A weighty reminder of the passage of time is finding that I need not try to comment on a movie I watched on DVD tonight since I’ve got archival commentary from six-and-a-half-years ago. The pre-Wordpress/originally-LiveJournal entry from June 19, 2004 offered up my thoughts on Steven Spielberg-helmed, Tom Hanks-starring The Terminal.

So The Terminal gets an 8 from me. Critics were mixed; they derided the slow pace; they said that something just “didn’t work”. I don’t really know what they’re talking about. I think expectations just get raised too high when Spielberg directs and Hanks stars. Had this been some low-budget indie with an unknown director and star, it would be getting rave reviews. Basically, for starters, any film with the brilliant acting of Tom Hanks, direction of Steven Spielberg, cinematography of Janusz Kaminski, and music of John Williams deserves to be seen and will be a masterful piece of filmmaking. And perhaps that’s all I cared about, and those factors along warrant a high rating for the film. But I liked the story. I liked the characters. So…an 8.

Also, there was a brilliant device used for the main titles, showed at the end, that I was very impressed with. Unlike most people, I must stay in my seat for the closing credits of a movie. It is a huge pet peeve of mine when everyone clears the theater as soon as the credits begin to role. I guess it is a huge pet peeve of mine that most people go to the movies for FUN, whereas I prefer to go for some cerebral enrichment. For them, the fun is over once the credits role. For me, the cerebral experience is incomplete without the credits…

Upon repeat viewing, my admiration of the film still comes from the score, the cinematography, the acting, and the end credits, more than the story, which on some levels, really doesn’t work.

Anyway, this is a rather random first post of 2011. I didn’t write anything reflective about 2010. There wouldn’t be anything profound to say. Back to the theme of time’s passage, I think a summary of just about ever year would be similar for me.

I just spent a Saturday night watching a movie from my couch. My pets were lying beside me. It is actually an achievement that I let myself commit to watching an entire movie by myself from start to finish without interruption. I tend to get anxious and depressed that I am home and alone on Saturday night, and I don’t allow myself to get immersed in anything that I might actually enjoy for a couple of hours. Seriously. I don’t know why I say this as if it should be so difficult to understand. It’s all crystal-clear to me. I think I expect that most people wouldn’t understand this.

Sigh… There is so much that I’d like to take a stab at writing about. I am way too self-conscious given the people I know who read this.