Suggested Thinking

If you haven't noticed, the frequency of posts on this site is slowing down, almost as if the equivalent of blog entropy is taking its toll as I head toward a lower energy state.  Maybe I should invent the blog version of a perpetual motion machine, I'll call it a perpetual entry machine.  But then again, we all know that can't exist given the laws of blogs.

But in reality, since it's just me at this blog, and with other things in my life requiring more and more of my time, along with a lack of motivation to post about the crap going on in the world, it seems that the pattern going forward will be maybe 3 or 4 posts a month.  It's not that there isn't stuff to post about, it's just that the time to put it together is not there.  Also, the more I pay attention to politics in this country, the more I get pissed off, so I'm stepping back from it for a while.  I didn't watch Obama's State of the Union address, nor the Republican response.  I avoided the media frenzy around the event as much as I could...although the bit with Justice Alito was plastered everywhere...again, a media looking for controversy over substance.

Other things I've been avoiding include the democrats screw-up of health care reform, the Texas State Board of Education re-write of the Social Studies curriculum to eliminate historical figures they don't like, the recent Senate election in Massachusetts for Ted Kennedy's seat, even the Leno vs. Conan crap.  As you can see, there's plenty to write about, but instead, I feel my sanity is more important, so I'm focusing on my family, my work and a few hobbies instead.

I'll continue to post about movies, and maybe eventually I'll get back to the other stuff, but for now it's time to reset and refocus and preserve my sanity.

Thanks for listening.

It's that time of year again.  Time for my list of the best movies of 2009.  If you recall from last year, my list is not limited to movies that came out in 2009, but to the movies I watched in 2009 regardless of their original release date.  And it was a banner year for watching movies, with no less than 86 movies watched during the last 12 months.  But if you've followed along on the blog, you may have noticed that I only reviewed 8 movies this year.  The reason? Very few made an impression that compelled me to write about them.

Here's the breakdown of the ratings

• 5 Star Movies:  1
• 4 Star Movies:  24
  
• 3 Star Movies:  42
• 2 Star Movies:  19
• 1 Star Movies:  0

Again this year it's a relatively even distribution with the majority landed right in the middle.  But a couple things do stand out this year compared to last.  First, I didn't rate any movies 1 star and second, I actually rated a movie 5 stars.  If you recall, my criteria for a 5 star movie is one that I would want to go out and buy immediately and wouldn't mind watching again and again.  That's a pretty high bar to jump over so it's no wonder there has been only 1 movie in the last 2 years that achieved this lofty position.

As usual, I've broken down the movies I watched into categories and selected my favorite in each.