(For starters, we will discuss Matt Wertz’s new album tomorrow [oh yes we will] because it is a beautiful piece of work.)
For today, I want to tell you about Adam and Wes and M&Ms and the Belcourt Theater.
I’m going to use Adam and Wes’s real names because you are going to totally be impressed with them by the end of this post and they are both single and I would love nothing more than two cultured single ladies to snatch these boys up due to the fact that I blogged about their high brow ways.
[They’re gonna kill me.]
Lyndsay and I deeply desire to be cultured and do artistic things around town. Adam and Wes have the same desire- they just actually DO the things. They are smart and fun and funny and kind and creative and they like to read and they love God and they are two of the dearest men in the world.
So over the weekend, I begged and pleaded for the boys to let me tag along to the Belcourt Theater where they are playing a series of Southern films. And, to be real honest, I actually selected the film we chose to see. [So what I’m saying is that I’m actually swinging the culture stick on this one.] I flipped through the options, reading the synopsis, and thought “The Sun Shines Bright” sounded like a great story.
The boys agreed.
So we found ourselves Tuesday night sitting boy / girl / boy in an almost empty movie theater [probably forty folks max], with a share size bag of M&Ms.
Then in a moment of pure cultured joy, the film started with the faint clicking sound of the old reels. Not a DVD but the old school film reels. It was amazing.
I haven’t watched a lot of movies set in an early 1900s Southern town. Hearing the characters reminisce about the Civil War, watching the beauty of a community living without social media, and just trying to mentally see the color scheme in a movie that is a black and white film reel- it was such a good time.
[The dresses. I just always wish I could see the color of the dresses. And there were these beautiful lanterns hanging outside during a party- I wanted to see the yellow glow. Sue me.]
At this point in the blog post, my mom and both of my sisters are shaking their fists at the screen because I have long been the Downs Daughter That Does Not Like Old Movies. But there was something different about this. This film sort of felt like a prequel to To Kill A Mockingbird- it had some of the same Southern elements, courthouse stuff, racial focus, and one of those good-guy-to-the-core kind of characters.
Like Adam and Wes… line up, ladies.
[They are literally never going to speak to me again.]
One of my favorite parts of this film is that somehow the actors convinced me that this one little Kentucky town really understands community. And I haven’t even told you about the soundtrack or when Judge Priest risks re-election to give a respectable funeral to a less than respectable woman.
It was a beautiful storyline.
And gosh darn it if I didn’t tear up a little bit when the band played Dixie at the end.
The best part? Seeing that old movie didn’t make me “cultured” per say, but it sure makes me appreciate a culture that used to be.
Great movie. Great friends. Great candy.
I loved it.
. . . . . .
Do you have a favorite old movie? Share on, friend.