 10:00 El Orfanato.

Girl: (stares blankly)

Tha Docta: The Orphanage.

Girl: Oh! Okay.

Zimm: Thanks.

Tha Docta: Also one for The Orphanage.

Girl: Here you go. (pauses) Ohh! You were speaking Spanish! That movie's in Spanish, right? I only took like one year of Spanish. The second year was way too hard. I don't know Spanish.

Zimm and Tha Docta take their turn to stare blankly.

Girl (to Zimm): So there's subtitles, right?

Zimm: Um...yeah.

Girl: But you won't even need them, huh? You understand what's going on, right? Because you speak Spanish?

Zimm: Sure...yeah, I can pretty much follow it.

Girl: Ha! Spanish was way too hard for me after the first year.

Zimm and Tha Docta move slowly toward the theater, leaving Girl at the Ticket Counter still talking.

Tha Docta: What just happened?

Zimm: I don't know.

End scene.

Good times, my friends.