Children of Men

One of the things I miss the most being on the road is going to the movies.

Film is something both Terry and I have always enjoyed. When we were first together (some 35+ years ago) we had a favorite movie theater that would play second run movies without repeats all day long for just $1.00 entry. To make it even better, you could leave and come back on the same ticket! We knew we were well suited back in those days when we would spend at least one day a month in that theater.

At home, we were fortunate to have a plethora of great movie theaters within a short 20 mile radius. Not only were there lots of venues, we were lucky enough to have our pick of eight art movie screens. We went to the movies at least once a week every week and often went three or four times within a seven day span.

Needless to say, since we've been on the road, that life is pretty much over. Most of the places we stay don't have movie theaters, and while we can still see films on DVD, we find we really miss the chance to see movies on a large screen in a big dark room.

This makes it a real event when we find a town with a theater, and even more so when we find a movie we actually want to see.

This recently happened when we were in Alamogordo. We had seen the theater the week before and none of the four screens was showing anything we wanted to see. We had spent a lovely afternoon at the New Mexico Museum of Space History and were driving by the cineplex and I told Terry "Just once, I wish there was a movie I REALLY wanted to see" and there it was!

I had read about a film called Children of Men and knew right away that it was a film I really wanted to experience in a theater.

So of course, we paid our money and went right in.

This film was jwonderful. In addition to a fine cast (Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine and a host of actors with which I'm unfamiliar), the entire film was an amazing experience.

Based on a story by P.D. James, it's set in 2027 and the state of our planet has deteriorated to the point where we have stopped procreating. Clive Owen (an actor who is always fascinating to watch) is charged with the task of trying to help the last pregnant woman in England escape to freedom.

But this is just the bare bones of this film. What I found was a deeply thoughtful movie that, even a week later, still comes into my thoughts every day. The direction, the acting, the inventive camera work, but mostly, the ideas and the way they are presented refuse to leave me alone. For my money, this makes for an exceptional movie experience and I recommend highly.

So now you know about our wonderful (and lately, all too rare) evening at the movies.

And while I really miss going to the movies as often as we used to, I have to say I wouldn't change our new life for anything.

After all, take a look at a few pictures I took today, right outside our rig (remember you can click on any image for a larger version).

This bird woke me up this morning . . .



And this was taken as the sun was setting.



Life is good.