Lists as Distraction

Okay, I have gotten a lot of work done today (in spite of myself), but I need a momentary distraction. And so, lists of movies that I'm anticipating:

Movies that are already out, and I haven't had a chance to see yet:

• Napoleon Dynamite. Grumble grumble, family members who were going to go with me, going without me... Update May 16: I've seen it; I love it; I want to own it. I knew I would.
• Sideways. I've loved Paul Giamatti ever since his storyline was the only good part of Duets. Boo, being shut out of the Oscars! (In reference to Giamatti, and definitely not to Duets. Shudder -- Huey Lewis.) He's also in Cinderella Man! And, yet again, I was like, "Hey! It's that Guy from Duets and the Truman Show!" Update: Um, I probably wouldn't recommend this one to other people. Meg and I should learn to read the warnings that Roger's Video gives you, before we rent. Traumatising.
• I (Heart) Huckabees: Karl, why haven't you taken me there for my birthday yet? It's been more than a month. Update: Karl and I loved it; Meg and Andrew did not. Just as we expected.
• Dear Frankie: I can't believe this never came to Regina. Is it out on DVD yet? You wouldn't believe how many times I saw the trailer. Update: I'm going this week! Huzzah!
• Finding Neverland: this follows the previous entry with my sentamentalism. Update: I'm going to have to watch it again. I think I liked it.
• Both Spider-Man movies: I've wanted to see these movies desparately (I love both Spider-Man and Tobey Maguire), but somehow I keep missing out on this. Probably because I always watch movies with other people, and everyone else has seen them. Update: I've seen the first one now, and am anticipating the second! Just right for me.
• White Christmas: Okay, I still haven't seen it, and I really want to see it. I love Danny Kaye.
• The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou: I will watch anything directed by Wes Anderson. Update: I loved it, and it fit in with the whole arc of Wes Anderson movies. I will discuss more about this later.
• The Grey Zone: How had I never heard about this movie before? Tim Blake Nelson? The Sonderkommandos in Auschwitz? I must see this movie!
• Garden State. Huzzah, Zach Braff!

Movies that aren't out yet that I'm anticipating:

• Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Oh man, it looks so good. I've watched the trailer so many times.
• Cinderella Man: okay, I'm a sucker for boxing movies. And it takes place during the Depression! And a bit part by Paul Giamatti! I can't believe I'm excited about a Russell Crowe Movie! Woo! (No, wait. I loved L.A. Confidential.)
• Watermarks: this looks so good. New trailer as of today.
• Bride and Prejudice: Pride and Prejudice as a Bollywood musical, directed by Gurinder Chadha? Yes, please.
• Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Okay. The closest I've come to actually reading these books is having their plotlines narrated to me by Chris and Matt. But this looks good. Martin Freeman as Arthur Dent? Good times. Update: Now I must read the books. I really, really loved the movie.
• Nobody Knows: Newest trailer so far; it looks so good.

Sad News: I realised I don't have time to be an extra in the Ryan Reynolds movie. Really sad, because Lyn doesn't want to go by herself. But I think I just convinced my sister to take three days off and come down to Regina just for that purpose. I'm awesome!

Now, I go back to tweaking the detailed outline I wrote, so that it's comprehensible by other people. (Fatal mistake: I told my supervisor that I made a detailed outline, and now he wants to read it. Tomorrow. Whoops!)

On a far more serious note, for the next two hours (my time), it's the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Even if it's not the 27th anymore when you read this: take a moment and commemorate somehow. It scares me how quickly people forget.

(This summer, for the online course I was working on, I had to write "biographies" on the town of Auschwitz and on Auschwitz's Kommandant, Rudolf Hoess. I grew up knowing about this stuff, and yet somehow the enormity of it all didn't hit me until then, as I began to study what it was like in the death camp, Birkenau. And then I went to see a Holocaust survivor speak at Campion College on Remembrance Day. As someone who studies the period preceding the Nazis' rule, it scares me how easily this can happen, and no one notices until way too late.)

Good night and God speed, kiddies.

Edited to Add: Wow! I've watched quite a few movies in the last five months, apparently. I'm on my way to crossing a few more off the list in the next few days, as well (Dear Frankie and Bride & Prejudice).