Paying $20 for multiple Eddington gains

Eddington opens in Australian cinemas today. I leave for Europe tomorrow.

You already know where my mind goes on a thing like that. 

But if I thought better of squeezing in Superman the night before our trip to America last month -- yes, that's two international trips in two months if you're counting -- there were reasons we had to do it this way -- then you better bet I didn't even get to the point of needing to think better of seeing Ari Aster's latest on Europe Departure Eve, when we're going away for six weeks rather than one.

So I saw it last night instead.

How did that happen, you ask? Well I rented it through U.S. iTunes, of course, since it's already been out for a couple months in the U.S.

Of course, that meant the steep $19.99 rental fee that I try to avoid paying, and usually only pay at the very end of the year when trying to catch movies I won't otherwise be able to see before my list closes. That's compared to the free admission I would have gotten if I'd gone to my local cinema. 

But seeing Eddington now helped in two important ways as I ready for my trip:

1) It gave me a new release still in the chamber that I can review sometime next week and still have it post in a timely way on the website. Coverage while I'm gone is going to be tricky, as my other writers are not always reliable -- no shade on them, but they're both lawyers and one has a baby who is under two. Anything I can prep myself for later posting is a boon to the continued appearance of normalcy on the site while I'm gone.

2) I can finally listen to the next episode of Filmspotting. I like to listen to my podcasts in sequence if possible, and since I knew my viewing of Eddington was roughly soon, and that episode was the next one up, I haven't listened to an episode of this podcast in about six weeks. I don't like to fall behind on any of my podcasts, and though I can't always see the films they discuss before I listen to the episode, I decided an Aster film, with all its potential surprises, was one where I should. (They don't spoil, but it can be difficult to avoid spoilers entirely.)

And since I do plan to have a review up early next week, I won't give you my extended Eddington thoughts now, especially as I am still trying to sort through them.

To be honest, I'm posting this mostly so you don't have to look at the poster for Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey at the top of my site any longer!