
There is a list, albeit a small one, of people who will no longer go to the movies with me.
I have this habit, and I don't think it's a bad one, where I tend to find fault even in movies I enjoy and love.
The much-lauded The Curious Case of Benjamin Button deserved those 13 Oscar nominations. I thought it was a brilliantly-made, well-crafted, enjoyable and sweet movie. And Brad Pitt was shirtless in it. Although I would have preferred a little more naked Brad when he wasn't playing Benjamin while he resembled an old white prune. But I digress.
After leaving the theater, my friend Will wanted my take. "I loved the movie," I said, "but it bothered me that the hospital set and the dance recital set were the same."
"Whaaaaaaaat?" he exclaimed.
I said, "For a movie that clearly spend millions on sets, design, CGI and technology, I noticed that the same water fountain appeared in both scenes. It was clearly the same set, just dressed differently."
At this point, Will suggested I seek immediately counseling or, a new life. Not ready to pay for counseling, and not willing to suspend my life, I figured...okay, add Will to the list of people who will probably say "Uh, no" when I ask if they wanna go to the movies. Hey, I get it! That attention to detail can be ... well, a little annoying.
As I joke to people, you can't spell ANAL without ALAN.
So, I'm anal ... I didn't understand where the kids disappeared to in so many scenes in Revolutionary Road (although I liked that one, too) and I never got how Kevin Kline could stand on the tarmac of an airport and talk to Sissy Spacek in Violets Are Blue (or maybe she was on the tarmac, I'm anal, but the memory does fade) and why in Titanic, Kate Winslet and Leo Dicaprio could run around the sinking boat for an HOUR -- submerged in freezing water -- and be totally fine but the second the boat sank and they were clinging to a hunk of wood in the water, he was dead in like 43 seconds. HUH!?
Yes, I suppose I like to nitpick. And if you go to the movies with me, you have been warned!