Go see Slumdog Millionaire. Like, today.

Juneau has a total of eight movie screens. Not theatres, 8 total screens. There is the Nickelodeon, which has one movie each week and usually shows foreign/art films. And then there is Gross Alaska Cinemas, which has two locations; a 2 screen building downtown and a whooping 5 screens in their valley location. Gross Alaska shows the more ‘mainstream’ movies like Mall Cop and my beloved Twilight. Compare that to the 10 movie theatres I can name off the top of my head in DC (and I am sure there are at least 5 or 6 more, each of which probably has at least 10 screens) and you can imagine that I never expect much for the movies here. We never get movies right when they come out. And you usually only have a 1 or 2 week window to see a movie before it’s gone. So I was shocked when Slumdog Millionaire and Gran Torino were both playing at the downtown movie theater! And Rachel Getting Married was at the art house cinema. What to do?

I went and saw Slumdog Millionaire because that’s the one I wanted to see the most. I figure I can just Netflix Gran Torino, and I am sad that I might have missed Rachel Getting Married, but Slumdog was my priority. And I am so glad that I went and saw it. It was fantastic. I am in love with the younger actors. I think it’s sad that when an incredible movie draws attention to something like poverty, the media focuses on how much money the actors were paid instead of paying attention to what is being done and what can be done to eliminate slums altogether. I understand that people want to see the kids in the movie succeed, but that doesn’t help the thousands of other kids that are still there. I realize it’s a gray issue, but I feel that there’s only so much a director or movie studio can do. The point is, the movie is amazing and I highly recommend it.

Also this weekend, the Superbowl was pretty awesome. I always enjoy a close game. I watched it with a hardcore Steelers fan, but there was a larger cheer from everyone else at the house for an ad right after the game announcing that the power company here had finally repaired a downed power line, which means we are off diesel generators and back to hydro power! Yay! It was the second time in a year that an avalanche took out our hydro power and the diesel generators increase our rates 500%, so it’s a big deal.

I also finished the end stripes on my second scarf. Once I am done with this scarf, I am going to learn how to purl and make felted slippers. And once those are done, I can finally move on to the mittens that started this whole obsession.