Argo, last night’s Oscar winner for Best Picture, came out the day after Oakley was born, 10-12-12. My mom went with James and Laura on the first weekend of its showing. That was the first I’d heard of Argo and the beginning of me keying into the Oscar Best Picture chances for this year.
Around a tight dinner table in our kitchen in November, Mike, Melissa, and Carol Graves spoke of the upcoming Les Mis release and their excitement to see it. Again, this was pretty much the first I’d heard of the Les Mis movie coming out. Consider my curiosity piqued.
On January 10th, the day the nominations for all the Oscars were announced, I had a most enjoyable morning pouring over the paper with all it’s Oscar nom buzz while slowly sipping my coffee. The weekend following the nomination announcement, the KC Star published that AMC would once again be offering their “Best Picture Showcase”- showing all 9 Best Picture nominees on two consecutive Saturdays.
Drew and I had heard of this from our friends, Jim and Debbie Rich, about 5 years ago. We both loved the idea. Despite our desire to go, the practicality never worked out- we had either seen too many of the movies to make it worth going, weren’t in town, felt like it was too much work to leave our kids etc… This year however, we had only seen two of the nine- Les Mis which we both wanted to see again, and Beasts of the Southern Wild. We were genuinely interested in seeing the other seven so we plowed ahead in pursuit- procuring childcare (THANK YOU Geeg and Pops and our KC Aunts and Uncles!!!), pushing aside the fact that I would have to pump a lot of breastmilk during the 20 minute breaks between movies (yes I did bring a breast pump and cooler bag into the theater both weeks), and purchasing tickets (mostly with gift cards). It was all set…we were in!
The schedule:
February 16th- 10am- 8:30pm L Amour, Les Mis, Argo, Django Unchained
February 23rd- 10am- 10:50pm Beasts of the Southern Wild, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, and Zero Dark Thirty
Caveats:
1. Amour had subtitle issues (only 15% were coming through onto the screen) so the theater skipped ahead after 25 minutes of French only dialogue and showed the next movie. Honestly, Drew and I were not sad…we experienced a bit of it and got out of the long day in enough time to put our kids to bed that night.
2. Since Beasts of the Southern Wild was first on the second looong day, we skipped it and showed up late to watch the last four.
And so…
It was all we hoped it would be. We enjoyed the escape, the relaxation, the intensity, emotion, surprise, awe, beauty, pain, hope, and questions of the STORIES the movies shared. Drew and I loved the time together and our shared interest in, and appreciation for, the movies that fed our connection. I worried that my bum would get sore, that my spirit get heavy being in the dark for so long, and that I wouldn’t be able to handle some of the suffering or violence on screen. In the end, I did stretch during breaks (often while also pumping), my soul and spirit were enriched, not deadened, and I closed my eyes to avoid taking in the full affront of some tough scenes. I would recommend the experience to anyone with the interest and time!
Summary:
In an attempt for blogging brevity, I’ll offer a one word or phrase summary of each film, in the order I viewed them:
1. L’Amour- Covenant commitment
2. Les Mis- Love transforms, redeems, restores and freely but at great cost, forgives.
3. Argo- Trusting in a process despite risks (In some ways, I think of Abraham, Isaac and God’s crazy request a bit here)
4. Django Unchained- Passionate pursuits and partnerships that change lives.
5. Beasts of the Southern Wild- Connection to a greater whole and hanging on when it’s hard.
6. Life of Pi- “All of life is a series of letting go…what hurts the most is not taking moments to say goodbye” (this is my attempt at a direct quote from the film)
7. Lincoln- Stories share truths, show the way & it takes courage to do the right thing
8. Silver Linings Playbook- Get real with yourself and a trusted other
9. Zero Dark Thirty- Tenacity
My top 3:
1. Les Mis- simply unlike any movie I’ve ever seen
2. Silver Linings Playbook- loved the messy, the music, the victory
3. Life of Pi- visually stunning, great questions of searching, finding, and trusting God
And our Snowman: Oscar The kids and I had a great time building a snowman yesterday who held movies in her “arms” to welcome our Oscar party attendees!
Oscar the Snowman
