Promise-ary Note: Birthday Movie Night

I got the chance to celebrate my birthday with my family last weekend, but after work on Monday I took myself out.  My promise for the week was to go to the movies.  I've always loved going to the theater and used to go by myself relatively frequently.  There is something about sitting alone in the darkened theater and allowing the movie to wash over you in privacy that is so soothing to me.
After I finished my bar shift, I looked up what was playing at a number of local theaters.  I flipped from this one to that one in an attempt to find the right movie at the right time.  I decided on Gravity at 9:35.  I'd heard a lot of great things about the movie, and I looked forward to catching up with what all the buzz was about.

Picture courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Well, me being me, I went to the wrong theater.  I got confused after looking up all the different options and I wound up confusing the two big 16-theater locations.  The one I arrived at wasn't showing Gravity any time soon.  So, I shifted gears and changed my plan.  The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug it is, then!

Poster courtesy of MGM

While I wasn't overly enthusiastic about the first installment of this film trilogy, I thought I would give the second chapter a chance.  The film substantially exceeded my low expectations.  Like many others, The Hobbit is sacred ground for me.  The book transported me to other worlds very early in my reading career, and I've loved its intricacies ever since.  As a result, the underwhelming first film left a bad taste in my mouth.  I'm so glad Peter Jackson and the crew turned it around in this next installment.

What a wonderful birthday present to be transported away to the landscapes of my childhood imagination in such a surprising way.  While the film is not flawless, it was a pleasant surprise that capped off a wonderful, private birthday celebration.  When I crawled into bed that night around two in the morning, I was exhausted, but happy.  I crawled into the comfort of home and dreamed of magical landscapes like I haven't since I was a child.  Happy birthday to me!

I'll draw next week's promise tomorrow!