‘Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the house, I went freaking bananas and tried not to stress out, while my boyfriend (who doesn’t celebrate Christmas) has been incredibly tolerant about it all. He’s just happy I’m not making Those Damned Calendars for gifts this year.
I am giving a couple of people DVDs for Christmas. I bought my baby brother The Forbidden Zone, because I know he doesn’t own that movie, since he doesn’t know much about it. Anything he wants on DVD, he usually runs out and gets for himself, so I either have to find an obscure movie or get him a nice film book. (Last year, I gave him an autographed copy of Profoundly Disturbing by Joe Bob Briggs.) I first saw this movie when I was his age and at LSU, so it seems like a very fitting present.
And I bought my married brother the first season of The Dukes of Hazzard on DVD, because he adored that TV show when he was little, and Amazon had the boxed set on sale so it was cheap enough to be a good semi-joke gift. As long as no one makes me watch it, I don’t care.
I still have to finish wrapping presents, buying ribbon and gift tags, picking up the odds and ends I’m using for my parents’ gift (a lot of coffee-related stuff), sending any last-minute Christmas cards, cleaning out my car, and packing for the trip next week.
I’m going to a Christmas party tomorrow afternoon, and on Sunday I hope to see Marcia Ball and Sarah Elizabeth Campbell at Armadillo Christmas Bazaar.
And in the middle of all this, there are movies opening this week. Who’s thinking about movies right now? Well, I kind of am (I got all excited to learn this week that Twentieth Century will finally be released on DVD in February) but I don’t know if I’ll have time to go to a theater. Which is too bad, because I’d like to see Sideways and Kinsey and a couple of other movies before they vanish from theaters. Although I don’t think Sideways will vanish anytime soon, because it’s starting to pick up national awards.
Anyway, if you’re fortunate enough to be completely unruffled by the holiday season, there are a few movies opening this week, and some nice special events too, seasonal and otherwise.
New movies in Austin this week:
Brother to Brother—Independent film that parallels the life of a contemporary gay teenager with the life of a poet during the Harlem Renaissance (1920s). I like anything set in the 1920s just because I adore the clothes and the set designs, but I doubt I’ll be able to get to Dobie for this one.
Flight of the Phoenix—I’ve seen ads for this, but didn’t realize it’s a remake of a 1965 film, directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Jimmy Stewart. A bunch of guys are stuck in the desert aftet a plane crash. The 1965 cast looks a lot more interesting than the one in this film, with the notable exception of Miranda Otto (women weren’t in films like this in the 1960s except in flashbacks or as native peasant temptresses). In both cases, though, the plot doesn’t quite grab me.
Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events—I’m divided about this movie. I have never read the Lemony Snicket books, but wouldn’t mind trying one or two. It all looks so very Edward Gorey-esque. On the other hand, I wish they hadn’t marketed this movie as though it were Harry Potter, and the presence of Jim Carrey worries me.
Meet the Fockers—(Opening Wed. 12/22) Eccccccccch. If I ignore it, it’ll go away. Right? Well, a girl can dream.
Spanglish—Another intriguing film, with the possibility of Adam Sandler being directed properly as he was in Punch-Drunk Love. However, the movie is written and directed by James L. Brooks, whose films are sometimes a bit too treacly for me. If I hear someone use “triumph of the human spirit,” I’m not going.
Notable events/revivals in Austin:
Chinatown—Playing at Alamo Downtown on Sun. 12/19, Wed-Thurs. 12/22-23. That’s right, show it at times when I can’t go, damn it. It’s a brand-new print, too. Alamo is offering free popcorn to anyone who shows up wearing a nose bandage. I’d love to see this movie in a theater again. Mmmm. Just in time for Christmas.
Forbidden Animation—Playing at Alamo Downtown on Tues. 12/21. I don’t know if this is anything like the “Banned Toons” collection that Alamo showed in the summer of 2003 (an event I can hardly forget for sappy sentimental reasons), but that was a good line-up and well worth seeing.
It’s a Wonderful Life and White Christmas—Double-feature playing at The Paramount on Friday 12/17 and Sunday 12/19. These movies are so ubiquitous at this time of year that I wonder if anyone would actually go to a theater to see them.
Personally, I think sitting in a theater watching It’s a Wonderful Life would freak me out, because it’s way too close to the situation in one of my favorite short stories, Bradley Denton’s “The Calvin Coolidge Home for Dead Comedians.” I’d be looking around the theater for Lenny Bruce and John Belushi.
The Royal Tenenbaums—Playing at Alamo Downtown on Wed.-Thurs. 12/22-23. You could make it a Huston Family Double-Feature with Chinatown, I suppose, although that’s too twisted even for me. Besides, it’s meant as part of the Alamo’s retrospective on Bill Murray to get us all in the mood for The Life Aquatic. I like this movie a lot and think it would be a peachy pre-Christmas treat.
Scrooged—Playing at Alamo Lake Creek on Monday 12/20. That’s Lake Creek, not downtown, although it’s part of the general Alamo lovefeast for Bill Murray. I like parts of this movie, but not the whole thing, which is why I think it’s ideal for television. In fact, it’s a great movie to watch while wrapping presents. (I have a whole list of Movies to Wrap Presents By, which I ought to post.)
At home, we continue to have Seconds and Gods and Monsters waiting to be viewed. I think we might get Elf from Netflix, although I don’t know if I’ll have time to see it before I leave town. I’m tempted to get Bad Santa instead and try to find some time when my dad is alone to show it to him, but I’m still thinking about that one.
I am working on reviews for these movies: The Ladykillers (2004), Lightning in a Bottle, and Quills. Thank goodness for Holidailies, because I’ve been making myself write and post a review every day and I’m nearly caught up.