It is now 10.30am, and I have not yet been to bed! John, who had a day off, and I actually went out… On a real DATE, if you can believe it! This is an event for homebodies like us!
The evening started off with canned fruit and stern coffee at 4pm (such is the nature of nightshift work), and me happening to check the schedule at the Princess downtown. As it turned out, something very promising was playing at 9.10pm. More than enough time for us to get our acts together and get downtown (which is, ironically, “Uptown”). Deciding against the Yuppie pastime of inviting everyone we know to come with us, we instead went out alone. As a couple. (Still, this shocks me.)
After a lovely long walk down town, we stopped and browsed in a few choice shops, one of which is likely the best DVD store I have ever seen (but in which I can rarely afford to actually make a purchase), and I bought one previously viewed movie. Then we hit a sub shop for a very tasty sandwich, and then it was to a nice little bookstore, where I managed to snag a reasonably-priced copy of The Nuremberg Interviews. (Romantic, eh?)
Then to the movies. Thank You for Smoking (2005). Brilliant! Wonderful! Funniest picture seen in a while! Etc! (Really, I would review it, but it seems that everyone and their dog already has, so I decided I would only review it if my opinion was exactly the opposite of everyone, which it isn’t, so there you go.) I will say one small thing by way of why I liked it so much, though. Seldom do you see an American movie so brutally willing to see shades of grey in the cinematic landscape of white and black, and for this I thank all those involved with making this film. I laughed out loud, and never felt lectured, pandered to, or ridiculed. A true gem.
Anyway, we came back and had a rest at around midnight, when we decided to walk up to the grocery store. (Again – oh, so very romantic.) We had a nice, quiet 3am supper, and settled down to read with the cat between us, thinking what a nice evening it had been. Soon, I was onto my new Nuremberg book (shocking, I know, that the comp books could not tempt me), which inspired a desire to watch my copy of the TV miniseries Nuremberg (2000), which is interesting and quite watchable (despite the never-pleasant presence of a Baldwin). John had never seen it, so we had a light snack and watched this until the sun came up.
The romance keeps coming, eh?
We probably should have gone to bed at this point, but have you ever reached a point where things seem too enjoyable to just call it a day? Days off are especially hard to just put to a drab end like that. So, we went for a walk in the park and a smoke, and then decided to watch another film.
This one was the new DVD I had just bought, which neither of us had seen; Nanny McPhee (2005). I bought this because (1) the colours looked wonderful; (2) I generally love Emma Thompson screenplays; and (3) COLIN FIRTH. (You may put those in any order that seems reasonable to you.)
I worried that I would hate it, as there was a distinct possibility that it could go Lemony Snicket’s (in which case, $15 down the drain and a bullet in the head), rather than Harry Potter. It turns out that it went in neither direction, really, and absolutely delighted me. Clever, bright and charming, with only minimal jiggy touches (the anamorphic donkey, especially at the end, was a bit much), it was a treat. Further, it holds the distinction of being the only (nominally) children’s movie that has ever, to my knowledge, used the word “incest,” which should be at least some record.
So, all in all, a night of tobacco lobbyists, Nazi criminals (which rather put the first “villain” in perspective), and magical nannies (who will stay when we need her but do not want her, but must leave when we want her but do not need her). Truly, a very, very strange series of movies, even for us.
However, now it is, I fear, really time to put an end to the evening. It really has been a wonderful night. When I wake up, it will be time to clean and take care of mundane tasks, and tomorrow John returns to work, and I return to my comp reading, etc., etc. But tonight was marvelous. I really could have danced all night… and I think I did.
(But now I must learn to go to bed when I am told. That is lesson one.)
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