Hooray for Movie Month!

Since November obligations (primarily NaNoWriMo) preclude superfluous entertainment, I designated October to be Movie Watching Month, in which I endeavor to watch 31 movies. Not a very taxing challenge to be sure, but despite my DVD collecting fetish... I'm not really a movie guy.

Last night was Sullivan's Travels, the 1941 Preston Sturges film about a comedy director (Joel McCrea) that wants to make a movie about weightier issues: the plight of the poor. So he travels the country with Veronica Lake (mostly the part of the country between Hollywood and Las Vegas). He winds up imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit and must prove his innocence. No wait, I'm thinking of a different movie: He's imprisoned for a crime he did commit, but he's a big shot Hollywood type, so c'mon! This is quite an enjoyable movie and the Criterion transfer on the DVD looks spectacular, as always.

Also, New York Times profiles S.E. Hinton (free registration required) and today is Efren Ramirez's birthday. Vote for Pedro!