Over the summer of 2008 I stopped writing reviews of the movies I was seeing, but continued to go to the movies each week with the plan of catching up on the reviews. After awhile I was behind by quite a few and was going to just start back up. But, then another opportunity arose that fits with my first love of watching TV, which I write about at TVaholic.com.
The idea of putting out a weekly TV podcast came up at the beginning of the Fall 2008 TV season. Two other TV bloggers and I started working on it. We called it TV times Three and put out our first episode on September 23rd, 2008.
During that time I focused on getting the podcast up and running and the review writing over here continued to go by the wayside. I posted updates here at New Movie Friday with what was on tap movie-wise that week and what I was probably going to see.
Once the podcast got going, it turned out the best time for the three of us to record was on Fridays. So, we could talk about the week’s happenings on TV and edit it over the weekend to have it ready to go live each Monday. I continued to put off writing reviews, while I worked the podcast into my schedule and after awhile I was just out of the habit.
I work nights, so my normal schedule would be to come home from work around 4:00 a.m. and work on the daily post at TVaholic.com. Then maybe watch a DVR’d show or two before getting some sleep. Normally, I would get up around 1:00 p.m., but on Fridays I would usually get up around 10:00 a.m. to hit the early $5.00 matinee at my local AMC Theater. So, it became normal to come home from the movie and record the podcast in the early afternoon here in Seattle, but in the evening for my fellow hosts living on the east coast. After that I was just tired and had no interest in continuing to sit at the computer, as sleep or sleep-watching some TV was more in order.
Then the big winter snowstorm hit the Seattle area in December. Heading out into the snow with all the other drivers was not something I was interested in doing, so I ended up not going to the movies the last two Fridays of 2008. This ended my movie streak at 102 weeks. I had seen at least one movie at a theater each week, usually on a Friday, for almost two years. There wasn’t anything new starting the first week of 2009, so I didn’t go that week either.
I started up again with Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino on January 9th. That was a great movie and Worth a Full Price Ticket. Then the following Friday, January 16th, I went to see Defiance, which was outstanding as well and totally Worth a Full Price Ticket. On Friday, January 23rd, I went to see Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, which was more of a Worth a Rental type movie. I thought Rhona Mitra was doing a pretty good Kate Beckinsale (Underworld) impersonation in the terrible Doomsday, well she is at it again in this one, even more so. Last Friday, January 30th, I went to see Taken, which had Liam Neeson kicking ass all over Paris, which was Worth a Matinee, as it was a bit on the short side.
So, obviously I still like going to the theater. I still like watching movies. My new streak sits at four weeks. But, the question I have been pondering for the last month and a half is, do I want to continue with this site?
The answer is Yes. Yes I do. So, the plan is to return with reviews this Friday, as there is actually three movies I want to see this week. I may go all out to restart the site and see all three this weekend.
The original idea was to post on Tuesday or Wednesday what new movies were coming out that week. Then on Thursdays, I would post about which movie I was going to go see and why. What my expectations were for it, etc. Then on Fridays, I would go see the movie and write up and post a review. I’m going to give it another go, as my second favorite thing is to watch and talk about movies, so here’s to re-entering the movie conversation.
Well, that’s enough about that. Now, it’s time to take a look at what new movies are coming out this week.
