Playing catch up, with a side of rain and SleepyTime tea.

Today is January 5th and it is FRIGID on the streets of Manhattan. Good lord, it's cold!! Luckily, I spent 7:30-9:30pm tonight snuggled in a toasty theatre with Manrissa Hansson seeing a movie. I've done this a lot lately. In fact, since Sunday, I've been to five movies, and gone six times (I "Million Dollar Baby"'d twice). And so, as January lays its icy gloves upon my vitrue, welcome to a game I like to call Oscar Season Catch-Up:

"Million Dollar Baby": (sigh) Everyone loves this movie so frickin' much, and it's good and all, but it's just resoundingly Not My Thing. And I even like it more than I would most women-boxing-drama-turned-weepie-asshole movies. But not enough. Also, I think Hilary Swank is a piss-poor actress (as well as guaranteed to win the Oscar for this movie), and she should be ashamed-- ASHAMED-- for taking this role, which would have made the world see what Ashley Judd can do.

"Hotel Rwanda": Cry!!! Crying!!! Oh my god!! SO FUCKING SAD. Brilliant, awesome movie. Don Cheadle is The Man. Also The Man is Mike Ettannani, because we had the following exchange during it:
MIKE: Oh god, my mascara must be running down to my chin.
KEVIN: That explains why you look so much like Louise Brooks.
So basically, "Hotel Rwanda" is to genocide what we are to comedy.

"Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events": Woooowwww. I mean, this is the kind of movie I wish I'd had to watch when I was younger. This is MY kind of children's movie, and one I plan to force my kids to watch in order to teach them what proper sensibility is. It's also how I'll teach them why the world once loved Meryl Streep, as I'm sure she'll be long dead at the time. Speaking of long dead, I love Dustin Hoffman.

"The Woodsman": Kate and I have an eternal struggle over whether or not Kevin Bacon is hot. My response falls firmly on the Hot side, though it would suck if we got married, because our answering machine would be like "Hi, you've reached Kevin and Kevin. One of us gave a truly awesome performance in 'The Woodsman' and the other really thought that the aforementioned 'Woodsman' was a chilly thrill ride into the life of a man struggling with pedophilia that everyone should see this holiday season. But you can leave a message here for either one. BEEP." And THAT is why I won't marry Kevin Bacon. Beep.

"A Love Song for Bobby Long": See, now HERE we have it. If the world fall in love with one movie this year in which three downtrodden losers come together to form an unconventional family, it'll be "Million Dollar Baby." But if I, Kevin Manganaro, fall in love with one movie this year in which three downtrodden losers come together to form an unconventional family, it's "A Love Song for Bobby Long." What can I say, other than that it's the only movie of 2004 to make me cry? And much like the only movie of 2003 to make me cry, "The House of Sand and Fog," real estate is a major theme. Maybe I just have real estate issues? Should I seek counciling? Perhaps. Or maybe I just really and truly think that Scarlett Johansson is pure magic and that this is the best movie she's ever gotten the chance to be in.

I hope that all of you, dear readers, get the chance to hit the cinemas in the coming weeks to catch everything that 2004 had to offer the arts but just held out til now for purposes of crafty marketing.

Also, I think Sutton Foster blows pigs. I'm pretty sure.

KEVIN :-)