Vickie and I are active Stubs members, but some weeks it's pretty hard to use all three. Tonight we went out and saw two films, In The Earth and Godzilla versus Kong. In The Earth wasn't great, but we were glad we watched it - a post-pandemic horror film with four characters out in the woods. It's pretty mediocre, an SF film about a generation ship. It's kind of appalling as there has been so many great science fiction books about generation ships, and they didn't bother the option any of them. I hadn't planned to see it, but I watched it because I could see it in Dolby Cinema, and we were entirely alone. It was dumb, and it didn't really have to be. Both Bumblebee and Colossal managed to have characters that you cared about in addition to giant monsters. As I said earlier, Vickie and I have been going to the movies since they reopened, and I think a lot of people have been dissuaded from saying that they have, fearing the people are going to come down on them for "risking their lives." Personally I think it's just the usual people who proudly state that they haven't been to see a movie in a decade, now having another excuse to trash the theatrical experience. Seeing a movie in the theater is nothing like going out to a bar and shouting at somebody across a table over deafening background music. All the films we've seen, there's been nobody within 30 ft other than the ticket taker and the person manning the concession stand, all of whom were masked.
Yes. AMC extended my original membership at some point last year and then offered an inexpensive renewal fee, so I’m good until some time in 2022. I am a regular Stubs member, not A-List. I am ready to resume my weekly trips to the theater, but there has to be something I want to see. A few of the other Oscar nominees were playing at AMC over the past couple of weeks (Nomadland, The Father, Promising Young Woman), but I am not interested in seeing any sort of downer movie right now, so I skipped those. And you could not pay me to see a Godzilla movie, or any type of horror film.
Nobody is a good action movie. Minari is still at some AMCs, and is not a downer. I'll have to see how Together Together is, but it looks cute.
tenent back in october. there was a 8 week period last year when everything opened up again proper and during that short frame I had the privledge to go see tenent in 70mm at the cinesphere at ontario place. as always, seeing a nolan in 70/15 perf imax was a visual treat, truly a splendor in visuals. visually stunning, the clarity of the image is beyond words to describe.
1917, in late January, 2020. Going back to a theater again this week, post-2nd vaccination shot, to see Minari.
Okay, I am desperate enough that I just bought a ticket to a film for Saturday morning called The Truffle Hunters, which is playing at an AMC 45 minutes away, in upstate NY. The theater is tiny - only 16 seats in the whole room. a) I can’t believe there is a room in any AMC theater that is this tiny. b) Point (a) leads me to believe this film will never come to one of my local AMC theaters. It will be an adventure, and seems to be exactly the kind of film I am looking for right now.
I've seen the trailer for that one several times, and it will probably play in the smallest theater of one of the two biggest AMC theaters in town, the Barrywoods 24 or the Studio 28.
Had to look it up online, but I think the date was March 11, 2020, for Tokyo Godfathers. Remember at the time not really wanting to go because the pandemic was getting underway and it was a pretty packed showing but we already had tickets. Some years in the past we were going to the theater like 3-5 days a week even before the membership passes.
Nothing since 2019, if I recall correctly. That would have been Midsommar, which I believe I saw fairly late in its run. We do have a new theater in town that has an 80 foot screen with Christie laser projection and Dolby Atmos, so I'm kinda keen to check that out at some point.
So glad to have our indie cinema back, and running, even/especially with limited seating. They spent the pandemic finishing the remodeling project, and the auditoriums came out great (seats in the middle now, with aisles at the side, so no wasted viewing positions, there's a beer tap in the lobby (local brewery! Bonus points!) and we now have two gender-neutral restrooms! And nicer benches and decor outside for lollygaggers. Made our second visit tonight, for the Animation collection of the Oscar-Nominated Shorts series. Cannot say when I've seen such a completely-satisfying lineup for this category in recent memory. Every one either a mind***, or a perfectly-bang-on "message" entry. Even the three tacked-on to the end to round-out the program ("commended entries"), were worthy of being selected.
I can't believe that any commercial theater would only have 16-seats, let alone an AMC. Doesn't make any sense?
I refer to anything in NY state that isn’t NYC or Long Island as upstate NY. That is probably an incorrect term. I am due west of NYC, not south. The NY state border north of me is about a 40 minute drive. It is one room in a 21-screen theater.
OK git it! Though this is the first time I recall anyone describing "upstate" as being 5-miles north of the southern border of a state. I suppose Miami could be considered upstate, if you were in Key West...
I really loved Truffle Hunters today. This was a “comfort food” movie for me - some old Italian guys talking to their dogs. A dog cam while hunting truffles! 90 minutes of old guys talking in Italian....brought me back to my childhood, listening to my older relatives. Perfect escapism for me, although I realize it may not be for everyone.
