2 Weeks 1 Entry

New at NightsAndWeekends.com Since Last Time:
I’m Not There
Hitman
August Rush
Enchanted
The Mist
No Country for Old Men

It appears as though I forgot that last Friday was actually a Friday. I’m going to blame it on the turkey. But, really, there wasn’t a heck of a lot to write about last week. It was gloriously quiet—except for Monday, when I had to be everywhere at once.

Mondays, as you probably already know, from my regular bitching and moaning, are not convenient days for screenings. I send out a newsletter to my contributors every Monday morning, so that takes some time—and then there’s all kinds of stuff that I need to catch up on from the weekend. I try not to work over the weekend (or at least not at my desk), so there’s usually plenty of email that needs my attention. Also, I will have inevitably watched a couple of DVDs and maybe finished a book or played a game over the weekend—so there’s stuff to review. If I have to take off and head to a screening, that just puts me that much farther behind.

On the Monday before Thanksgiving, however, I had the choice. I could (a) go to a screening and get it over with or (b) wait until Tuesday night. As much as I treasure those Monday mornings at the office, I ended up choosing option (a)—because going with (b) would mean being out for some reason or another Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Also, my husband needed to head into the office—and since, with his broken arm, he’s still not allowed to drive for a few weeks, I had to bring him. Of course, that meant that I had a whole hour (if even that) to work in the morning before driving him out to the office. He had a meeting at 10, so I had plenty of time before the screening. I stopped at Tim Horton’s on the way to the screening to pick up a bagel, and I was still early—so I took the time to start drafting a book review. I also took some time to listen to the projectionist and the security guards chatting about the best ways to pirate movies.

The screening was for Hitman, which was totally ridiculous—though, fortunately, short. It meant that I had time to get home and inhale some form of lunch before my appointment at the doctor’s office at 2. I was told to block out an hour for the appointment—in which I was taking The Great Asthma Test (which, as it turns out, could possibly be the hardest test I have ever taken)—but it ended up taking until 4. This was bad, since I was supposed to be at my knitting group at 4. So I ran back to the house, picked up my knitting, and hit the road. I made it to knitting a half hour or so late, and, of course, it was the one week when my favorite regular kid showed up on time. Of course. But we had a fabulous time knitting until 6, when I jumped in the car, pulled out the dinner I’d packed for myself (a Slim-Fast bar) and headed to the theater for a 7:00 screening of Enchanted. And then, after all that, I got to go home. (Once there, I discovered that my husband, who had gotten a ride home from work with a coworker, had forgotten his keys. He had also forgotten his cell phone that day, which made things pretty complicated. Fortunately, though, he did manage to get inside—and he didn’t have to sit on the front steps for three hours.)

So anyway…that was it for screenings last week. My favorite day of the whole week was Wednesday, when, apparently, all the agencies decided to take the day off. I didn’t get a single press release all day—and it was glorious. I got stuff done. And then, just like that, the week was pretty much over. David and I celebrated by taking our spouses out for dinner and Spamalot.

But don’t you worry. I had plenty to keep me busy over the weekend—since we’ve been getting the awards screeners by the boatload. So I got to rewatch Hairspray, and I managed to stay awake through Into the Wild.

This week was actually more of the same. If you check IMDb, you’ll notice that pretty much nothing opens this weekend—other than Awake, which, for some strange reason, the press weren’t allowed to see. That meant that we only had one screening on the schedule for this week—on Tuesday morning. But it gave us enough fun for the whole freakin’ week.

It all started innocently enough, with some coffee and scones and some chatter about award screeners. We made our way into the theater and took our seats. Then, not long into the film, some guy wandered down the aisle, carrying what appeared to be a bunch of electrical cords. Huh, I thought to myself. And I forgot about the movie for a while as I watched the little man with curiosity as he walked to the front of the theater and through the front exit (which, it turns out, is actually just a curtain). And that’s when the pounding began. And possibly some drilling. And it lasted through the rest of the movie.

So, if you ask me, I’m pretty sure that Sleuth stars Michael Caine, Jude Law, and a noisy little man with a hammer.

Just because there was just one screening this week, it doesn’t mean that I was off the hook. I was scheduled to appear on Fat Guys at the Movies this week, and, due to the lack of any new releases to talk about, we decided to talk about screeners. That meant I had to catch Margot at the Wedding on Monday night. And on Tuesday night, while my husband was away on business, I settled in for a little Tuesday Night Porno in the form of Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution. As it turned out, that whole Lust, Caution thing was just a little guest-host joke that Kevin and Neil played on me (called: Let’s Make the Guest Host Watch Boring Chinese Porn), since they said we’d be discussing it—but then they decided that they weren’t actually going to watch it.

So anyway, last night, we were scheduled to start recording at 9. Or at least Neil and I intended to start at 9. Kevin showed up…whenever. And then he’d forgotten the extra mic, so he had to go back and get it—but only after surfing the ‘net with Richard the Producer for obscene videos of 2 Girls and 1 Something-or-other. Neil and I refused to join in, but we did see some chick online who threw up after watching whatever it was they were watching. So it’s probably best that Neil and I didn’t join in, since I totally hate throwing up.

Finally, after Kevin and Richard’s weekly porn search—during which Neil and I made it part of the way through another viewing of Juno—we got started. That was probably about 11. The show, however, was a total blast. I’m not entirely sure what we talked about for all that time, but I do know that I won’t be sending my mother over to listen to the online version. She’s already concerned enough about me. No need to put myself on the Naughty list so close to Christmas.

Now, as another week comes to a close, we’re once again facing a strangely quiet week. Last year at this time, we had seven screenings scheduled (or at least seven that we could technically make it to, without being two places at once), plus a Saturday morning. This year, we have five plus a Saturday, two of which we already have screeners for. Last year, the second week of December was our nine-screening week. This year, we have six. Don’t get me wrong—six is plenty. It just seems strange, after the insanity of last year. Perhaps it’s just because we’re getting screeners of so much stuff. Or maybe it’s just because nothing’s opening in December. Or maybe it’s because everything’s scheduled for the week before Christmas—11 screenings fit into three time slots. In other words, unless one of us figures out how to travel in time (or unless someone starts scheduling morning screenings), we’re all pretty much screwed. For instance, if I want to see Walk Hard, I’ll have to choose to skip one of the following: Charlie Wilson’s War, National Treasure, or Sweeney Todd. Looks like I’ll be missing Walk Hard…