"It's contagious" - Regina Spektor

I think it's time to re-evaluate my Top 10 list of movies. For the few of you readers out there that have been with me for some time, you'll remember that I once tried to create my list. However, tonight changed my Top 10. I'm not sure which movie to switch out, but just know my updated list will be coming soon.

There was a lot of hype about this movie, especially coming from me, which I knew wouldn't be a good sign if it was going to suck in any way. But behold, it did not. My expectations were met with full force of cinema glory, which is a rare occasion indeed. Not only was it a non-romance movie, incredibly original with plot and artistic license, it also made a deeper statement about the ongoing debate of fate vs. coincidence, a concept I've tried to debate myself. (Tried = keyword).
Aaron asked me an interesting question after the movie: "Do you think a movie means more to you if you see it during a certain period of your life?" My answer is indubitably. Would have my expectations been exceeded tonight had I not seen the movie right now? Probably not, actually. There is something about experience, especially in the present tense, that enables the viewer to better appreciate the plot, the characters, and how they're responding. The fact is, I felt like Tom Hanson was me. I felt like we could have been friends, that I could have sat with him on his bench and said, "Dude...I feel...you." I connected with his character. If I hadn't been able to relate to the story, I would have walked out of there thinking, "Yeah, that was cute." And I don't think I could have related to the movie as deeply at any other time than now. I'm convinced because of convenient timing the movie is now on my list. Coincidence?

Acknowledgments:
I'd like to thank Paige for knowing the people who insisted we come along, Joseph Gordan-Levitt for being so love-able, and of course the writers Michael Weber and Scott Neustadter for making a film about a story that is common yet hardly told. And thank you for the best random musical scene ever. And the best soundtrack. <-- On that note, can I just mention that I am starting to fall for Regina Spektor? I have always liked her in an acquaintance kind of way, but shoot...I feel we'll be non-lesbian lovers soon, her serenading me through my Sony speakers, and me listening with gooey delight.