February: not a fan. I’m ambivalent about Valentine’s Day, and since my kids are grown and we don’t have ski week to go on outings, President’s Day holds only mild promise. The weather has been miserable for the most part: today was spectacular, but another storm hits in two days.  It’s been years since the last time I can remember such a heavy rainy season.

February does have some excitement, though: the Oscars are February 26. The Academy nominated a good crop of movies this year several of which I have actually seen. Personally, I want Lin-Manuel Miranda to win Best Song for “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana, so that he can become the youngest EGOT winner.*

And TCM holds its “31 Days of Oscar” festival. I get most of the movies on my DVR from either this or the HBO/CineMax/Showtime free promotions around Thanksgiving. Because of  “31 Days of Oscar,” I have the complete Lord of the Rings Trilogy, with no commercial interruptions, My Fair Lady, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, and from this year, most appropriately, Gaslight… These are the keepers, as opposed to Fame, say, or Dreamgirls, which I’ll watch once and then erase.

And tonight’s movie, A Hard Day’s Night, will go on the “keeper” list. It’s funnier than I remembered; more accurately, because I’m actually an adult now and not an angst ridden teenager, I can appreciate its silliness. And with each passing year I become more deeply enamored of the title song.

It can take as much artistry to put together such a slight confection as this movie as it does to create a Merchant/Ivory period piece. You may not feel as erudite after watching it, but you’ll feel a whole lot less pretentious.

*Actually, he would be a PEGOT, since he also has a Pulitzer (following in the footsteps of Richard Rogers and Marvin Hamlisch). Or even better, he would be a McPEGOT, since he also won a McCarthur Genius grant.