The watching of the 2014 best movies is in full effect. Tonight, we went over to our friends Madhuri and Joe’s apartment, which is so awesomely close just down the street, and we watched Whiplash, which was about an abusive music teacher and the quest for greatness.
It was really good. I don’t think I liked it quite as much as everyone else did, but I did still legitimately think it was great. THIS YEAR OF MOVIES IS REALLY GOOD GUYS!!! I’m so freaking excited to say that! Seriously, so freaking excited to be seeing movies that I think are really good! Now, none of them have *completely* blown me away and made me want to scream from the mountain tops for people to go see them…BUT…each of the ones I like has been ambitious and exciting in its own unique way, and that’s really all we’re asking for, right? Well…not completely. I *do* want a movie to scream from the mountain tops about, but I’m just realizing that shit doesn’t happen every year. Or even every other year. Or even every other other year…savvy?
But yeah. Whiplash was great. Miles Teller, whom I really liked in The Rabbit Hole a few years back was fantastic, as was the guy from Law & Order SVU. I mean, the movie was basically the two of them. Not even basically, literally. I didn’t think that the teacher was quite the tour de force that I’d been hoping for, but he was still wonderful. Manipulative, cruel, fierce…and not over played. If anything, I think he under did it slightly. But the tension was consistent and palpable, and that was the heart of the movie. Frenetic tension. And the music was phenomenal.
I heartily recommend a watch. It’s one of the best movies of the year, without a doubt.
So yeah…Birdman, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Whiplash, and Boyhood are all great movies deserving of awards. It’s a freaking miracle that’s happened. It’s no 2010 crop of movies (2011 awards), but it’s hands-down the best year since then already, and we haven’t even seen everything yet. Still have to see Foxcatcher, Gone Girl (which Joe and Madhuri both said they freaking loved), Unbroken (I bet it sucks, but we’ll see), Selma, and Nightcrawler (again, I bet it’s “okay”). I think that’s the rest of the list. Oh, and Skeleton Twins. That too. So yeah…the best may be behind us, but it’s a good field.
We went to the Zoom Room today, and Cooper rocked his Agility III class. Even da Coco got some early training in the back room; she did some jumping, and went through tunnel, worked on some on and off table, and some focusing. She’s super treat motivated, which makes it pretty easy. She just gets so excited, it’s all about getting her to calm down and focus. Or “clam down” which is what I wrote first before changing it. Should have left it.
It was awesome to see Joe and Madhuri. I love walking over to their house, and they’re such good peeps to hang out with. We were going to make popcorn, but we had like legit dinner before watching the movie and all of us were too full. We’re going to do another movie night next week. Watch another one of the awards contenders.
I think that was about it today. We went over the hill to pick up rent checks for our friend who’s also a manager with the same company. Took the pups on walkies this morning. Watched a smattering of football, and took a nap in the late afternoon with both the Ho and the pups. That was awesome. They were lined up right between us.
I didn’t get as much pure down time as I’d hoped to over the weekend, so I might do that for the first couple days this week. I don’t know, we’ll see. Have to do the last bits of rent tomorrow, but I should be pretty open to be lazy after that. Oh, we are going to Ikea, that is true. We’ll see. This staycation week off does need to have some rules to it, otherwise I’ll blink and the week will be over, and I won’t feel like I’ve taken time off at all.
In fact, I’m going to plan my day out tomorrow right now. Build in my lazy time. And my constructive time. Both. On that note, good night.
Tonight’s artwork featuring the Red Spot of Jupiter is by John Harris.