For the eleventieth month in a row, I enter this post wishing I had more to talk about. Maybe in the next life I'll see movies again.

I did attend This is the End. There were some true, huge laugh-out-loud moments. There were also clearly ad-libbed bits that fell flat and brought the crowd to dead silence. All in all, I'm glad I saw it and it was actually the first movie I saw with the Milkmaid in the theater (without our kids) since The Rundown. Remember that? I might not, but for the fact that we found Skim's real name in it.

I've also found time to watch a few episodes of House of Cards, which remains incredible, with superb acting and writing to match. Let me make this clear to those on the fence: I didn't think I liked political shows either, but dude...this show. I also decided what the hell...I'll pick up where I left off in The Office (season eight, about a quarter of the way through). Maybe it's an "absence makes the heart grow fonder" sort of thing, but they were still telling some pretty good stories in a post-Michael Schur world there.

And, as always, I can name everypony on a certain kids' show and have about fifteen songs from Jem and the Holograms burning holes through my brain. The kids don't even watch all that much TV. It just sticks in there.

Now that I've gotten into reading a little bit more (and I'm running a writing season of Survivor again, so it's more than just the books) again, I'm not sure where that leaves me on my quest to see the hundreds of movies in my queue. I have Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Micmacs at my house right now, and I believe that was the disc at my house during last month's post. It's pretty ridiculous that I can't set aside two hours to watch a movie from one of my five favorite directors, but there it is. Kids really suck up one's time when they become interesting, you know?

What have you seen? I'll live vicariously through y'all.

I can't name a movie of the month. I know I saw a good one. I'm sure of it, in fact. I just can't remember what it was.

Last night I meant to watch the Kirsty MacColl doc that E-6 pointed out to me, but with today's work schedule changing, it seemed like a bad idea. I'll try to get to it today.

I did see the fifth season of Arrested Development, which was loads of fun, if a bit of a different show (major characters would go 3-4 episodes without appearing). I'm also way into House of Cards and I'm caught up on Venture Bros., which got stranger than ever in season four.

I've been spending a little more time reading, which is cutting into whatever little time I have for the whole film thing. I should receive Micmacs in the mail soon, though, so I'll get another Jeunet movie crossed off the list. He makes movies so infrequently, I really have no excuse not to be caught up.

Ugh...summer movies. What have you seen?

My movie of the month, had I been able to get this together yesterday or the night before, would have been either Miller's Crossing or Barton Fink, both of which I saw for the first time this month. I've got four more movies before I've seen everything the Coens have done, although a couple of them are Intolerable Cruelty and The Ladykillers, which are generally referred to as skippable.

Have at it, Citizens.

I have this crazy plan to watch a movie a day one of these months. I'm so behind it's ludicrous.

This month I saw The Grey and Beverly Hills Cop, as I'm always on the cutting edge. I actually think I've seen BHC, but it was in my high school years that I...don't remember very well. The Grey was interesting, I guess, though I'd love to sit down with the director and see if there was anything more he was trying to say or if it was essentially about death being sad. I want to give the movie more credit because it was shot rather well, but I have a feeling the script was pared down to the essentials because there wasn't much there.

Otherwise...Archer, Justified, Deadwood, Downton Abbey. I'll finish some of them one of these days and move on to something newer.

Another one I'll probably miss most of. Dang.

For the sixth or seventh month in a row, I've seen very few movies. I had one in mind for this day but I'll be damned if I can remember what it is. I have, however, been all the heck over Netflix's House of Cards, a political drama based (somewhat loosely) on an '80s BBC drama of the same name. It's one of those shows that's so good, it doesn't matter that the backdrop does not, as a rule, interest me.

Oh, I remember the movie I was going to use. Comedian Mike Birbiglia starred in the movie Sleepwalker which I took in a few weeks ago. Watching relationships fall apart is a hell of a lot more interesting to me than watching them come together (this is largely due to the fact that Hollywood focuses so heavily on the latter), and this didn't disappoint me. It's funny enough and it's wrenching enough. Plus, it focuses a lot on his rise in comedy (it's not purely autobiographical, but he plays a comedian) so final feelings are somewhat mixed, as he's really made it in that business as the movie comes to a close.

I think I'm in the mood for more melancholy sorta-drama, sorta-comedy. Suggestions?

Or, hey, ignore all this and talk about blockbusters and porn. I'm down for whatever.

What have you seen?

Yesterday would have been so convenient for me, too. I had this in mind all last week and weekend, and...there it went.

Anyway, what have you seen? It was a video game month here, more or less, though I did see more of Deadwood and a hyper-violent Hulu show called Misfits.

Holy smacks, it's today!

It's been a poor month for me to even have time to see anything. Retail's busy, and I've put in a lot of overtime.

Why yes, I forgot, but I wouldn't have been able to participate on Monday anyway.

It was real light on movies here last month (and really, 2012 has been a lousy month for me catching movies in general) but I did see a bit of TV. I started Sons of Anarchy after the hundredth person asked me to do so. Two episodes in, I'm liking it just fine, though the writing occasionally doesn't trust the audience and over-explains itself.

I watched an episode of Mad Men for the first time in over a year, too. I'm not sure how I stalled on that, though I suppose it has something to do with how depressing it is.

The next movie I watched was going to be the feel-good documentary about Kevin Clash, the Elmo puppeteer, but I'll probably head in a different direction now.

Movie of the Month: The Rock-Afire Explosion (2008, Brett Whitcomb)

Do you remember the Rock-Afire Explosion? They were the animatronic rock band at Showbiz Pizza. Do you remember Showbiz Pizza? They merged with Chuck E. Cheese, and The Rock-Afire Explosion was phased out in favor of Chuck E. and his friends.

This documentary is about the whirlwind success and downfall of The Rock-Afire Explosion, brainchild of Aaron Fechter, who once employed 400 people but now runs his company alone. The story is a bummer at times but is ultimately hopeful; fans have kept the "band" alive through the years, and superfan Chris Thrash even bought a set of the band and programs birthday shows for local kids.

The film could focus on big, bad Chuck E. Cheese taking over if it wanted to, but it glosses over the takeover (called "concept unification") and focuses on the idea of lost childhood memories instead. It's a documentary that definitely leaves you with mixed emotions, and at 70 minutes (and on Netflix streaming) I'd definitely suggest it to you.

Otherwise, this month, I mostly focused on zombie movies for some reason. All styles, all budgets, all countries of origin. I guess Rammbock: Berlin Undead was probably the best of them.

What have you seen?