sweet caroline

well, we're done with another riveting installment of queue de grâce. again, many thanks to my guest curator, miss caroline ruggles. everyone take one last, long look at her, pictured here last week searching her shelves for what to select for me.

you surely didn't think i wasn't going to have my revenge for what she did to me this week, did you?

for posterity's sake, here's watched i watched this week, at her behest:

tales of the rat fink (2006)
temple grandin (2010)
penelope (2006)
the last mimzy (2007)
who are the debolts? and where did they get nineteen kids? (1977)
nanny mcphee (2005)
diary of a wimpy kid (2010)
mists of avalon (2001)
empire records (1995)
ATL (2006)
daddy and them (2001)
cowboy del amor (2005)
my big fat greek wedding (2002)
don't be a menace to south central while drinking your juice in the hood (1996)
saved! (2004)
avatar (2009)
plagues and pleasures on the salton sea (2004)
paperback dreams (2008)
my super ex-girlfriend (2006)

i have never had the 2000s so well represented in any block of movies i have watched at once. ever. i won't lie to you, at times this week was awfully difficult. i know it provides fodder for snarky fun, but i am genuinely disheartened by this week's experience in a number of ways. i don't watch a lot of these types of things, so i have always been able to regard them from a distance, only theoretically disturbed by box office numbers and the implications of their popularity. actually having to dig into them and finding almost nothing redeeming in the films that the largest numbers of people go to see leaves me sad. in a way, this is good for me, yes. it's always good to step outside of yourself and it has reduced my ignorance, but in a much bigger way it's bad for all of us. the jekyll and hyde nature of caroline's list made me think a lot about how we spend our creative resources and how people use movies. i just don't think i use them like most people. i knew this already but it feels different after spending so much time this week seeing how the other half lives. the moviegoing experience for the average american doesn't seem like much of an experience at all. i'm glad she was gracious enough to throw in things she knew i would enjoy, in between torturing me. i'm also glad i don't review films for a living. i'm glad that, most of the time, we can get together here and talk about things that merit our attention, rather than having a new release schedule dictate the action. most of all, i'm glad you guys keep reading and contributing to the discussion. i appreciate it.

queue de grâce will be back in june with jon merrill pulling the strings. if you would like to be added to the list of guest curators (or confirm that you're on it already) just drop me a line and we will make sure it gets taken care of. i look forward to it.