Reason #1,234,093 that I love my daughter....

Her wit:

We were at Starbuck's and they were playing a lot of old country songs (OLD, not from the 80's, but from the 50's and 60's) and after singing along to the last four or five of them, I say: "I know all these songs. You know what that makes me?" Her answer: "Pathetic?" I refrained from pointing out that she also was singing along to most of them.


She set her Hamster (in his little hamster wheel) down on the table and it was partially hanging off the side. I say: "Its off the edge." She replies: "We all feel that way sometimes, Mom."

Movies...

Is it wrong of me to be reading though all the "Soon to be Released Movies" and picking all the possible movies that will beat out Lord of the Rings: Return of the King for best picture and best director?

I'm thinking that it's not going to win anything. It's a fantasy after all. And it's popular. And it was filmed outside Hollywood. I know people are saying that it hasn't won anything because they were waiting for the final installment, but I think it's the old (and still popular) belief that science fiction and fantasy aren't good enough -- not literary enough -- to merit the award.

In other words, it ain't got a chance.

Now, Ron Howard has an western coming out. They may give it to that, after all that's a period piece and Ron Howard is one of Hollywood's own.

And "The Last Samurai" is coming out with Tom Cruise. It's all about the idealized code of the Samurai and it also is a period piece.

And "Cold Mountain" and "Master and Commander" both based on books (you know, real books, not that fantasy nonsense) and they are about specific individuals rather than an ensemble cast. And they star Russell Crow and Jude Law, after all.

And even more, RotK is part of a series. A series that was popular. For people that don't like or don't understand fantasy, having such a movie be popular is annoying and is often seen as a threat: How would it be if it turns out that such a non-intellectual genre would be seen as worthy of recognition?

Think I'm wrong? Just look how the movie is often talked about --

This is from an article in THe Christian Science Monitor about the wonderful "literary and historical" movies coming out this fall, it ends like this:

Also headed our way are the final (please!) chapters in sure-fire franchises already boosted by mushrooming ad campaigns and the box-office blazes sparked by previous installments. "The Matrix Revolutions" debuts on Nov. 5, allowing a few weeks for fantasy fans to see it several times before switching to "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," due Dec. 17.

I can just imagine that writer's relief that those unworthy movies made for "fantasy fans" will soon be disapearing from the screen.