The Off-Season

Sundays.  The day of the week typically dedicated to rest.  Well I suppose worship and rest depending on where you fall.  I'm not the most religious of people but there was always something to look forward to on Sundays.  Football.

Sunday errands were scheduled around it, depending on what time kick-off was. 1 o'clock games were nice because it got me up early enough to take care of things before the game started.  4 o'clock games were good for sleeping in, while primetime games always made Monday (or Tuesday) a little more difficult to get through.  For the devout, it was worth it.  So with the Super Bowl over and football on hiatus, what's to be done at 1pm, 4pm, or 830pm on Sundays from now until September?  Good question.

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I haven't hid from the amount of classic films I should have seen.  I always say to know film you need to watch films and I have seen more than my fair share.  Far more than the average person.  Far more than three of the average person added up.  And while I make every effort to get to the cinema as often as possible to see the latest and greatest, it's the films that came before those that are just as important to see.  

So I will be dedicating one football game of time, every Sunday, to watching "something".  I was going to spend the time on the couch anyway!  And there are usually good snacks sitting around.  In fact, I challenge you to do the same.  Find films that you wouldn't otherwise get to see.  Films that you didn't see because none of your friends wanted to.  Films that you know are critically acclaimed.  What makes them so great?  Find the Academy Award nominated films of years past.  Did Rocky really deserve to beat Taxi Driver? Sure the Godfather Part II is great, but Chinatown is a superb film too.  

Make a list (I know some of you already have one) and start to check them off.  I know we are not all replacing football on Sundays, but I still encourage you to engage in what I am renaming football Sunday, to Cinema Sunday.  You can still gather with friends.   You can still sit around your TV in your football jersey (or PJ's).  You can still eat chicken wings and nachos.  And more importantly, you can sit around and talk about what made that film so great.  Or not great.  Up to you, but engaging in that discussion is another step you can take to become great filmmakers, or writers, or actors, or directors.  So take the challenge with me, and use some of that extra time do engage in something you're  passionate about.  Then let those creative juices take over when the credits roll.  It's a great feeling to have.

For me today marks the first film in the Cinema Sunday's season, and I will be tearing through a backlog of movies I've bought over the years, but have failed to watch (or even open) for some reason.  I'm not going to do write-ups of them like I did for some films over last summer.  While that will return I just don't have the time for that now.  Unless of course I feel there is a important take away, or something we discussed in class on display in its finest form.  Then I'll bring back the "write-ups."  But don't hesitate to ask on Monday mornings what I watched. Just be ready for me to ask you back.  Hopefully it was something good.  Something that inspired you.  Something you can take away from and use in your next project.  


Worst case scenario...you're entertained, and there's nothing wrong with that.