Medicating with Media

A slight case of the winter blues and an ever-shifting sense of acceptance/dissatisfaction with family situations sent me spending all of my money leftover after buying Christmas presents on every film that struck my fancy. So, here's my holiday media countdown of favorites:

1) The Extras Christmas special--Of course, my favorite was also the only free item. Reminded me that Maggie deserved the honor I gave her when I named my new iPod after her. And thank the constellations of comedians for Ricky Gervais...and Stephen Merchant getting on his groove to the tune of his mobile phone with his workmates, which gave me just the gutlaugh I was needing when I sat down to it first thing after coming home from attempting to connect with family on Christmas day.

2) The Kiterunner-- Just found out about the big controversy surrounding the producers and the child actor who was hired to play Hassan, but luckily (or not?), I saw the film before knowledge of the scandal could tarnish my viewing of this film adaptation of a book that has made me cry like no other book before or since I first read it years ago.

3) Atonement-- Another film adaptation of a book I enjoyed quite a while ago. James McAvoy captures the fragile disillusionment of war and imprisonment as I can only imagine it must look.

4) I'm Not There--Already raved about this homage to Dylan in my Thanksgiving post... yes, I'm counting Thanksgiving as the beginning of my holiday viewings...

5) Across the Universe-- Another homage to musical greats, this time the Beatles. Clearly made by music fans who have managed to crawl inside the Beatles world and create a storied country from within.

6) Margot at the Wedding-- I found I related to both Margot AND her sister, but a bit horrified to find that I more often identified with Margot than I'd like.

7) The Savages-- These are popping up in pairs, I'm realizing-- this completes the pair of brutal humanity films along with Margot. As I told my mom when she asked me what the point of a film like this is after I had convinced her to movie-hop into viewing it, "It's to remind us that sometimes life just sucks, and that's all there is to it." I think trying to decide what to do with a loved one dealing with mental deterioration struck a little too close to home for us... which is exactly why we needed to see it.

8) Sweeny Todd-- I loved watching Johnny Depp on a silver screen as always, and the boy can sing, but this had more value due to surrounding circumstances than the film itself: toked with my little brother in a car in the mall outside the theater to enhance the viewing experience like you'd expect from any... freakin' teenager. And I don't regret it for a minute, though my parents, religion, and the law would probably ask me to rethink things...

And music? Well, my monthly e-music subscription came in today, so I bought the Hem Christmas tracks, the Kate Bush song featured on the Extras special, completed my Gillian Welch collection so that I now have everything she has out, did the same with Cass McCombs who I've been revisiting for the first time in a while since I started listening to him after seeing him in concert alongside some dreckful emo bands years ago, a new Jolie Holland aficionado named Eilen Jewell, a new JayMay album, a Richard Buckner album, and some random tracks by Mendoza Line and Okkervil River.

Can we say Merry Consumption? I prefer to call it Medicating with Media...