Viewed: Theater

I took Calfgrit11 to see this movie this weekend. I’ve been cautiously excited about it for about a year, (since I first heard about it), and we’ve been planning to go for a few months, (since first seeing the trailers).

IT WAS AWESOME!

When anyone ever asked me what my favorite movie is, I’d always say, “Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark are in my top three.” I could never pin down for myself what the third movie of my top three was — it could be any new flick I was excited about. Well, The Avengers may have kicked SW out of the top three list. Yes, that’s right. I just said that. Joss Whedon is my master now.

The writing was fantastic. The story worked, the plotting worked, the dialogue worked — it was all so well planned and thought out. The casting was perfect, the acting was great, just everything about this flick is very well done. All the characters got to show off their personalities and abilities, (and not all abilities are for kicking ass). This movie was better than the comic books it was based on.

Being a big comic book fan, (especially Marvel comics), and knowing the characters, setting, and history as well as I do, the whole movie made sense to me. But I wonder how well it worked for someone not as steeped in the lore. I mean, there’s a lot going on here. I wonder if someone who hasn’t seen the Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America movies can follow all the characters.

Although this movie is a big budget spectacular, really, it’s the writing and directing and acting that make this so damn good. The characters and the dialogue rule this.

Bullgrit

Bullgrit

I was playing some tunes with a good beat, and I mentioned to my boys that it was good dance music. (I was playing Earth Wind & Fire, if you’re curious.) They’ve both “danced” a bit with their mother, to Just Dance 2 on the Wii, but that’s more jumping and playing than real dancing. So their idea of “dance music” is really pretty much anything. They didn’t understand why I would identify something particularly as “good dance music.”

Something I intend to teach my boys when they’re old enough is the value of knowing how, and being able to dance. They’ll appreciate it when their old enough to date. Women love to dance, and a man who can dance can open a lot of doors that might otherwise stay closed.

Other than my mom teaching me how to Shag, (that’s a U.S. Southeast coastal style dance, for those of you who know “shag” to mean something else), I’ve never done any kind of choreographed or couples dancing. In fact, I’ve never even danced the Shag outside of those first lessons from my mom. My dancing has always been just getting out on the dance floor and grooving to the beat.

I like grooving to the beat, and although I never had anyone teach me how, I apparently had a talent for it and did okay just doing it. Since my brother seems to think white people can’t dance, I’ll throw out this supporting fact for my claim: I’ve had black women pull me out to the dance floor.

Dancing is a fantastic skill for any guy wanting to meet women. Most women want to dance, and if they see that you can, they will almost always say yes when you ask them. Dancing has proven to be a really easy (and fun) way to break the ice with any woman you fancy. It served me very well when I was single, and I’ll pass the advice on to my boys when they’re interested.

Last night, instead of my regular workout, I decided to dance. I haven’t danced in a very long time, but I’ve recently been thinking about it. I took my wireless headphones downstairs, turned off the lights, and danced for over an hour in our den.

• She’s a Bad Mama Jama
• Brick House
• Party Rock
• Poison
• Moves Like Jagger
• Etc.

I loved it! It was fun and it was exercise. I could have gone longer than an hour, but I had other things that needed doing, (including taking a shower and going to bed). Now I’m going to look and find a local dance club where I can go on a real dance floor.

Bullgrit

Bullgrit