There are so many movies I want to see! 

In some respects I feel a bit removed from pop culture; during my two years at boarding school I basically stopped watching TV, listening to the radio, seeing magazines in grocery-store check out aisles and (deep breath) I read much less of the newspaper and the news online (all of which is more or less remedied now.) Understand that I still know about current events and American cultural phenomena more than say someone from Mars, but one negative result of living in a bubble is that I don't see/haven't seen very many recent movies. There's plenty of garbage out there, but there are also movies which I deem worthy of an hour or so of my time. It doesn't help that my oldest sister is total movie buff and that all my friends seem to have memorized every line of every film released during their lifetimes.

Ok- I don't mean to sound too dramatic here- it's not as though I'm really insecure about my mental movie cache (or lack thereof.) But what I really want to say is that I have enjoyed watching some movies recently! My friends come from such diverse backgrounds that there isn't the kind of homogenous movie culture I'm used to, which is refreshing. Also, I have found that my taste in movies matches up more with my current group of friends than it has with former friend-groups, and more specifically that my current friends seem more interested in movies of some intellectual value rather than stupid movies catering to a sadly immature crowd. 

SO: In September I saw "Wall-E" and "Stardust." I thought the former was overrated, but I LOVED "Stardust." It might actually be my new favorite movie. We'll see;  I love "Ever After" (which I watched recently as well) but I've seen it so many times that I need to give it a break for awhile. And I've only seen "Stardust" once so I don't know if it will stand the test of multiple viewings- but I have a notion that it will. (-:

 I saw "A Beautiful Mind" for the first time and loved it. I watched it soon after having a lecture about schizophrenia in my Mental Illness and the Brain class; making the plot even more exciting because of its relevance to my homework. Seeing it heightened my appreciation for a generous statement my prof shared with the class on one of the first days of school. She essentially said that people who have mental illnesses should be treated only marginally differently than say people with heart conditions or stomach ulcers. The point being that they are still people and there is no need to avoid someone who is not dangerous (and I fully recognize that some mentally ill people are dangerous.) "A Beautiful Mind" supports my prof's idea since the main character functions reasonably well in society and even achieves great success. Of course the fact that it's a true story makes it a million times better too. And I cried at the end- happy tears.

I also recently saw "Les Choristes"- which I have seen before, but this time there were no English subtitles! I watched it with a friend from France and a friend from Lebanon, both of whom speak fluent French. Since I had seen it before it was not hard to follow the story and I enjoyed what French I understood. Plus my French friend knew all the songs and it was fun hearing her sing along! We are planning to watch "French Kiss" sometime soon since she has never seen it and I think it's très amusant.

I like helping some of my foreign friends with their English. Most of them speak better than some native speakers I know (I'm always so impressed by the ease with which many people for whom English is a second language speak; using colloquialisms etc.) but I like to talk about language anyway! In some context or other a friend of mine heard someone imitating a Brooklyn accent and expressed to me that she didn't believe anyone really spoke that way. I assured her that America is host to more than one mildly amusing  accent and tried demonstrating a few. My success was limited. However- undeterred- I suggested we watch "My Cousin Vinny," as a combination linguistic/comedic experience. I believe we shall watch it this weekend. I can't wait to tell my friends that it's my Grandma's favorite movie (as far as I know.)

Also on the list for this weekend is "Bedknobs and Broomsticks!" (inspired by a friend who shares my adoration for that childhood favorite) and sometime in the future "Amélie" which (true confessions) I have begun twice and never finished. I liked what I saw, but circumstances forced a premature ending both times. Some movies I haven't seen that are on my to-watch-soon list are: "Philadelphia," "The Notebook," "Jesus Club," "What the Bleep  Do We Know?" and "Tell No One," which is French. Of course I'm always open to suggestions!

Okay- if I'm going to watch all these movies I really must get back to work!