Video store update...

Well, I've decided to adopt a wait and see attitude with the new manager. She is someone who hasn't been with the company that long, but she's not a snot-nosed kid who thinks she knows everything. I figure I'll give it at least until the end of July before I decide whether or not to bail. (The fact that I'll be away for a week this month helps, I think.)

Watched "Miracle" again tonight at the store. Man, I usually can't stand the inspirational sports stuff. Movies like "Rudy" or "The Rookie" really turn me off, because they're always a little too perfect, a little too weighted in favor of their subjects. Plus I usually have a hard time suspending my disbelief enough to believe that actors can play big leaguers(Don't get me started on Charlie Sheen in "Major League"). But there's something different about "Miracle" that I can't quite put my finger on. I was 8 in February of 1980 and the only sport I was into when I was that age was baseball, so I don't really remember all that much of the event. My chief memory is of Eric Heiden and his sister winning the speed skating medals, which I remember watching intently. The hockey was cool, but it didn't really register with me. We've watched "Miracle" at least 10-15 times in the store, and I have yet to get sick of it the way I usually get sick of a movie we watch too much. (I'm very burned out on "X2" and "Spiderman" at the moment.) Kurt Russell is very believable as Herb Brooks, even with the goofy Minnesota accent, and the mostly unknown young actors are very convincing as hockey players. The hockey scenes are shot very well, and the writers worked very hard at placing the big win over the Soviets in its proper perspective. Much is made of the Cold War and the invasion of Afghanistan affecting the Summer Games in 1980, and nearly the Winter Games as well, and ultimately you can't not be affected by this movie.