"Maria Full of Grace" is my "Officer and a Gentleman"

So, I may have mentioned this before, but I love the New York Public Library. Not just for the gorgeous building, and the two big lions out front that get bedecked with wreaths every year for Christmas. No, I love all the little branches, and I adore that they've gone all sorts of high-tech, and you can search their catalogues and reserve books via a website. (Check out the link on the sidebar.) Anyway, at any one point I have 10 or so books and DVDs on reserve at the library, waiting to make their way to me. Some take longer than others. Fight Club, for instance, I put on reserve months and months and months ago, when the boy who was my f.i.b. recommended it. Sure, I could have gone to the video store on the corner of my block thousands of times between then and now, but it wasn't something I was rushing out to see, clearly, so I wait patiently to get a free copy. Nora Roberts' new book is also on reserve, though 259 other people had the same idea as me.

Which brings me to Maria Full of Grace. Way back in January, Entertainment Weekly published a list of twenty or so movies that were likely to be top Oscar contenders, and I thought of working my way down the list, checking each movie off as I saw them. I saw Sideways, The Aviator, Finding Neverland, and Closer in theatres, Kill Bill and Collateral at home on DVD, and put a bunch of others on hold at the library, including Maria. And eventually, it came in. DVDs are one week loans, so when I didn't get a chance to watch it the first time I borrowed it, I returned it, put it back on hold, and tried again. And still didn't watch it.

So I tried again. And again.

I've lost count now of the number of times I've had this movie out, and I've just about given up on seeing it. My friend B has done the exact same thing with "An Officer and a Gentleman."

I mean, I get that it's an excellent flick, and I'm sure I'll be glad if I ever do manage to watch it -- but it's not something to get totally enthused about seeing, is it? "Aw, gee, I can't wait to get home and watch that film about the girl swallowing heroin! What fun!"

So, if I get a few spare hours this weekend, between the shopping and the laundry, and all the other errands I need to do before I leave next week, I think I'll skip Maria and just go see Serenity again. For lo, it is shiny.