It turns out that my problem is not so much finding the time to see all of the shows and movies and art exhibits on my list for this fall, but finding the time to write about them. Although it doesn't show with my less than speedy reviews, I have made a real dent in my movie, theater and art exhibit list; although, for theater I have veered away from my original plan into smaller, more experimental plays, in part because someone else bought the tickets.
Part of my hesitance to write about what I have seen so far is that I'm still waiting to be wowed. I can't say that I've been thoroughly disappointed with the movies, just slightly underwhelmed. Woody Allen's latest, You Will Meet a Tall, Dark Stranger, feels like a series of vignettes about the unhappy lives of young and old married couples, but never coalesces into a graceful whole. It's a shame the characters are so despicable, because the actors playing them are superb, particularly Gemma Jones as the jilted wife of Anthony Hopkins.
Of the two "techie" movies, Catfish and The Social Network, the latter is definitely more intriguing, no matter how much the former is billed as a "mystery." I can't say that Catfish is a worthless documentary, but its revelation that online relationships can be dangerous is only new if you have been living with the Amish for the past few years. The Social Network, on the other hand, portrays Mark Zuckerburg, the creator of Facebook, as such an arrogant, brilliant asshole that it's pure pleasure to see his friends and enemies go to battle with him in a major lawsuit. Like Facebook itself, the movie is the Mark Zuckerburg show, and seeing that show once is enough. You will not be clamoring for a sequel.
I will write about the plays as soon as I've actually seen one that is on my list. As for the art exhibits, "Abstract Expressionism in New York" at MoMa is so huge that I accidentally skipped two floors and still felt like I needed to go back to fully absorb the one floor that I did see.
Clearly, I'm not done yet. There is plenty left to see and plenty of time to be wowed before the first snowflake falls in New York.