Let's go to the movies

coming back from life in japan often feels like being rescued from an uninhabited island cut off from all things fun (but trivial): east coast thin crust pizza, seats that are made for people taller than 5' 2", and MOVIES. after reba and i moved to japan, the 2000 yen or $20 movie ticket and the lack of non-tom cruise films more or less squashed our desire to casually spend a few hours with the local hoodlums at the cinema.

AND to answer your question... no, there is not a treasure trove of oscar worthy japanese films and animation waiting to be discovered. we've also wasted a good part of our lives there watching a lot of crap that mostly just leaves you shaking your head.

then before we knew it the question, 'do you wanna check out that non-tom cruise movie?' disappeared from our conversations. we turned in earlier and earlier, and now we're that bitter, old couple that occasionally shows up at annual family gatherings.

this weekend for one reason or another i had an evening free and the urge to watch...something...ANYTHING.

LIST OF MOVIES NEW TO THIS OLD MAN
1. the simpsons movie - met expectations and will be watched again ad nauseum.
2. diner - this had been on my 'to see' list for a long time, but came back to attention after a friend from home (who we'll call - Arty Parse) mentioned that one of his favorite movies was the Kevin Bacon vehicle 'Quicksilver'. My immediate response was, 'Kevin Bacon - No one's favorite movie star? Has he done anything that I liked.' The answer... 'Diner'.