The movies (10)

Today we went to the movie theater for the first time in... years. I can't actually remember the last time I sat in a movie theater, or what I saw. It was certainly pre-Covid, so maybe sometime in late 2019, or possibly January 2020? What did we see? Who knows. I didn't go to the movies all that often even in the "before times." I do remember seeing Harriet, Knives Out, Little Women, Ford v. Ferrari, and maybe Parasite, all 2019, in the theater, to name a few. (I had a little assist from Google to garner those titles.)

So let me just file away in some secure memory place (like this blog) today's movie, The Banshees of Inisherin, directed by Martin McDonagh and starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, as my first movie-movie in quite a while. It was excellent, if hard. It's quiet and slow. The performances are riveting, the buildup of tension masterful. McDonagh's In Bruges, also with Farrell and Gleeson, is one of my favorite films, and it was a pleasure to watch the two actors again; and Kerry Condon, who plays the Farrell character's sister, is wonderful, as is the stage actor Barry Keoghan, who plays the village dimwit. Never mind Jenny the donkey. I do love going to the movies, the big screen experience. This was a good, moody one to get that started up again. My sister-in-law Patty called it a fable, and I think that's about right.

Also today, I made my annual Portuguese bean soup and fried rice. After the movie, the three of us visited the Pacific Grove Butterfly Sanctuary, where the monarchs were fluttering in to roost on the pines in dense orangish-brown clusters. We walked the dog. And we did divinations with medicine and Tarot cards. It was a fine, memorable day.