Falling in love with a talking raccoon
"I love that movie!"
We say stuff like that all the time, don't we? Hyperbole comes easily when we want to encourage our friends to see and enjoy something that we saw and enjoyed. But how often do we really mean it - how often do we actually form an emotional attachment to a movie, a TV show, a novel or a video game?
It has happened to me in the past month. I never would have predicted that a comic-book franchise movie starring the goofy guy from "Parks and Recreation," a WWE superstar and a talking raccoon could steal my nerdy little heart, but it has.
"Guardians of the Galaxy" has everything I want from a movie: Indelible characters. Thrilling new sights. Jokes that are still funny the third time around. Genuine (and earned) emotional moments. A soundtrack that won't leave your brain.
I have seen Marvel's space opera three times and have only grown more fond of it. The film is a perfectly constructed Hollywood machine, but never once feels distant or cynical. The satisfaction of watching hulking maniac Drax (Dave Bautista) console Rocket Raccoon (voice of Bradley Cooper) near the film's end is topped only by the delighted looks on the faces of my theatergoing companions when living tree Groot (voice of Vin Diesel) busts out his dance moves five minutes later.
I can't wait to see these characters again, and, thankfully, I'll get that chance in 2017 when "Guardians of the Galaxy 2" comes to theaters.
Chances are I won't get to spend any more time with the castaways from "Lost." I revisited that ABC show's much-maligned finale last weekend and found that my love for it remains large and deep. I spent most of the last 40 minutes in tears and sobbed through the final moments.
When it aired, "Lost" filled a void in my world. I thought about the characters as if they were real people. When the show ended in May 2010, I wasn't ready to say goodbye to Hugo, Sawyer, Kate, Locke and Ben. They were with me for one of the toughest times of my life, and I will forever be indebted to creator Damon Lindelof for that, and for what followed:
Talking about "Lost" on Twitter (and writing about it for the Daily Herald's blog site) is how I met the woman with whom I've lived for 2¨ years. The island-sized hole in my soul has been filled many times over, and together we've fallen in love with Katniss Everdeen, The Doctor and Amy Pond, Queen Elsa and Princess Anna, Tyrion Lannister and dozens of other wonderfully written and acted characters.
The emotional journeys within the stories and the real-life ones happening around them are why I love movies. They're why my iPod is full of film and TV music. They're why I write this column.
Now pardon me, Red's about to find Andy's letter under the rock in Buxton, Maine.
It's getting dusty in here.
Sean Stangland is a Daily Herald copy editor and a tireless consumer of pop culture. He's not afraid of a good cry. You can follow him on Twitter at @SeanStanglandDH.