Weirdest. Movie. Viewing. Evar.

Ok, it's not that the movie was all that weird. The movie was Ocean's 12, which I'd put off seeing this long because when it came out everyone said it was just kind of eh. I did catch about 15 minutes of it on TV once a year or two ago. I only watched enough to go "oh yeah, that's what movie this is. It is kind of eh." So it didn't really grab me. But I've got a memory for movies. They just stick.

So I sat down to watch it today while I was working on some last minute (read: late) holiday gifts I haven't finished making yet. I watched it all the way through on my crochety old DVD player, and when the credits rolled I went, "huh. that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It didn't connect all the dots in the middle, but it didn't drag on, in fact..."

And that's when I realized. I hadn't seen the 15 minutes that I caught on TV a year or two ago. I had to think really hard. Had I caught some other movie? No, it was definitely these characters, and I even recognized some of the sets. I wasn't confused about what movie I saw. Did I just... space out for 15 minutes? I was stumped.

So I started over at the beginning and tried to pay more attention this time.

Mystery solved.

I didn't space out. My DVD player skipped parts. And skipped them in such a way that they just looked like clean jump cuts. That's why it hadn't hadn't seemed to connect all the dots. I missed a big chunk in the middle and at the end.

Fortunately, the second time around it skipped different parts, so I could fill in the blanks. I think I finally got to see the whole movie, but not in the right order. At least, all the dots are connected now.

But come on, the Oceans movies are weird enough with the wacky timeline hijinks. Wow, what a surreal evening.

So here's the big question. Is it just this DVD? Or have all the movies I've watched in the last six months been edited on the fly by my faulty electronics? For how long? Can I ever trust it again? Or should I just watch every movie twice in a row?

If anyone would like to donate to the Wendy's new DVD player fund, let me know. Or at least be patient with me while I look confused as you discuss your favorite movie scenes.