I Didn't Watch The Championship Game...I Watched Star Wars Instead

My son started a new family tradition a few weeks back--Family Movie Night. It's not as easy as you think finding a film the whole family will enjoy. There are six of us ranging in age between 52 and 13. Plus, we're trying to find movies most of us haven't seen. When you whittle it down, there's not a lot of films a family with kids can watch together.

We usually watch shows Sunday or Monday nights. This week we picked up the latest in the Star Wars series, Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Only my son and I had seen it. We started the show Monday night and it wasn't until we were into it an hour or so that I realized I was missing the finale of this year's NCAA men's basketball tournament.

I've not been following the college game as of late. I haven't really been following the NBA, either. Last year when the Utah Jazz made the playoffs, I started to watch more and more, or at least, pay more attention. I've been following the Jazz this year, too. Donavan Mitchell is a special player. If he stays healthy, it could be a once-in-a-generation player. We'll see.

I used to be a big sports fan, basketball, football, soccer, track and field--I liked watching pretty much anything. I've cut back the amount of time I watch and I've tried not to get so emotionally involved. I think it's healthier for me. I'll still root for my Utah Utes, even if I don't watch every game. I don't suspect that will change.

And I usually watch the end of March Madness, though. It's usually a good game. And on Monday night, if when I checked while watching the show with my family, the score had been closer, I might have at least recorded it to watch at a later time. Since it looked like a blowout and ended up being exactly that, I was glad I chose movie over sporting event. Some might think I'm crazy to do so--some might think I'm crazy if I chose the opposite. Who knows--maybe next year I'll end up watching the game. Time will tell.

Keeping Up My "One Movie A Year" Pace...

Something occurred to me as my son and I walked to the theater to watch the latest Star Wars installment.

The last time I saw a movie at the theater was last year's Star Wars installment, Star Wars: Rogue One. 

Growing up, I used to go to movies all the time. I watched everything the cool kids watched, saw all the same shows. I wonder why the theater just doesn't have the pull for me it once had. We even have a huge new megaplex a mile and a half from my house. I could walk there. They built it several years ago. I think I have more fingers on my hands than have seen movies at that theater.

There's the cost, of course. Movies cost more than they did in days gone by. There are "dollar theaters," which cost more than a few dollars, but are still cheaper than the others. And I'm not complaining--seeing a movie in a high-end theater today is an amazing experience. Our seats reclined, a big leather LazyBoy-class chair. The audio matched the incredible soundtrack. There's no complaints from me as far as the experience goes.

Even though there's a lot of good shows out there, there's also a lot of crud. And the last thing I want to do is see a movie each week and think it was just "okay." It's one thing getting something from RedBox--if it's bad, I don't feel burned, plus I can watch in my pajamas, and do some writing at the same time. I think I'll continue on my seeing only one film in the theater pace. It works for me.

Come to think of it, I might have watched Star Wars: Rogue One in 2016, just as the year came to an end. Looks like I can't even keep that pace up.