The Peg Is In

As Ken and I have discovered over many years of trying to see Oscar-nominated movies, a nomination doesn’t guarantee that a movie will stay in theaters long enough for you to see it. It helps that there are more movies on DVD and available via cable On Demand services every year, but there are always those that fall in the cracks.

Here are the movies that we advise you see ASAP, as they may be nearing the end of their theater run, and they don’t have a DVD release date yet.

Fantastic Mr. Fox – Most theaters that are still showing this are doing so at “kid times” – just a few showings early in the day. That’s a sign that theater managers think it’s got a limited audience, which means it’s doomed. We’re going to try to see it today. Never miss a Wes Anderson flick!

Invictus - Though this came out only in December and has many big names, it’s being overwhelmed by other, bigger releases, and got few nominations. See it to decide if Morgan Freeman should get Best Actor or Matt Damon should get Best Supporting Actor.

Nine – I suspect this one is going fast because it stank up the joint. Seeing it will be one of the things I do for the love of movies. If you’re not a completist like me, maybe don’t bother. If you do see it, check the art direction, costume design, and possible Best Supporting Actress performance by Penelope Cruz.

The Lovely Bones – This is still playing in a bunch of places, but even with Peter Jackson attached to it, it’s been giving off eau de fail. See it for Stanley Tucci’s performance, nominated for Best Supporting Actor.

The Princess and the Frog – Playing in many theaters, but like Fantastic Mr. Fox, it’s playing at “kid times” – the kiss of death.

Any nominated documentary or foreign film – These are notoriously hard to find. Last year’s winner for Best Foreign Film, Departures, we couldn’t find anywhere – and we were REALLY trying.

Happy film hunting!

As I first explained a year ago, my husband and I try to see every film with an Oscar nomination or a nominee in it before the prizes are awarded. We call this the Oscar Run.

Today we got our marching orders – the 2009 Oscar nominees were announced. Go here for a complete list.

Here are all the movies with a nomination or nominee (excluding shorts and the more obscure technical nominees):

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One clean, green reuseable bag at a time

I was walking to the cafeteria at work (Qualcomm Inc.) the other day, and noticed a display from the City of San Diego’s Recycling Program. A few representatives were giving out information and freebies, and I snagged the nifty bag above.

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So I’m watching Bored to Death on HBO, the new film noir/comedy series starring Jason Schwartzman. We had recorded several episodes on our DVR, and my husband was zipping through the in-between filler stuff to get to the next episode, when I yelled “STOP!!!”

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My husband does not share my love of Harry Potter. Dumbledore, Hogwarts and Quidditch leave him cold. But he loves me, and I love the books, so he made it his business to find out when the next Harry Potter film was coming out (July 15), and when it could be seen in the best of all possible formats, IMAX 3D (July 29).

Since it was opening day for this film in IMAX, we knew we’d have to wait in line to get decent seats, so we lined up at Edwards Mira Mesa Stadium 18 at 5:30 for the 7:40 PM show. We’d gone right after work, and given that we’d be in the movie until about 10PM, I bought concessions – a practice we call “conceding,” since we know the food is both terrible and overpriced. I got a hot dog, a medium popcorn, a medium soda, and some fruit gummies, which cost almost $20. IMAX movies cost more, in this case $16.50 each, so by the time we took our seats, we were already in for over $50.

Half a C note.

My friends, as much as I love Harry Potter, this gave me pause.

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Ask the donkey?

This is my shoulder, and it has a story to tell.

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Hal Wright, my hero (Photo courtesy of Out West)

No posts for a month? Dear readers, you must have wondered what hole I fell into.

It was a deep and wide hole, and its name is Overcommitment. I fell down it and couldn’t get up. Several of my friends were down there, too. We discussed our predicament over many beers. This did not help us get out of the hole, but when you’re sipping on a New Belgium Lips of Faith Dunkelweiss (9% ABV, oh yeah!), you really don’t care. The more appalled I became at my lack of posts, the more beer I drank.

Anyway, let me explain how I became Overcommitted and contracted a severe case of Blog Fatigue.

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Star Trek opens in theaters May 8

Official website – IMDB listing

I was born in 1966, the same year Star Trek debuted on television. As soon as I could reach the dial that changed the channel, I was a Trekkie. I watched the original Star Trek series in reruns whenever I could, usually sometime after school and before the news. My best friend Stephanie and I argued over which female space alien was prettier (the blonde chick on that planet that was too crowded), which crew uniform would flatter us (Uhuru’s – we both had big butts), which was the best episode (“The Doomsday Machine,” 1967). We saw them all multiple times, and were grateful no matter which one aired.

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The Gartin household's nominees for Best Vampire: Lina Leandersson and Robert Pattinson

Twilight: Official website – IMDB listing
Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in): Official website – IMDB listing

Ken and I have been marinating our minds in a couple of recent Blu-Ray disc releases this weekend. My strong pull toward one and his strong pull toward the other has got me thinking about men and women and how we react differently to certain movies.

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Starting tomorrow, everybody!

http://watchmenmovie.warnerbros.com/

See it in IMAX.

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