Movie meme

First, I'm typing this on the Mac. So if I [whoops] mess up typing [aw crap], you'll understand it's because I'm on a weird keyboard with none of the Control or Alt keys where 10 years of touch typing have taught my fingers that those keys should be.

Second, okay, the book meme was fun. But it gets a little high-falutin', because books carry so much weight. People put down non-fiction, or else throw in heavy hitters or "serious" fiction, etc. What they don't tell you is that they like Faulkner for the naughty bits (note: I have no idea if a Faulkner book has any naughty bits in it; I've never read one).

And I have a sneaking suspicion that everyone pads their book meme just a little bit. I mean, the fact that I spent January through April reading Salvatore novels didn't even come up. (This is the point at which my wife will IM me, asking, "Why did you write that? My friends read this.")

[Note to Apple: Control+Left Arrow goes back a full word, Control+Right Arrow goes forward a full word. It's in the corner, for crying out loud; it's a mile wide and a mile high. Also, the Home key takes you to the beginning of the line in a text editor, the End key takes you to the end of the line.]

Where were we? Ah, yes. Book memes make liars of us all. So let's do movies, and let's change it up a bit. None of this "means the most to me" crap. That implies that a movie has meaning. Bad Boys and ID4 have no meaning whatsoever, but are a lot of fun to watch. Ditto Road House, which is even more fun to watch if it's the TV-edited version with the sound turned down and you're talking over it, a la MST3K. Good times, good times.

Also, no counting. No "how many movies do you own," etc. It proves nothing.

Moving on.

Movie meme:
1. What was the last movie you watched?
2. What was the last movie you bought?
3. What was the last movie you went to a theater to see?
4. What is the movie you have seen the most?
5. What are the 5 movies you like the most?
6. Tag 5, yada yada.

Ok, rules. Gotta have rules. Right:
a) "movie" is very broadly defined and can include TV shows that can be bought on DVD or VHS
b) you have to know the name of the movie; none of this "I saw this great little arthouse film in SoHo once, but only Andy Warhol knew the name, and he wasn't telling," etc.
c) don't use the word "film." It's like the word "space" in interior design. They are movies and rooms. To call them otherwise is pretentious. You know it and we know it, so knock it off.

Ready? Here we go
1. What was the last movie you watched?
Hitch, with Will Smith. Very good, and highly recommended, if just for Kevin James' facial expressions alone.

2. What was the last movie you bought?
[gotta go look] That I bought, The Incredibles, which is indeed incredible. We watch it constantly.

My wife got me So I Married An Axe Murderer for Father's Day and I'm sad to say I haven't watched it yet. I was going to watch it tonight while putting hinges back on the kitchen cabinets, but the hinges were the wrong color and I can't find another excuse to sit on the couch for 2 hours by myself watching a movie.

3. What was the last movie you went to a theater to see?
Batman Begins. Wow. We don't get to go out very often, so we save our theater movie events for things that will look really good on a big screen. This was a lot of fun, even if my wife spent the rest of the afternoon complaining about the idiots who brought little kids. It's PG-13 people. Lots of crying and screaming in our theater that day, I can tell you.

4. What is the movie you have seen the most?
Not by my own choice, but probably either The Road Warrior, The Natural, or Monsters, Inc.

My cousin lived with us for a while when I was a kid, and he had The Road Warrior on video. He claimed to have seen it over 100 times, and I was there for a good chunk of those. This is quite possibly the genesis of my post-apocalyptic fixation. 50+ easily

When I was in late middle school (7th & 8th grades), I went to a tiny little private school. Our PE teacher was also the Youth Group leader at our church, and he loved The Natural. So if it was raining, we watched it for PE. We also watched it at lock-ins, youth group movie nights, etc. Also 50+

(Ladyhawke was foisted upon us similarly, but partial viewings don't count, and that's all I've really got for that movie. We'd stay for the fighting and leave during the kissing. Plus the music was awful.)

Monsters, Inc. is a contender because this is what was on the in-house TV non-stop when Stephen was in the hospital with pneumonia in Christmas of 2002. Three days in ICU, two days in a regular hospital room, I went out and bought a copy immediately after getting him home, and we spent a large portion of the next few weeks sitting on the couch together watching it. He doesn't even like it now.

Excuse me, there's something in my eye . . .

5. What are the 5 movies you like the most?
Note: none of these movies changed my life. In no particular order:

1. Apollo 13 - makes me cry. Seriously.
2. Anything by Pixar. It's a total cop-out, I'm sure, but pick any one of them and I'm there. Even Bug's Life.
3. The Ref - it's a Christmas tradition for my wife and I. Mom, don't watch it, the language is awful.
4. When Harry Met Sally - for that one scene when they're in New York in the fall. You know, when she's dropping off letters . . . Come on. Gorgeous.
5. The Music Man - which is a favorite of my Dad's. I sing it around the house all day.

Honorable Mention:

• Casablanca - the movie my wife and I watched on our first date, when she invited herself to dinner I was having with some friends. I'm glad it worked out.
• It's A Wonderful Life - Only gets better and more weepy when you have kids. That's right, I'm crying during It's A Wonderful Life. And not just once, but all through the thing.
  

What? No Bad Boys? What about Star Wars? If it were a top 10, maybe those would be on there. But our limits are what define us. Cough.

Also, I'm not saying that these are the best movies ever made. But if you were sitting down somewhere with one of these movies on, and I happened to walk by, I would probably sit down and watch it with you. That crazy Bjork movie where she's blind, in prison, and dies at the end? Not so much.

6. Tag 5, yada yada.
Dignan
Splitcat
DAW
Georgia On My Mind
Pig In A Pen

Mom, I would tag you, but you have yet to write one single entry in your blog. Hop to it.