16x16 - quarterly review (q1)
the first weekend of 16x16 could not really have turned out any better. starting out friday evening joined by guests TnT, we settled on recent number one on the onion’s year end movie list, winter’s bone. considering the fact that i have yet to see quite a few of this year’s movies, i’m not going to comment on where this one belongs in that discussion. i will say that it was as good a movie as i’ve seen this year, and if you happen to find yourself in the mood for a heartwarming tale of a lovable group of ragtag, misfit kids searching for their bail-jumping, absentee father, set against an uncomfortably bleak rendering of the rural south and populated almost entirely by participants in the meth trade, well then I venture to say that you won’t walk away dissatisfied.
saturday turned out to be animation night, and yielded two fantastic entries in this year’s festivities with 9 and ponyo on the cliff. 9 led off, and did not disappoint. brilliantly animated and i’d even say a little secret of nimh-esque. if that doesn’t make you want to see it, well, fuck you. ponyo on the cliff was just more of the same from hayao miyazaki, and that’s all that really needs to be said. always worth your time.
rounding out the weekend, sunday brought the wild bunch, a peckinpah staple that i’d inexplicably managed to avoid for the last 32+ years. if you’re into westerns, you’ve already seen it. if you’re not, you’re probably not very awesome so i’m not going to waste my breathe.
it’s not like i’m picking these movies at random, so the deck is admittedly a bit stacked. regardless, i’m satisfied to have come out of the weekend a pristine four wins against zero losses. heading into q2, energy is up, legs are fresh and morale remains high. drop the puck.
