Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Two thumbs up for Nora.

We've always been a big movie family. ESPECIALLY around awards season - we always have to make sure that we see the movies that are up for big nominations so that we're in the loop for the Oscars. We Palmore girls HATE to be out of the loop, you know. So, anyway, we spent this weekend at the movie theater, catching up on a few of the movies that people keep talking about.

First, we saw Avatar because my mom has been wanting to see it since there's been so much hype surrounding it. I had advised her against it because she is pretty easily scared. I mean, for example: if she's channel surfing and happens to see any of the characters from Star Trek, she'll have nightmares for a week. Like Dr. Spock . . . his pointy ears are good for at least three night terrors. And she has to look at her lap when a trailer for something like Star WARS comes on - a mere GLIMPSE of Chewbacca could very well necessitate a trip to a counselor. So I didn't think it a good idea to have her sit in a theater while blue aliens jump out of the screen at her in 3D for three hours. But she decided it was a risk she was willing to take so that she could be in the loop. So we donned our 3D glasses and watched it. And, if you can ignore the thinly-veiled political message, it was a pretty good movie. Even my mom enjoyed it . . . when she wasn't looking at her lap.

We also went to see Crazy Heart because Jeff Bridges won the Golden Globe for his performance in it and is up for an Oscar, as well. He plays a 57 year old alcoholic country singer who makes his living playing in various little venues like bowling alleys and little bars. During his travels, he meets a journalist (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and they fall in love. It was a good movie . . . if you don't mind watching a 57 year old man and a 30 year old woman getting it on while you're sitting next to your mom . . .

For some reason, the end of the movie really upset my sister Erin and, after we got outside, she started crying about it. I mean, she was laughing about the fact that she was crying, but she was crying nonetheless. My mom looked at me, waiting for me to say something, and then said "Now, why don't you make fun of HER?"

And I knew immediately why she was asking me that . . .

When I was in college, my mom and I decided to go to the movies but we couldn't decide which movie we wanted to see. We had it narrowed down to two: The Deep End of the Ocean (with Michelle Pfeiffer) or October Sky. My mom has always been really fun and spontaneous so it was not surprising to me when her solution to the problem was "Let's do both!" It sounded like a great idea to me so we bought tickets to the 7ish Deep End of the Ocean and the 10ish October Sky and we were SUPER excited about our fun plan. We bought all of our treats - enough to get us through two movies, of course - and made the trek to stop number 1: The Deep End of the Ocean.

Have you ever seen that movie? It's incredibly sad. Like horribly, horribly sad. Like rip your heart out and run it over with a Mac truck sad. So at the end of the two hours, my mom was a complete basket case. A snotty, blubbering, verging on hysterical basket case who could not POSSIBLY sit through another movie without embarrassing us both. So I drove her home while she sobbed in the passenger seat, helped her into the house so that she could go throw herself onto her bed in a fit of hysterics, and then explained everything to my dad, who was a bit alarmed but mostly amused at the situation. It was hilarious and I have made endless fun of my mom for it. For the last 10 years or so, I have not let her forget 1) that she LITERALLY cried herself to sleep over a MICHELLE PFEIFFER movie and 2) that she still owes me for that second movie.

So as we stood there outside of Crazy Heart, I knew that my mom was thinking that Erin's emotional outburst deserved some ridicule, as well. And I knew what she was going to say before she even said it. But I DON'T know why it surprised me when she said it in true Nora fashion:

Mom: Now, why don't you make fun of HER?? I bet you're not gonna be blogging about THIS, are you? But you STILL make fun of me for crying at "The End of the Rainbow."
Me: "The Deep End of the Ocean."
Mom: Whatever.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand that's why I blog about YOU, Mom.

3 comments:

Emma said...

I don't think any of us will ever forget that!! And I wasn't even there....but still unforgettable.....I still have not seen that movie!

Unknown said...

Classic Nora! Love the story!

Phyllis Eddings said...

So, was the performance worthy of a Golden Globe, a SAG (you missed that one--he won it too) and an Oscar nomination? I was hoping you'd share what was so great about it. The description of the movie sounds pretty boring. What was so amazing about Jeff Bridges in it?