I saw this movie at Court Street Stadium, one of my favorite movie theaters in New York. I was in the city for ten days, working very long hours on an exciting new Olde English project. My schedule there was extremely hectic and busy, so if I didn’t get a chance to see you while I was there, or if I didn’t see you enough, or if I seemed weird when I saw you, or you didn’t even know I was out there and now I’m gone, I’m very sorry, please don’t take it personally, please know that I love you.
This was my first time back in New York since the last time I was there — how could it not be? — and it felt a little like jumping into a cold swimming pool, because I live in L.A. now, so naturally I only think of things on a scale of how jumping-into-a-cold-swimming-pool-like they are. Example: Reading a book in the park on a warm day? Not at all like jumping into a cold swimming pool. All of a sudden seeing old friends and doing things you used to be doing and going to places you used to live, only this time as a visitor, a tourist, and then leaving again? A lot like jumping into a cold swimming pool, as it turns out.
And a funny thing happened: I really really really never wanted to leave and also really really really couldn’t wait to get out of there. Going back to New York was a simultaneous reminder that L.A. isn’t my home, and also New York isn’t my home. It’s kind of like going back to your old college to discover that any wound you left has been healed over in your absence. It’s like watching a video of a play you were in in high school, or finding out on facebook that an ex-girlfriend is engaged. It’s the reminder that Things Are Different Now. And: Time Moves Forward. And: Well, What Did You Expect?
People ask me how I like L.A. and I tell them I’m giving it a year before I draw any conclusions, because I’m not really in L.A. right now. I’m in Transitionland. Adjustmentville. I don’t have the friends and the history I had in New York; those things take time. I’m between lives right now; visiting New York was a reminder of that, and so it was bittersweet, and bitter, and sweet. But what do I know? Everything’s bittersweet when you think about it.
So, if you want to know the truth, Iron Man 2 was kind of a mixed bag. It was fun, but mostly it just reminded me of how much I liked Iron Man 1.
So:
1. How To Train Your Dragon
2. Greenberg
3. Shutter Island
4. Please Give
5. Date Night
6. Iron Man 2
7. Kick-Ass
8. Hot Tub Time Machine
