Beautiful Movie

Tonight I wanted to watch a movie.  No big deal, right?  Wrong. 
We recently mourned the loss of our first tv we ever bought by buying a newer, bigger, flatter, HDer tv (how's that for adjective order?).  This is exciting, except for whatever reason, if you want to watch a movie, you have to unplug something that has to do with the cable box and replace those plugs with something that has to do with the dvd player.  For some reason, you just can't have it both ways.  You can't toggle back and forth between watching House Hunters International and a movie.  Normally Steve is the one who deals with this, so no need to learn it. 
You may be thinking, "But Laura, didn't you major in hooking up things to a tv?"  Well, it's true, I did.  But I found out too late in the game that I really wasn't into it, unfortunately.  Perhaps my first clue should've been that the main classes I wanted to take were Story-Telling and Screenwriting.  And I loved classes that talked about film.  I like* movies (um, hello.  This is a post about me wanting to watch a movie).  I like photography.  It seemed like a good idea at the time.  I discovered too late that I probably should've majored in English, or Writing, or Art (which is what I really like about film....and life in general), because I wasn't really into producing movies, or tv/radio shows, or the news, etc....I don't have a knack for things that have to do with cords or really any of the equipment needed for electronic media production.  Anyway.  That was a long time ago.  And really, no matter what, I would've gone to seminary, which is where I am at now.  The Lord knows where I'm supposed to be and what I'm supposed to be doing even if I don't.
Ok, back to me wanting to watch a movie.  Steve is away at a retreat all weekend, so he isn't here to do all the things that one needs to do when they want to watch a movie in our apartment.  And we've already reviewed the embarrassment that is me, not knowing how to hook it up.
Anyway, I sent a text to Steve, hoping he would have time to respond, and then searched on google for some possible instructions.  While there were plenty of instructions for plenty of different scenarios, I didn't feel like any of them really covered what I was looking for. And I hadn't heard from Steve yet, so I just decided to play around with it until the movie was not only playing but also the sound working.  I took a picture of how everything was plugged in, so I could put it back to the way it was if all else failed (and, if all else failed, I was ready to just go ahead and watch the movie on the computer...but why watch a movie on a computer when you have one of those big flat tvs?).
Short story long, after several trial and errors, I finally worked it out so that all the right things were either plugged in or not plugged in, and I could watch/hear my movie.  Sweet, personal victory.
The movie I watched is a favorite, Away We Go.  We rented it and watched sometime last year, and then went out immediately and bought it.  Somehow when I went to watch it tonight, it was still in its plastic.  I am sure that I posted something on this blog about liking it, but can't find it anywhere (so no idea when we actually watched/bought it...but probably last summer?).
Anyway, I really, really like it, and was reminded of it again tonight.  I would wholeheartedly recommend it (though with some qualifications: it is definitely not a kids movie.  For mature audiences only.  Some F-words, and sexual talk.  No nudity or violence that I can remember.  Anyway).

Here are 5 things that I really like:
1. The soundtrack.  Especially all the songs by Alexi Murdoch. And the always catchy "What Is Life" by George Harrison.
2. Beautifully shot. Or, at least I think so.
3. I love the characters of Burt and Verona.  I want to see them find their "home."
4. All-start cast: John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Catherine O'Hara, Jeff Daniels, Allison Janney (I love Allison Janney!  She plays a sort of outrageous character in this movie, but I love her anyway), Jim Gaffigan, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Melanie Lynsky...etc!  Touching performance by Chris Messina.
5.  There's a realness to this movie.  Parts that make you laugh, and parts that make you cry.

Exchanging vows on a trampoline.

*When learning the Lithuanian language, we learned that it is grammatically wrong to say things like "I love coffee" or "I love this movie."  You love people. Not things. So I've tried to be aware of that. Sometimes.