Saturday, February 4, 2012

Best Mom Tip #170: Watch all of the credits

I have mentioned before that Jay and I like movies.  We REALLY like movies and usually average about 2 a month in the theater over the course of a year.  This is made possible by our proximity to our parents and the fact that we ask for movie money for every birthday and Christmas.

Last night we saw The Grey starring Liam Neeson.  It was rather more emotionally intense than I was expecting (it's about a plane crash in Alaska and these guys trying to survive it while being tracked by angry wolves) and there was a scene where Liam Neeson recovers his rifle and some shotgun shells from the plane wreckage.  The rifle is broken and useless, but where was the shotgun?  Or the rifle bullets?  Anyway, unless the movie makers wanted us to believe he had a scope on a shotgun, his bag was short either some ammo or a weapon.  But other than that I was involved and interested in the story.  And we stayed until the very end of the credits.

Jay and I always stay until the end of the credits.  I like to see who they thank and where it was filmed and what versions of the songs they used and who the gaffer was.  I like knowing that the movie last night needed both "wolf wranglers" and "snow mobile operators."  I like letting the emotion of the movie, good bad or ugly, work it's way out of me while I listen to the carefully chosen soundtrack of the credits.  I like being able to give validation to the craft services personnel and every other little name that warranted a mention on the giant list.  You had better believe that if my name ever made the credits of anything, I would want everyone I ever knew to watch it scroll by.

There are a lot of reasons I enjoy being wrapped up in someone else's story for two hours.  I like to imagine and pretend and I do so in my head quite a lot.  I love to read and get lost in great (and not-so-great) books, but I tend to be obsessive and sacrifice sleep to finish books so movies are a shorter time commitment for me.  I have a wonderful and full life, but it is also one where I wonder about things like why people keep posting song lyrics on Facebook or why decorating magazines recommend "bringing the outside in" when most of my day is spent trying to keep the outside out and off of the floors.  Guys in mortal combat with wolves is somehow more exhilarating.

Sometimes, I'm even rewarded for my credit-watching patience.  Finding Nemo's credits have the animals interacting with the words as they scroll by. The Hangover reveals the pictures of what you didn't see happen in Vegas.  Last night there was a split second at the very end of the credits that helped to tie up a slightly loose end from the movie itself.

Mostly, though, I just like to linger over the feel and flavor of the moment.  To bring my heart back out of the woods, or off the sinking ship, or home from the war.  Before I get back in my minivan and ride off into the sunset.

3 comments:

  1. I love seeing where they're filmed, too. Wonder if there's a list somewhere of the films that include "extras" during the credits?

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  2. Can you clue me in to what happened at the end of the credits. I hate the way The Grey ended. Thanks.

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  3. At the end of the credits, there was a few seconds of Liam Neeson and the alpha wolf both breathing their last breaths. That was it. It was depressing and the entire movie was rather a downer.

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