THEY HAVE EDITED PERFECTION!

And the last month of the year has began. I am in no way, shape, or form ready for the upcoming Christmas holidays. By this point, all the presents are wrapped and under the tree. Well, the tree is up but not decorated, and the presents basically aren't bought yet......Between both my wife and my schedules, there isn't enough time these days.

Still, tonight was cool. I got a popcorn tin at Wal-Mart, and the kids and I sat down in front of the television to watch a movie that I truly think is the best ever made....Coal Miners' Daughter.

Of course, the 1980 film is the true life story of Loretta Lynn, and I guess it's the movie that I have watched more than any other in my life---with 1998's Primary Colors being a close second. I was excited that the kids wanted to watch it with me, as I have the DVD, but the movie was on the TV Guide Channel the other night, so I had DVR'd it.

As we were watching the movie, there were a few things different. Trust me, I am an expert on this. A few years ago, my wife's best friend and her daughter were over visiting, and she and I traded script lines from the movie all throughout. Rather than things being different, there were things missing. Like the part where Mooney takes a bite into Loretta's pie that had salt rather than sugar.....Like the part where Loretta has just had twins......Like one of my favorite parts (for some reason), where Mooney answers the phone late at night and talks to one of Loretta's fans who somehow got the phone number to their house....all edited.

You might ask, "Why didn't you just watch the DVD?" Well, believe it or not, the DVD player still isn't hooked up to the TV.....As I said, we've been busy. Still, it was a fun night. The kids asked me several questions about the way things were portrayed in the film, including if I was as mean as the first disc jockey that the Lynns met on their 1960 radio tour. I told them I didn't think so, but we all have bad days.

At the end of the night, it was fun revisiting most of this classic film. Sissy Spacek and Tommy Lee Jones were incredible in the lead roles, but everyone involved made for a classic film. Levon (The Band) Helm and Phyllis Bowens were excellently cast as Ted and Clara Webb, and Beverly D' Angelo was great as Patsy Cline. In fact, I'll take D'Angelo's portrayal over that of Jessica Lange in 1985's Sweet Dreams any day of the week. (Though Ed Harris was excellent in that film) It doesn't get any better. But, I hope the folks at the TV Guide Channel don't get the rights to Walk The Line anytime soon.....They might omit the scenes that Johnny and June (Joaquin and Reese, respectively) shared together, and that would be kind of pointless, wouldn't it?