A strawberry delight

Another day, another trip to the empty art house where my empty soul needed some healing.

Okay, that's an exaggeration--I'm not THAT empty--but people ask us all the time why we're taking the risk by going to a movie theater, even 'though the theater encourages the wearing of masks, and the matinees sell only a handful of tickets, and everyone is socially distant.

I'll tell you why:

I just can't be imprisoned any longer, like I was for all of 2020.

 Imprisoned in a lifeless cell for committing a misdemeanor.. like jaywalking.

Of course I'm grateful that I'm not taxing overworked doctors and nurses and that I'm not on a ventilator, of course, but I did everything one is supposed to do--I am triply vaccinated, I maintain social distancing, and I have enough Purell to last a lifetime--a lifetime most of us will live fully when this freaking pandemic is finally over.

Telling me because I obeyed the rules, I get to live, isn't quite cutting it.

"Hey Karen"..."you do realize a drunk driver's not likely to get you when you're behind those figurative prison bars, right?"

"no need to worry about a possible diving accident in this prison..we don't even have a pool"

"Odds are low that the mountain lion has the dexterity to rip open those bars and maul your self-pitying little self to death"

Of course I realize people have it so much worse that I do, of course I realize that.

But I'm glad that neither of us are ultra strict regarding Omicron, because we had a perfect day today.

We went to a cozy little cafe called "Toast" which is as warm and comforting as the name implies, and then caught the indie, "Red Rocket" in Asbury Park, a delightful town filled with masked dog walkers  and adorable shops with adorable names.

Red Rocket:

It is not canine pornography.

(I get enough of that image nightly as the poodle humps my pillow, which oddly is THE "my pillow" so if Luke is gonna screw anything, I'm glad it's  something associated with  Mike Lindell.)

"Red Rocket" is terrific--I'm not sure what movie is getting bumped out of my top five list to make room for it, but make room I will.

The setting is depressing, deep in the heart of rural Texas, teeming with dumpsters and Trumpsters and oil fields.

The people are loathsome and pathetic--if you met them in real life(as opposed to "reel life") you'd run away from them like you were Usain Bolt.

But the movie... worked!  

The actors that breathed life into these vile characters made them human, relatable, and even hilarious.

Simon Rex is the hottest thing this side of Magic Mike, and his ambitious ex-porn star Mikey Saber should get some Oscar voters on their toes.

Suzanna Son was scary good as Strawberry, the best depiction of a screwed up teenager I've seen since Juliette Lewis sucked Robert DeNiro's fingertip in "Cape Fear."  

She could be as sugary sweet as those donuts she peddles in one scene, and turn into a slutty sociopath in the next.

I will not be unhappy if front-runner Ariana DeBose takes home the gold, but I'd be equally happy if the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress went to this incredibly  talented ginger.

The supporting characters were so good that this dark comedy felt like we were watching  a documentary.  

A documentary we're still  talking about hours after seeing it.

Every single frame of this film smacked of realism..even those "Boogie Night" shots where you wondered about prosthetics, and then felt appropriately dirty for wondering...

"Red Rocket"..it's simply a blast!