An Embarrassment of Riches

What a start to my weekend! On Wednesday, I told you about my freaky phone conversation with my long lost friend from my other life who is now a PTO mom just like me in our small town. That was one of those cool things that could have lasted me for at least a week or two.

But the goodness just kept going: on Thursday, Joe-Henry and I had dinner at our favorite spot in Portland with some dear friends who were up here scouting the area from LA. I met my friend Shannon when we were in the same theater company down there. She is one of those women: frighteningly gorgeous, amazingly talented and one of the most intuitive and loyal friends you will ever meet. She is one the friends who saved my life when we were getting ready to move here. She is one of the friends I missed like crazy when I got here. But now, NOW, oh, I'm almost too excited to type the words: they are moving to the Portland area. They have their reasons - his daily four hour commute, better schools at more affordable prices, and yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever, they're moving up HERE! They had planned the rest of the weekend to scout Seattle, but they aren't even making it up there - they're going to hunt in earnest here! Wooooohoooooooooooooooo! And can I say, right here, right now, I am itching to help her on this end, because lapsed Lutheran girls are like elephants: we never forget a kindness, and returning the favor is a necessity.

As if THAT weren't enough to make me dance around like a freaky balloon on tainted helium, I got to go on a date with my husband last night! It was so perfect, and so needed. My week at school was trying, my cold still hanging on, my voice shot, and my last good nerve was twitching. He had worked late all week, and I was asleep before he got home almost every night, and darn it, I missed him!
So I called in the troups and my niece and her husband came over for pizza, they brought a movie, and entertained Joe-Henry while we headed out for a grown-up evening. And we got to go out for a quick dinner: it had to be quick, the movie started in an hour and the restaurant closed in 10 minutes, so we got it to go, took it to the car, turned on some good music and sat in the dark in the rain and talked about everything. We haven't steamed up the windows like that since we were dating. Then, we saw one of the best movies I've seen in YEARS. We went to see Michael Clayton. It had everything, it was a thriller AND a character study AND just a flippin' good story. Well written, brilliantly acted, and perfectly directed. So. damn. good. It reminded me of those movies from the seventies that took their time telling the story, and where you wind up at the end is miles from where you thought you would at the beginning. Oh, and did I mention it had George Clooney? In a suit? For the whole movie? If the movie wasn't so brilliant, I could have done my review in one word:

Damp.

But the movie WAS brilliant, so I am telling you - if you like grown up movies where the bad guys aren't stereotypes that you can spot in a crowd, and the good guys are morally ambiguous (and look like George Clooney), and the story will leave you thinking about it for days, then run, don't walk to see this movie.

This morning, I'm tucked in on the couch, great coffee, great music, my favorite almost seven year old playing with trucks on the floor, my handsome, smart, witty, sexy husband downstairs building a fire while the rain taps away on our roof, wondering how I got so lucky.

tag, part two

ACK! While I was in the shower, (I know, it's mid-afternoon, why am I so lame?), I thought of more movies I love!

Here they are:

Network, Broadcast News, Living Out Loud (the last two with Holly Hunter at her best), and for fall on your ass funny The Tall Guy with Jeff Goldblum and Emma Thompson. Best. Sex. Scene. Ever.

Over and out.

I do love a good game of tag...

...especially if I can sit on my ass while playing. In my past life (pre-Joe-Henry), my hubby and I were quite the movie goers. Not necessarily Cinephiles, but movie goers. We'd see the big blow-em-up-good movies, along with the required if you're going to be a hooty-patootie-film -buff Foreign Films.

Here is my list of my 12 favorite films. Or as Ms. Suttonhooput it so well, my top twelve stick to my ribs films. These are films that stay with me, that even mark some milestones in my life.

1. Ponette. A French film about a little girl who loses her mother and how she copes. The most amazing children in this film. I cried my eyes out. Having lost my mother at a young age, this film came at me like a hurricane. I've never seen it again, but I want to.

2. Singin' In The Rain. I had a HUGE crush on Gene Kelly when I was a girl, and the dance numbers are so much fun. It's been a fun one to introduce Joe-Henry to. He loves "Moses Supposes".

3. The Goodbye Girl. Can't be beat for pure shmaltz. It was a seminal film for me in terms of my wanting to be an actress. I thought Richard Dreyfuss was sooooo sexy. (My taste has changed a bit, but I still like 'em smart, funny and sassy).

4. That Thing You Do! Another cheesy one, but it's where I developed my insane crush on Steve Zahn. Plus the peppy music can't help but put a smile on your face.

5. Sunset Boulevard. So crazy, so Hollywood, so beautifully shot.

6. Les Diabolique. I saw this on tv when I was about 11 or 12 and it sooooo thoroughly creeped me out. I LOVED it. The first time I went to Paris, I visited the grave of Simone Signoret and Yves Montand. I'll never forget the guy in the bathtub. Yikes.

7. Waiting For Guffman. As an aging theater whore, this one did me in. I have a hard time watching it now, but for all the right reasons. "Bastard People!" I haven't seen "For Your Consideratio" yet, but I plan to. Christopher Guest is my hero. (Like I've said before, girls love the funny!)

8. Out of Sight. George Clooney & Jennifer Lopez. This only makes my list because George Clooney is such a dreamy dreamboat in his dark suit. Oh, dear God. I've ruined my panties.

9. O Brother Where Art Thou. If it weren't enough that he's so damn handsome, he's FUNNY. We really started getting into bluegrass music after this movie. The soundtrack is amazing.

10. Time Indefinite. A documentary by Ross McElwee about family and life and death. You know, just frivolous stuff. My boyfriend at the time took me to see it, and it affected us both pretty deeply. Shortly after that, he asked me to marry him. I said yes, and the rest is history.

11. Anne of Green Gables with Megan Follows. Another orphan movie. Cried my stinkin' eyes out.

12. It's a tie between Little Miss Sunshine & The 40 Year Old Virgin. I fell in love with Steve Carell when he was in Anchorman. I really didn't like that movie, but I thought he was brilliant and so funny I hurt myself. In L.M.S. he's so vulnerable and funny, and T.40Y.O.V., he's just so sweet. When we lived in L.A., I saw him at the Grove (it was right after Anchorman), and he was there hanging out with his kids, and I was hanging out with JH. It was Christmastime, and we were listening to some guys singing, and I was standing THIS CLOSE to him. He seemed like a good dad and a nice guy. So, I sort of fell in love with him.

That's it for now. Although I think I'll have to come back with Joe-Henry and we can do his 12 favorite films of all time. I'm pretty sure Ice Age: The Meltdown will be on there. He's watching it now, spilling Nerds all over my freshly cleaned floors. Sigh. What I wouldn't give for a night out at the movies.

I'd tag someone, if I knew them well enough to know it wouldn't bum them out. Franklin, if you're up to it.... you're it!