Spring sprang over the weekend. Now it is hot.
Yet again, I failed to see any of the films nominated for Best Film, although I did see Wall-E. Which had a nominated song and some technical awards. For me that's pretty good. As much as I love the movie theater popcorn, I do not love paying upwards of nine-ten bucks to sit in a room with people who bring infants and toddlers to definitely non-age-appropriate movies, who idly text on their phones throughout the movie, or just sit and have full-volume conversations during the movie. And it sucks, because I used to love going to the movies way back in the day.
I paid to see Raiders of the Lost Ark twenty times in the theater. Twenty! Total geek in high school! Total geek still!
Total geek who hasn't gotten around to seeing Slumdog. Is it on video yet?
I liked Hugh Jackman as host, and had no idea he could sing. Sophia Loren frightened me. You know she was just waiting for someone to ask uh, what now? about that homemade pot-scrubber dress so she could coolly remove their head with a single icy glare. I also liked the mini-affirmation ceremonies for the best acting noms. Everyone goes home a winner!
In other news, I am still apparently not back into it enough to dive into politics. Coming soon, I promise.
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Monday, February 23, 2009
Sunday, May 20, 2007
At the Movies
People who bring infants to the movie theater suck. Toddlers too, as well as any kid who is incapable of sitting quietly for the entire film. Do you have a baby? There's a whole list of activities you don't get to participate in for a few years if you can't find a sitter. You don't get to go to karaoke night at your favorite country bar. You don't get to go to the Gold Room at Westward Look. And you don't get to go the movies. Want to see Shrek the Third? Get a sitter or wait for it to come out on DVD.
I didn't want to go late this afternoon, mainly because both breakfast and lunch included floor shows courtesy of dumbfuck families who apparently have no concept of how to handle their children, or, more specifically, how to teach their children to behave properly in a public setting. Given that track record and the undeniable kid appeal of the movie we wanted to see, I knew it was doomed from the start. Sure enough, withing two minutes of sitting down in beautiful Century El Con theater #10, in walked dumbfuck family number one, complete with a toddler and an infant in a car seat. Dumbfuck family two, with an almost-toddler and barely-post-toddling kid, followed shortly. The infant lasted ten minutes into the movie before it started squawking; the toddlers chattered intermittently through the whole thing.
You know, I really don't pay nine fucking bucks to walk into a theater, shoes sticking to the floor all the way, kicking aside a complete movie's worth of trash the cleaning crew apparently watched spawn mold instead of picking up after the previous showing, only to have your baby wail into my ear and your toddler crinkle an empty water bottle for most of the movie. When did people start thinking this was a great idea? It's a mystery to me.
In any event, I'm done with theaters. It's fun to watch films on a full-sized screen and have actual popcorn, but when I spend the entire time fantasizing about strangling people, it can't be all that healthy. For the record, El Con is a certifiable dump now. I remember when it opened, all those years ago, to great fanfare for the soaring ceilings and cafe tables in the lobby, the great variety of food options, the stadium seating with alternating rows of loveseats and rocking chairs. Now the tables are gone and the lobby is dingy from a constant haze of smoke from the popcorn machines. Trash pickup is sketchy, the floors are sticky, the bathrooms hit or miss.
And people are dipshits. CasaVideo, here I come.
I didn't want to go late this afternoon, mainly because both breakfast and lunch included floor shows courtesy of dumbfuck families who apparently have no concept of how to handle their children, or, more specifically, how to teach their children to behave properly in a public setting. Given that track record and the undeniable kid appeal of the movie we wanted to see, I knew it was doomed from the start. Sure enough, withing two minutes of sitting down in beautiful Century El Con theater #10, in walked dumbfuck family number one, complete with a toddler and an infant in a car seat. Dumbfuck family two, with an almost-toddler and barely-post-toddling kid, followed shortly. The infant lasted ten minutes into the movie before it started squawking; the toddlers chattered intermittently through the whole thing.
You know, I really don't pay nine fucking bucks to walk into a theater, shoes sticking to the floor all the way, kicking aside a complete movie's worth of trash the cleaning crew apparently watched spawn mold instead of picking up after the previous showing, only to have your baby wail into my ear and your toddler crinkle an empty water bottle for most of the movie. When did people start thinking this was a great idea? It's a mystery to me.
In any event, I'm done with theaters. It's fun to watch films on a full-sized screen and have actual popcorn, but when I spend the entire time fantasizing about strangling people, it can't be all that healthy. For the record, El Con is a certifiable dump now. I remember when it opened, all those years ago, to great fanfare for the soaring ceilings and cafe tables in the lobby, the great variety of food options, the stadium seating with alternating rows of loveseats and rocking chairs. Now the tables are gone and the lobby is dingy from a constant haze of smoke from the popcorn machines. Trash pickup is sketchy, the floors are sticky, the bathrooms hit or miss.
And people are dipshits. CasaVideo, here I come.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Big Gay Double Feature
Independence Day night turned out to be pretty mellow. It's generally a marathon night of sleeplessness for no good reason other than the neighborhood bottle rockets make the fuzzy boy dog run up and down the hallway barking his head off. Thankfully (and, amazingly, EXACTLY as I'd hoped), this year it started raining on cue right as the official fireworks were winding down, a steady downpour that lasted into the wee hours. It brought multiple bonuses, including (1) no maniacally barking beagle mix, (2) air cool enough to give the fan the night off, and (3) the deliciousness of falling asleep to raindrops pattering on the roof.
Since I had no plans for company, I walked over to Casa earlier in the evening to pick up some movies. No, I still hadn't gotten around to watching Brokeback Mountain yet, so I grabbed it. Then I picked up Imagine Me & You for some gender and lightness balance. Brokeback. Wow. I forgot whatever shortcomings I'd heard people complain about and was mesmerized. Falling for someone, wanting more than they can give, both people forfeiting their lives as a result... damn. I shed a tear or three. A few parts of the film resonated so deeply with me that I had to hit the pause button, grab an old photo album, and lose myself for a while in pictures and the nearly forgotten emotions they dredged up to the surface. Damn. Just damn. The final scene did me in.
Imagine Me & You. Well, what can I say? The reviews said it was predictable, but shee-it, after the Brokeback meatgrinder I was ready for light and a predictable happy ending. It is not a great film by any means, but the matter-of-fact treatment of two women in the romantic leads and the portrayal of lesbians in a decidedly non-stereotypical way that focused on the emotions and individuals involved was so novel as to be near-jaw dropping for me. Nobody fooled around and decided she was straight after all, nobody died, nobody was disowned by their parents. I might buy it just for that. It doesn't hurt that they were easy on the eyes. I mean, Piper Perabo is cute enough, but Lena Headey, ohhhhh my. My oh my.
Thank god I decided to watch them in that order. The second one prompted a few memories of a different nature, to be sure, but the sheer airiness and certainty of the ending soothed the catharsis of the first movie. The Brokeback music is stuck in my head; I'm picking it out on the guitar tonight bit by bit. Powerful experience.
Since I had no plans for company, I walked over to Casa earlier in the evening to pick up some movies. No, I still hadn't gotten around to watching Brokeback Mountain yet, so I grabbed it. Then I picked up Imagine Me & You for some gender and lightness balance. Brokeback. Wow. I forgot whatever shortcomings I'd heard people complain about and was mesmerized. Falling for someone, wanting more than they can give, both people forfeiting their lives as a result... damn. I shed a tear or three. A few parts of the film resonated so deeply with me that I had to hit the pause button, grab an old photo album, and lose myself for a while in pictures and the nearly forgotten emotions they dredged up to the surface. Damn. Just damn. The final scene did me in.
Imagine Me & You. Well, what can I say? The reviews said it was predictable, but shee-it, after the Brokeback meatgrinder I was ready for light and a predictable happy ending. It is not a great film by any means, but the matter-of-fact treatment of two women in the romantic leads and the portrayal of lesbians in a decidedly non-stereotypical way that focused on the emotions and individuals involved was so novel as to be near-jaw dropping for me. Nobody fooled around and decided she was straight after all, nobody died, nobody was disowned by their parents. I might buy it just for that. It doesn't hurt that they were easy on the eyes. I mean, Piper Perabo is cute enough, but Lena Headey, ohhhhh my. My oh my.
Thank god I decided to watch them in that order. The second one prompted a few memories of a different nature, to be sure, but the sheer airiness and certainty of the ending soothed the catharsis of the first movie. The Brokeback music is stuck in my head; I'm picking it out on the guitar tonight bit by bit. Powerful experience.
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