Movies from the Library

We get nearly all of our movies from the library. Why not? They have them. They are free. And the selection is quite diverse. Granted, the movies we check out are not usually new releases, but eventually, things in the rental stores make their way to the library.

Generally this system of requesting movies and picking them up at the bookmobile has worked well for us. Since summer we have caught up on and discovered quite a few really good films and though death seems to always be a theme - major or minor - I am convinced now that this has more to do with our sensitivity to the subject and the fact that death is one of the major life events (now there is an oxymoron), so it crops up a lot.

One thing about obtaining movies through the library that is quite irritating however is the fact that often they turn out to have been not handled very well by other library patrons. Children’s dvds in particular are frequently crusty (with what I decline to imagine although Rob told Katy that the crusty spots we found on a recent selection were buggers). The dvds are often scratched too, and this is true of most cd’s we check out as well. It really gets me to wondering why people are so careless with what is essentially a community asset that they are sharing. Does it come back to the “free” aspect? Things that we are not required to pay for have a lessened value in our eyes?

Rob and I tried to watch the movie Inside Man last night, and it was so hopelessly mauled that by mid movie the dvd player on the computer couldn’t be coaxed into completing the viewing. Frustrating. Moreso for Rob as his Virgoness tendency is to finish all things started whether he finds them interesting or not, so if you have seen the film and know how it ends - please don’t tell me as I know that Rob will find another copy of this movie and I will be watching the whole thing (because he won’t remember enough to just pick up where we left off) again.

Movies in bed on a Friday or Saturday night have become something of a ritual with us. We find new selections to check out by watching the sneak peeks and previews on whatever disc we have checked out. We have found some gems and some stinkers - as is the way of films. Rob has found a few films via the internet and there are some we simply remember from those dark times when neither of us were able to get out to see new movies in the theater and something will jog our memories about previews or reviews that caught our eye at the time and can be checked out to watch now.

Lying in bed and watching a movie is getting to be my preferred way to see them. Getting out to the theater is nice, but not as snuggly. I think we would be asked to leave a theater if we got as comfortable there as we do in the privacy of our bedroom.

It’s interesting, to me, how life has been boiled down to its simplest pleasures to the point that even a hopelessly pitted dvd cannot spoil.