Hello Meadberry,

Every year in January it gets a bit warm. Mind you, when I say warm, I mean 40 degrees. After you have 20 degrees for four straight weeks, 40 degrees feels positively balmy. I mean, I went out without a coat and even started to look at flower seeds at Home Depot. Than it snowed today and I awoke from my dream. My new thing is to go into Avatar every day and spend a few minutes on Pandora. I want to be a 10 foot tall blue humanoid. I think I finally get why all the people dress up to go see Star Wars movies. I am regressing with age.

Speaking of age, many of you wrote last week and said you missed the Little Projectionist. For all of you, please feel free to take him for a few days!!! His new thing is that he does not want to go to bed…ever! He tried to convince me that he would never sleep as long as the monsters are in his room. I spent 40 minutes last night showing him every part of the room to prove there were no monsters. When we were done he said “they are in the bathroom!”

This week Mel Gibson stars in Edge of Darkness. Good title for a Mel Gibson movie. I don’t think it would be fun to drink a beer with Mel. I would only want to wear a kilt and fight Redcoats…no beer. More interesting is the strategic release date. Exactly one year ago, the nation was captivated by Liam Neeson in Taken. I never saw it, but I have heard fine things. Also we have a film called When In Rome. It really should be called When in High School. If you liked Fireproof, I will suggest To Save A Life. If you complain about all the horror and rated R fare, come support this fine faith-based initiative.

Chophouse is getting better. I had Fried Green Tomatoes the other night. Deeeelicious.

Hello Meadberry,

The Tooth Fairy, Extraordinary Measures, and Legion open this week. I have nothing else important to say this week so I thought I would share a letter I just wrote to Northwest Airlines:

To The Powers That Be:

I moved to the Erie, PA area in 2008 and gave up my status on American Airlines. Living near Erie, I started to fly Northwest and spent 2009 working my way to 25,000 miles and silver status. It is a very important goal in life when you are locked out from those “P” seats on the seat maps. I thought I needed to reach this goal over a 12-month period. During 2009 I accumulated 24,589 miles and believed that my return from spending Christmas at my Mom’s on January 2nd would put me over the top. I was very happy.

Happiness is fleeting in today’s world, as my status never came. I checked the website every day waiting for that silver status to appear. I started having trouble sleeping and found myself waking up just to see if the site had updated. After some research, I discovered that the program only counts miles within a calendar year. Oh, the horror.

I don’t believe in defeat and realized the world is not just filled with automated customer assistance, but with humans that have feelings. Hence, I am writing you today to see if my faith in humanity could be affirmed. What are 411 miles between friends?

I believe I am a good customer. I try very hard not to be messy when I am on your planes. I am polite to other customers and help the elderly whenever appropriate. If anyone was worthy of being granted an exception to your rules, I believe I am that person. I am more than happy to give up 2010 miles if this could put me over the top.

Now your moment of zen:

“With great power comes great responsibility”
Ben Parker in Spiderman 1

Hello Meadberry,

I saw Avatar this weekend and went to bed still thinking about what I just experienced. If there ever was a bargain in this world, paying $10 to see this movie in 3-D might take the prize. It is a feast for the eyes. I could distinctly find reference to the following movies: The Wizard of Oz, Star Wars, Lord of The Rings, and Dances With Wolves. Strange…but very respectable. Whatever movie you were planning to see over the holidays, add one more trip. This is a must see….large combo optional.

The Little Projectionist has reached a new level of activeness. I spent the day with him today and he did not sit still for more than 17 seconds. Even when he eats, it is done while walking around the kitchen table or crawling under the table in a restaurant. Is three years old too young to have a child start running on a treadmill?

We have 4 new movies opening this week:

1. Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel- The first movie was the 3rd most successful movie we have ever shown in four years. Seriously.
2. Sherlock Holmes- A month ago I thought this was going to be the bomb of the season. Invictus already won the award. Now, I think Sherlock will be great. I have no idea what I am talking about.
3. It’s Complicated- Great cast, good premise, good director, and a scene with a stoned Meryl Streep and Steve Martin. How could you miss it?
4. Up In The Air- Clooney. That’s enough.

Did you have the spinach dip at the Chophouse yet? Ask for extra salsa.

Now your moment of zen:

“Everything is backwards now, like out there is the true world and in here is the dream”.

Sam Worthington in Avatar

Hello Meadberry,

The new sign went up today. I cried like Steve Martin in The Lonely Guy. I don’t remember the exact scene, but he was lonely so he must have cried. Speaking of Steve Martin, my sleeper hit of Christmas is It’s Complicated. There is Avatar, but when a studio spends $500M making a movie , it better be a hit. It’s Complicated — looks funny. I must be getting old when I am identifying with Meryl Streep movies.

The Little Projectionist is very smart for a 3 year old. He is still, however, limited by his experiences. Tonight he screamed for his mother when he went to bed. This is because I usually put him to bed and his mom gives him the last bit of love. Tonight his mom was playing bridge with the girls. He didn’t get the memo because he doesn’t have a computer yet. So I had to walk him around the house to show him that she wasn’t home. He then went to bed without a peep. He thought I was making it up. Sorry for the long story.

As mentioned before, I will be seeing Avatar this weekend. If in 1976, I told you that a movie was coming out and the main characters were C-3PO and R2-D2, what would you have thought? I am giving this film the benefit of the doubt. Sarah Jessica Parker looks to have aged 20 years with Hugh Grant in Did You Hear About The Morgans? I know that is mean to say, but the Little Projectionist’s mom used to make me watch Sex and The City for a very long time.

Now your moment of zen.

Hello Meadberry,

Ah…December. Time to welcome it like an old friend who you don’t care to see. I actually embrace the winter and December because you all love to see more movies in the winter. I have always wanted to start a little tradition. I want to show The Lord of The Rings Trilogy in its entirety. I want it to become the thing that makes people drive from hundreds of miles around to attend. I am taking suggestions for a good date.

The Little Projectionist has reached a new level in his psychological development. He has discovered the art of negotiation. It would be so great if the next time I entered a heated business or personal discussion, I could just fall to the floor screaming if it wasn’t going my way. I find it so hard not to laugh.

This week is the traditional after Thanksgiving weekend release. Armored and Brothers are two films that didn’t get the memo about holiday cheer. After seeing The Blind Side last week, I am addicted to the “feel good” movies. Cranberry, I apologize. I had to choose between Planet 51 and The Blind Side. I chose Planet 51 purely for the kids because I thought we needed a kids’ movie over the holiday break. Someone (and I won’t name names) thinks I had evil intentions. Trust me, I like showing movies people want to see – it just makes me happy. The Blind Side opens in Cranberry Friday. Meadville, you get something good as well. You got the Chop House and now you get DeNiro. Everybody’s Fine opens in Meadville.

Now your moment of zen:

“And yet, to have come so far, still bearing the Ring, the hobbit has shown extraordinary resilience to its evil.”
Elrond in Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring

Hello Meadberry,

One of my new favorite movies of all time is New Moon. I will probably never see it, but it has earned my utmost respect. There are a few movies that just fill up seats in a movie theater and this was one of them. Add it to the list of greats like Pirates, Harry Potter, anything Pixar, and Wild Hogs. Speaking of Wild Hogs, the “sequel” Old Dogs opens for Thanksgiving weekend.

The Little Projectionist is getting ready for a big trip. We are off in the family truckster to see Nonnie and Par Par. My father likes to play golf so we named him Par Par. The only problem is Par Par can’t keep up with the little man. So now we call him Bogey, Bogey. If you don’t play golf, look that up on Wikipedia. It is very funny.

I told you about Old Dogs – this movie has a scene with a gorilla à la Trading Places. Great. To get back at all the teenage girls, the teenage boys (and their Dads) will be coming to see Ninja Assassin. This is a Bruce Lee Kung Fu movie on steroids. Can’t wait. Last but not least, we have a Clooney alert. This time he is an animated fox in The Fantastic Mr. Fox. My guess is that the movie is fantastic. The tip off is in the title.

The Chophouse will be open for lunch starting November 27th (Black Friday). Lunch and a movie is not bad as long as you save room for popcorn.

Now Your Moment of Zen:

Hello Meadberry,

After only 4 years and 2 months in operation, they started to put up our new road sign today. I feel like we are now a real theater. We are taking the old hand painted thing and having a bonfire. The restaurant is also getting a sign. It didn’t really matter much for me as I ate there five times in the last week. It reminds me of the movie Diner. I am the fat guy that sits there every night eating and reading a newspaper.

The Little Projectionist is showing his sweet side lately. I think he feels Christmas in the air and is getting with the holiday spirit. Every day I get home from work he gives me a great big hug and says “Dad, I love you.” Then he punches me and says “you’re it!”. When I go to bed at night I only remember the first part of the conversation. It’s better that way.

If you don’t know what is opening this weekend you are definitely not a teenage girl. Twilight begins at midnight on Thursday night. Don’t get me wrong – I love the enthusiasm, but is there a big difference in coming out Friday at 10:00 am? Maybe we should start a special showing for breakfast at 7:00 am? We will call it ‘Movies and Eggs’. Two other good movies open with Planet 51 and The Blind Side. It gets better for Thanksgiving with Old Dogs, Ninja Assassin, and Fantastic Mr. Fox. If you don’t come to the movies and the Chophouse this week, you are, as the Little Projectionist would say, “not nice”.

Now your moment of zen:

“If you want to talk, you always have the guys at the diner. You don’t need a girl if you wanna talk.” Steve Guttenburg in Diner

Hello Meadberry,

The restaurant is open! I started with the spinach dip, had a Caesar salad, a half rack of ribs, french fries, and some kind of chocolate dessert. I then sat back in my chair, nursed the rest of my Dogfish I.P.A. and smiled. Meadberry, the Chop House is the best thing that has happened to me since the Little Projectionist was born.

My son is really an amazing human. We played basketball today. If you call basketball running around the Linesville High School gym rolling, kicking, and throwing the ball. Every time I screamed “pass”, he grabbed the ball and ran in the opposite direction. The little man doesn’t like to give up the ball at critical moments of the game. I respect that.

This week we see into the future with 2012. I love when I read about the plot. Does anyone really care about plot? We want to see the cool special effects and the close calls. Seeing Los Angeles fall into the ocean isn’t bad either. I am telling you there may be something to the Lex Luther real estate plan in the first Superman movie.

Now your moment of zen:

“Everything west of this line is the richest, most expensive real estate in the world: San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco. Everything on THIS side of the line is just hundreds and hundreds of miles of worthless desert land, which just so happens to be owned by…”
Lex Luther in Superman the Movie