Movie Mondays

When co-workers ask me about my weekend on Mondays, I usually respond, "It was OK," or "I didn't do anything special." Other than doing laundry and some light cleaning, I watch TV.

When I got married, R and I didn't have a TV, so we listened to KUT's Twine Time and played cards or we would drive somewhere out of town for dinner.

After R's mom gave us a TV, we would rent a couple of movies and watch one Saturday evening and the other Sunday afternoon. Then I started working for the devil and got free cable that included all the channels (plus pay-per-view--accidentally). We stopped renting movies and because we didn't yet have the technology to stop whatever we were watching for a bathroom/snack/smoking break, we didn't watch movies. Instead, I'd watch whatever was on, constantly flipping the channel.

When I changed jobs, I lost my free cable. I downgraded and subscribed to Netflix and Dan'l and I picked up the old Saturday evening movie tradition. Sometimes we watch those so bad they're kinda funny and good movies on SciFi. Other times, we'll watch recorded shows we both watch like "NCIS," "Monk," "Psych," "Dancing With the Stars" or "Good Eats."

Last week, Dan'l and I watched "It! The Terror from Beyond Space" and I kept asking Dan'l if he was scared. He wasn't and instead became very annoyed with me. But we usually have a good time.

This weekend I saw "Steel Magnolias." I wouldn't say this is a favorite movie. I don't really love it, but I'll watch it whenever it's on TV. (Even though the DVD is probably $4.99, I won't buy it because it's not the same as watching it on TNT.) I think I like watching it because it's a bit of a memory exercise for me. I've memorized so many lines from that movie, I'm sure I can put on a one-woman show playing all the parts.

I also saw about an hour of "Tombstone." This was the other movie about Wyatt Earp from the early '90s. I was duped into watching "Wyatt Earp" in the cinema--all three hours of it. I left the theater confused. "Tombstone" is a bit more straightforward, although I get a lot of the characters confused because 1) they're too many to keep track and 2) they all look alike because of their mustaches. This is another movie with an all star cast. Locke from "Lost" and Lowell from "Wings" are in it too. They weren't big stars then, but it's fun to see then in '90s movies. Among the stars though is Val Kilmer, playing a really creepy Doc Holliday. I always thought there was something odd about the way he played Doc and I think it's because he plays him as the kind of guy who would have sex with a man, woman and sheep. That's not the impression I got from Dennis Quaid in "Wyatt Earp."

Unfortunately, we didn't get to Daniel's movie, "The Shaggy Dog." I'm hoping he'll watch that sometime this week after school, but I won't be that lucky. Fortunately, Robert Downey Jr. is in it. Maybe his performance wasn't good enough to get nominated for any awards, but I'll sacrifice an hour and a half of my life watching Tim Allen just for Robert. And Dan'l.

Other movies that I watched for more than 10 minutes, but didn't pay full attention:

• "The French Lieutenant's Woman"--huh?!
• "The Watch"--I didn't have to pay the slightest bit of attention or even be in the same room to know that this movie is boring. What's worse is that I'll probably end up watching "Wisegal."
  

I can't remember if I saw any other movies. I watched "Torchwood," but that doesn't count as a movie. Maybe I can mention it on TV Tuesdays. Nah. I'll spare us all.