There are some holidays that we can all agree constitute traditional, annual movie watching. For example, many of us have grown up accustomed to viewing White Christmas or Miracle on 34th Street after we've become fat on Christmas dinner and lazily nod off to a movie we've seen eight hundred times because our conscious and focused attention to the plot is irrelevant as we've seen it eight hundred times.. Ah, the memories. AH! The tradition.
Graham and I do not necessarily celebrate the established spectrum of American holidays as they're inapt to our lives/belief systems and also because we don't have kids and thus school parties to prepare for and we simply forget that there's a holiday. That's not to suggest that we don't take advantage of government mandated holidays with a boastful dedication comparable to William S. Burroughs in 1950's New York. Am I implying that we know how to have a good time? Or am I implying that we'll rob you if you fall asleep in our house? Or maybe we'll just rob you in passing, so as to continue having a good time.
And it's beautiful that family comes together for the holidays, bringing with them all sorts of precious valuables. Ah! The tradition.
There are some holidays we celebrate that aren't officially recognized on, say, your free National Wildlife Fund calender which you probably have six copies of, but might show themselves more readily among certain populations and age groups. Some of these are more unique to us, others are not. I will now bombard this post with a series of images to demonstrate and dazzle the point that I've already made. This is a trick statement. I haven't made a point. This was all just an elaborate ploy to list things and show pictures of things I like.
Trivia: I really like listing things! One of my more venerated personal items is McSweeney's Book of Lists. As you can see, it comes with unicorns.
Okay, so the HOLIDAYS
Here are the holidays we celebrate and the movies that are traditionally viewed with them, at least in our household.
Well I guess I should clarify that these are not all the holidays we celebrate, just the ones that have some form of media associated with them.
February 14th- Valentine's Day
It's so romantic, it's like what if the world went to shit? At least you'd have each other.
Maybe. If you don't, you'll die soon anyway.
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| If a little biology don't get ya in the mood, I don't know what will. |
March 14th- Pi Day
This one is optional, depending on how pretentious/obsessive/isolated/disturbed you feel like being this year.
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March 15th- BEWARE THE IDES OF MARCH
No movies! Go read some Shakespeare. And make idle threats about stabbing people in the back.
Do you think that's where the word "idle" came from originally?
Idle (ahyd-l) adj:
1 To become motionless as in having recently been stabbed on the Ides of March
2 Unremarkable statements as that of a seer precipitating a warning that fails to be taken seriously, resulting in being stabbed by the Senate.
Well, as of March 15th 44 BC, we now know better.
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| I should have known by all the idle banter. |
April 20th- Four Twenty
David Attenborough or John Hurt versions only, kay thanks.
I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in.
Any Day in the Summer- Random Summer Blockbuster Day!
It's always best to keep your blockbuster close, and your Crichton closer.
Okay, I don't know if these were all originally summer movies. In my opinion, their distinct Crichtonian quality makes them eternal blockbusters, and blockbusters are for the summer.
July 4th- Independence Day
Light the fires and kick the tires, big daddy!
It is still recommended to drink excessively or smoke something or blow up something (preferably all of the above) on this holiday, as I believe the movie portends.
If you haven't had a close encounter, you haven't found your independence.
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November 5th- Guy Fawkes Day
Remember, remember,
The fifth of November,
Natalie Portman is hot.
I know of no reason
Why Sir Hugo Weaving
Should ever be forgot.
I don't think Hugo Weaving is a Sir....yet. But no seriously. One of the most important movies of our generation.
November 27th-Thanksgiving
No animals were killed in the giving of our thanks.
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| Oh right, that's not a movie. But it is a postcard that comes with the tofurkey "bird." |
December 21- Winter Solstice
Well what can I say about this one? The best holiday movie since 1989.
They don't make 'em like they used to, am I right? And that includes the people.
(Because I was born in the 80's and I'm saying that I'm one of the best people! What percentage of today's population was born in the 80's? I bet it's the best percentage of the population.)
So thank you for journeying with me to the pleasant predictability of tradition, with all its sentiments of family, mirth, and media. Particularly in this spring time of year when there are fewer government holidays and less time to ourselves and our own creative projects, we all need the reminder that
Life uh, finds a way.
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