Back! and...better than ever?

All right, all right. Here we are. It's been a while, I'm sorry. After getting off to a solid start in March, we were starting to be in serious danger of going 0 for April. I can only assume Nix is busy. I mean, the guy is working as a freaking golf professional in two separate states. Not to mention juggling, both figuratively and literally, 16 known girlfriends. Me? I'm just lazy. And somewhat uninspired. With a dash of self consciousness.

Almost two weeks ago, it dawned on me that our absence on this page was starting to get ridiculous. I started planning a grand return for our droves of fans. Something epic, something life changing. "A 15,000 word odyssey chronicalling the evolution of comedy in movies!" I thought. Or, "With the NFL draft approaching, how about a 32 team, 7 round movie draft!?" I set my sights way too high, didn't end up writing anything, and the days went on.

But then something magical happened. Not 12 minutes ago, I finished a great movie. And it reminded me why I love seeing, talking about, writing about movies in the first place.

First, a little tidbit about me that really explains my movie fandom: I'm an emotional dude. A passionate bro, if you will. And I get way too swept up in a good movie for my own good. And, all too often, for a brief while after the movie ends, I've basically adopted the traits and emotions of the character/s I was just watching. Which sounds confusing even to me. So...examples:

- Good Will Hunting: Am I a completely lost college aged guy with deep-seeded issues stemming from his childhood that really needs to befriend a heavily bearded, capable-of-being-the-voice-of-an-awesome-Disney-character, therapist? And also move to Boston? For a while after being exposed to Will and his ridiculously-accented friends, I was pretty much convinced.

- Seven Pounds: Spoiler alert! In Seven Pounds, Will Smith is responsible for a car crash that kills seven people, including his wife. He feels so guilty that he goes to great lengths to find people worthy and needing of his organs, then kills himself in order to be their doner. I could barely stand up when the credits rolled, I felt just beaten up and defeated. My friends went out somewhere afterward, I had to go home. Couldn't handle the rest of the night.

- 300: Man did I want to beat the hell out of some Persians. And definitely a Top 5 gym day for me the following morning.

- Gladiator: See: "300". Also made me want to be one day put in a situation where I would knowingly go to my death for the greater good somehow. And be a hero for it.

Tonight's movie was about a baby-expecting couple in their 30s seeking out a new home to start raising their family. Obviously, I related.

But just as I'm not an orphan from south Boston, and I've never been responsible for a death, and I've certainly never overthrown any Roman leaders, my actual similarities to these characters doesn't matter. In life there's a handful of basic human emotions that we all encounter. Love, loss, happiness, grief, acceptance, regret, insecurity. Overwhelming joy, crushing sadness. A great movie will run the gauntlet of these, and, often, there IS something we can relate to. (Sometimes, lightning strikes, and we get literally every possible emotion in one scene.)

That's why I watch movies, and more importantly, why I actively seek out the best ones. A lot of the time, we see movies to simply be entertained. And, sure, I see some value in that. We laugh together, root for the good guys, act totally surprised when they escape the clutches of death to defeat their nemesis at the last possible moment. But, afterward, do we really care? What did we learn?

(Side rage: Millions upon millions of dollars are made every year by 1) putting a popular actor and actress together, 2) having them fall in love, 3) have a falling out when it's revealed that the guy only went out with her for a bet, or that the girl has been writing a magazine article about how to lose him in a set amount of days, and 4) they overcome any and all odds to be together, because their love is so goddamn special. Secret: It's the same damn movie every time! And we eat it up! Why?!)

Tonight I saw an actual love story. And it made me long to one day have a loud fake argument with my pregnant wife over lunch on a train from Phoenix to Madison. Or fall asleep on a trampoline with her. Or move into her childhood home to start a family. And all that other sappy stuff. Good stuff. Family...love...the stuff of life dammit.

Of course, if I happen to catch Gone In 60 Seconds on TNT (they know drama) for the billionth time tomorrow, expect to see a black Mazda 3 in a high speed pursuit on I-69. Turn on the news around 6, I'll be the guy doing 120 wishing he had a "Go Baby Go" button.

Also, I guess this was all my long winded endorsement of Away We Go. See it.