When I was a little girl my parents took me downtown Chicago to see movies that had a stage show as an opening act. I remember seeing Nat King Cole and Frankie Laine (not my favorite), but I found the movies the most exciting. Sometimes I’d go with my older brother, and I never minded that I had to watch his cowboy and war movie choices. As I got older I went with my friends and got to pick what I wanted to see recommendations right out of the stacks of movie magazines I read from cover to cover.
So I was a well-trained movie freak and that hasn’t changed at all. In fact, movies became one of my biggest diversions after my son died in 1999 – something I wrote a lot about in my memoir, Leaving the Hall Light On. I could sit in the theater and forget about all the pain in my heart.
I always love to go at this time of the year when the new movies come out to compete for all the up and coming awards: Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, Writers Guild, Academy Awards you name the movie skill, there’s an award for it. In fact, my ex-husband and his father both won awards for film editing. You wouldn’t believe how heavy those Oscar’s are!
2015, in my opinion, was a great year for movies. Here’s what I’ve seen in the last couple of months the time when my movie binging usually begins:
Steve Jobs
Spotlight
Spectre*
Room
Bridge of Spies
Trumbo
Carol*
Forty-five Years*
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
The Danish Girl
Seeing ten movies in two months is pretty good we saw three just this last week. Plus the year isn’t over yet. We always go to movies on New Year’s Eve a diversion from thinking about our deceased son and his New Year’s Eve birthday.
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* The only ones I don’t highly recommend. Otherwise, I won’t tell you about any of them. You have to check them out for yourselves. And remember look at the whole film acting, scenery, costumes, music, writing. So much effort from so many talented people goes into making a movie.
I am so behind on my movie viewing! So many times my theater experiences are dominated by what my younger kids want to see and I’m trying to balance that out more and take time for myself. So glad I saw Spotlight recently, and though I’ve never been a huge Star Wars fan my appreciation for it has grown as I’ve gotten older. I loved The Force Awakens. Next up on my “must see” list is The Danish Girl. I can’t even get through that trailer without getting emotional!
You will love The Danish Girl, Renee. Also Room is exceptional. I also loved The Force Awakens. So good to see Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford in their old roles again.