A First

I did something last weekend that I had never done before. I went to see two movies at the theater back-to-back. Erica was still at home visiting her family, and I was home alone. I really wanted to see Walk Hard at the theater, so I went to see it. When it was over, I had a striking realization that I had nothing else to do, so I went right back in and saw The Great Debaters. Both very good films in their own right.

Walk Hard is a parody movie about Walk the Line , the Johnny Cash story. It is a little over the top, but overall very, very good. Quite funny, too. The music and the arrangements in the movie make it truly worth while. There are also a number of cameos and one-liners that make the movie even better. It was good I saw it sans Erica, as I don't think she would have appreciated it.



The Great Debaters was a very good film based on a true story. It revolves around the efforts of debate coach Melvin B. Tolson (Denzel Washington) at historically black Wiley College to place his team on equal footing with whites in the American south during the 1930s, when lynch mobs and Jim Crow laws abounded. The Wiley team eventually succeeds to the point at which they are able to take part in a debate with Harvard University. It is one of the few movies that portrays professors in a positive and I would argue realistic light.



It was a great Saturday of movies to be sure. If you've never went to see a movie by yourself, it really is a gratifying experience. I also had Chinese buffet after the movies.