will write for tacos: to watch

I think since marrying Houston my taste in movies has gotten a little more...snobby. Or maybe I just care more about what I consume. There it is! A better way to say that I think my movie taste is "da bayyyst."

Anyway, I watched a movie recently that I think you should, too. And no, it's not on Netflix or I think Amazon, so you'll have to find it somewhere else and *gasp* pay for it. But I think it's worth it. First, the cinematography made me a lil' weepy. Second, the score was composed by Ennio Morricone. I could end there, but third, the plot is really somethin'. Kind of Biblical. Pretty dark. But at the same time, innocent. Did I sell you on it yet?! Duh.

I couldn't decide which movie poster iteration I liked best, so you're getting both.

And if you don't like paying for movies, you can watch these two things on Netflix which had a profound effect on me for different reasons.

First: The Center Will Not Hold (a documentary about Joan Didion)

This might not be interesting to you if you've never read anything by Joan. I just finished reading her most popular book, The Year of Magical Thinking, and while it provided a good contextual background for the documentary, I don't think it was absolutely necessary.

Disclaimer: this one is kinda for writing nerds. She talks a lot about recording your life, both the good and the bad, so that you don't forget who you are. It made me feel things. It's also about "moving on" after you lose someone you love (spoiler: you don't really move on). The last scene really made me misty-eyed.

And second, PLANET EARTH 2!! I used more than one exclamation point, so you know this is pivotal. You must watch this.

I have never yelled at my TV screen more (maybe if I was a sports fan, this wouldn't be that rare). I think I was more emotionally invested in these animal's lives than I am in my own. Whoops.

Did the swimming sloth ever find a mate?

Did the mama snow leopard ever see her daughter again?

Did the grizzly bears find food?!

Did the baby turtles ever figure out which direction the ocean was?

Did the albatross and his mate have lots of babies?

Did the lions starve in the drought?

I can't emphasize enough how much you need to watch. My only sadness is that I probably won't get another Planet Earth until I'm almost 40, because it takes them about 10 years to gather six episodes worth of footage. But when you see this footage, you understand why.