Our Mission

Since I had a week of vacation that I hadn't gotten around to taking, my wife and I are on a mission -- to put a major dent in the end of the year movies that may or may not be nominated for awards. We put together a list of 15 films that we want to see. That will be a challenge to fit in between Christmas and New Years. I doubt we'll finish the task in the week, but it will give us a good start anyway.

We got a head start on Saturday the 23rd by seeing Blood Diamond. It wasn't high on the list, but since it was local, it seemed like an easy one to start with.

On Christmas we started in earnest. Since we are empty-nesters, we have the day free of family obligations. We traveled to Orange County to take in a pair of films: Children of Men and Curse of the Golden Flower. Part of the challenge of such a mission is not only fitting in as many movies as possible, but also keeping variety in the viewing. You need to balance between darkness and light.

Christmas is a big day for theaters. The theaters were pretty full for both showings. If you decide to hit a movie next Christmas, be sure to plan to get to the theater early if you want to get your favorite seat.

But as busy as the theaters are, all the things around it are closed. There is nowhere to eat or even pick up a latte between films. Take a book and hope the theater has enough light to read. Or take a walk -- you've been sitting a lot.

On Boxing Day we went big time and went to Hollywood to see Eastwood's Letters From Iwo Jima. It was playing at Arclight at Sunset and Vine. Wonderful venue. Comfortable seats. Very good sight lines, even from the side aisle where we were sitting. Assigned seating, so if you want an aisle (or center) seat, you can get it. The downside: It is pricey. Cost of a ticket (even mid-week matinee) is $2-3 higher than we pay at our local theaters.

After Iwo we drove down to Farmer's Market for dinner. There is a wonderful Mexican food stand (Loteria) in the middle of Farmers Market. I had a chicken mole burrito. Really good stuff.

Then we went to LACMA to see an excellent exhibit on Magritte and Contemporary Art. We made quick excursions into a couple other exhibits before heading home. We probably could have hit another movie if we'd skipped the museum, but this too helps to keep the mind fresh. All movies all the time would just be overwhelming.

Tomorrow: a trip to Pasadena for another movie and some more museums

The mission continues here.