the artist

People with busy lives often miss doing things they want to do. At this point in my life, one of the things I tend to miss is seeing movies I want to see. Some day, down the road, I plan to go to see a movie once a week. I want to anticipate seeing the film for at least a couple of days, then I want to savor the experience, and then reflect on it for a few days after that. Oh, and I want to eat good popcorn (the kind you can get here.)

At present, the movie I really want to see is Hyde Park on Hudson with Bill Murray. I love Bill. I think he is brilliant. If you want to read more about why I love this guy, read this NYT article, here.  Anyway, I digress. My point is that I probably won't see this movie for a while if history is any predictor of the future. I might get lucky and be able to sneak off to Ithaca in the next week or so, but more likely than not, work and family life won't allow that. And it's okay. I will see it eventually and will savor it all the more.

Here's an example of this phenomenon. When The Artist came out, I really wanted to see it on the big screen. I had an "almost" chance to see it that faded away due to work obligations. I kept it in my head. It ended up being a big-time Oscar (and Golden Globe and BAFTA) winner and I thought, yes, I can't wait to see that. Finally, Tom and I watched it Saturday night, two years later, on Netflix. It was wonderful. The actors, premise, cinematography, and story were flawless.I savored it, and am savoring it still. (Can I also just say that I love John Goodman? He was terrific in this film.)

Joni Mitchell has a great lyric where she says "I'm always running behind the time, just like this train." I made "just like this train" a label on this blog to tag as such those things I am currently delighting in, even if I am a little characteristically late to the party. Today The Artist is the subject of my delight. (I am also delighted that a marvelous little device called a Roku player can turn my television into a mini-movie theatre with Netflix streaming movies on demand.) If you, too, are just like this train, keep The Artist on your list of movies to see. You'll be happy you did.

Watch the trailer here: