Shooting the Breeze

Utah was hit by a huge wind storm virtually statewide yesterday, but luckily it wasn't bad where I live. My power didn't even go out, which is impressive considering how often we lose electricity in my apartment complex.

Since I'm not busy today patching holes in my roof or clearing downed trees out of my yard like many of my fellow Beehive State-ers, I'm able to maintain positive feelings towards mighty winds in general, and one Mighty Wind in particular:



I've never officially chosen a favorite movie, but there's strong circumstantial evidence that A Mighty Wind might hold the top spot: it was the first movie I ever purchased on DVD, and it remains the only movie I've ever seen more than once in the theater (I haven't seen a movie in-theater in 2011, and in a more typical year I only see 4 or 5, so that's an impressive feat). Plus, it's so. Dang. Funny.

If you've never seen it, please, please borrow my DVD. I'm always looking to spread the word and share the joy of this movie. I'm a huge fan of mockumentaries in general. I don't think I've ever seen one I didn't like (I keep that streak intact in part by avoiding Sons of Provo). All of Christopher Guest's are great (Mighty Wind, Best In Show, Spinal Tap, etc.), but there are other good ones too, especially this one:



The fake-documentary format has also translated well to television--The Office is still watchable and was a fantastic show in its prime, and Parks and Recreation is my favorite show on TV today and probably in my top 5 of all time. But you really, really have to suspend some disbelief: why in the world would a camera crew chronicle the lives of a bunch of paper salesmen for six-plus years? They wouldn't. There's no way. At least with the movies there's always an end point, some payoff event that's being built to (like a reunion concert or a "scholarship pageant").

Hopefully the Office creators are planning to end the series (whenever that happens) by having all the characters get together to watch the completed Dunder-Mifflin documentary. It would be logical, follow in the proud "clip-show" tradition, provide an excuse for Michael and everyone else to come back, and, if done right, be highly satisfying.

While my love for mockumentaries is genuine, there's another reason for my "revelation" about my fondness for A Mighty Wind--the phrase appears in Revelation 6:13, part of this week's Sunday School reading block! It's the last lesson in the manual, so study up. For the rest of the year, I may take a break from running peripherally-related-to-Sunday-School posts, or I may dust off some "classic" ones I wrote for my old ward before I started this blog, I haven't decided. Guess we'll have to wait to see which way the wind blows.