Welcome back to another issue of The Nerd is the Word Colon Movie Film for Theaters. In this issue, our hero is filling out his Oscar picks.
The night before I sat down to write this issue, I went to see “Silver Linings Playbook” (see my review of it here). When I first saw trailers for it, I didn’t really have any interest in seeing it. Then the Oscar nominations were released and the film was nominated for eight awards (including the big four of Best Picture, Director, Actor and Actress). I decided that I needed to check it out, even though I had no really concept of what the plot was. I knew it was a romantic comedy, but I didn’t know what set this film apart from all the romantic comedies that came before it.
I was blown away by the film, but I’m not here to gush about it. The film had an idea in it of wanting to be with someone that you can’t be with (for whatever reason) while missing the person who is available and can make you happy. This idea hit close to home for me and, after seeing the film, I was able to let go of what was causing me stress and emotional hurt.
I say this as a comment of the power that movies have over us. Movies can give us clarity in our own lives or at the very least, allow us to stop thinking about our problems for an hour and a half to two hours.
Movies are perhaps my favorite form of entertainment. I would rather go to the local multiplex on a Friday or Saturday night by myself than the local bar with a group of people. In fact, I challenge you to go to a movie by yourself; it allows you to take it in and relate to it far better than in a group. I have hundreds of DVDs in my personal library, something that has always been a point of contention between me and my father. However, I own these movies because, no matter what mood I’m in, whatever personal issues I am going through, I have a movie for it.
Until time travel is invented, the best way to experience a given time that is not your own is to watch movies from or about that era. Decades of celluloid have cataloged the human experience for playback in the decades to come. The fact that we have a National Film Registry cataloging and preserving culturally relevant films in the Library of Congress proves the importance of movies.
As Kevin Smith says as the sign off of his Hulu show “Spoilers”, “Even a bad day at the multiplex is better than a good day at work.”
Now on to this week’s Pull List (for Feb. 6).
Hit-Girl #5 (Icon): Here it comes, the final issue of the Hit-Girl solo mini-series. Fans have been waiting for this issue for a long time. It was originally scheduled to be released in November, but it was pushed back quite significantly (something that has become standard for Mark Millar’s various Kick-Ass books). Hit-Girl was the violent and break out fan favorite from the two Kick-Ass books and when she got her own mini-series, the violence continued. This book bridged the gap between Kick-Ass and Kick-Ass 2, and while the wait was long, I feel it will be worth it.
Superior Spider-Man #3 (Marvel): The 700th and final issue of Amazing Spider-Man changed the face of the character…well, maybe not his face, but his consciousness was sure changed. Though I know that Peter Parker will return to his normal self in about six months to a year, I will gleefully watch Doc Ock parading around as Peter Parker until then. When a member of the Sinister Six is infected with Web-Head’s sense of “With great power comes great responsibility”, it makes for a fun book.
Ian Hand is a Level 37 Half-Elf/Half-Dwarf Warlord named “Commander Fuzzyboots”. BOW TO HIS MIGHT, and follow him on Twitter @IanHand253.
