I very rarely see a movie in a theater. I’d say it averages once or twice a year (though we did see Dark Knight a couple months ago–the last one before that was The Astronaut Farmer). But tonight Patricia and I are going out to see American Carol to boost its opening weekend ratings (plus, it looks like it should be pretty funny, and I think we can all use a good laugh right now, given current events). At this point, I’m all about promoting and encouraging alternate media/viewpoints, particularly from Hollywood. I may or may not review it tomorrow.
[Monday morning update]
Meh.
It was entertaining, and a good story, but not roll-in-the-aisles funny, at least for us. Of course, I’ve never been that big a Zucker/slapstick fan (e.g., I’ve never even seen any of the Naked Gun series). It’s not the sort of flick that I would normally want to see in a theater, but I was happy to help boost the first weekend ratings. Of course, unlike the previous ones, there are some emotionally affecting moments in this one (quickly broken up, of course, by more crude slapstick).
So if you want to support this sort of politically incorrect movie (always a noble goal, in my opinion), spend a couple hours and spend the ten bucks. You’ll have a good time, but don’t expect too much.
[Note: this post has been bumped to the top, new stuff below]
Rand, I think you left out an end tag in this post. Everything after it on your page is italicized.
or not..
Either you fixed it *real* fast, or it was a problem with my browser.
“American Carol” is roughly on the level of “Scary Movie” with about the same budget and not going to win any awards. It was refreshing, however, to see something with a different point of view in the theater these days though and the audience I saw it with applauded at the end.
The best part for me was that it makes me feel a bit less like the star of “Dude, Where’s My Culture?”
Even if it’s not a full “review,” post your thoughts on the movie. My wife and I saw it Friday. We both liked it fairly well, and knowing it was made by folks roughly in sync with our particular world view was nice (I loathe the idea that part of what I pay to see a movie is going to some Hollywood s______kopf who’ll just turn around and fund some anti-Second Amendment, pro-jihadi, “save the world” nonsense). Of course, my particular world view may be a little warped – An American Carol is the first movie I’ve seen at a theater since The Simpsons.
According to IMDB, it finished 9th this week. My wife’s out of town, or we’d probably have gone. Looking forward to seeing what you think.
I do not remember when was the last time I saw a movie in a theater other than IMAX. Several years, certainly. Since I first owned a VCR, the appeal (to me) of Big Screen was greatly diminished by the lack of “pause”, “rewind” and “slow motion” options, and DVD recorder put a final nail to it. I still go to IMAX movies, which is a REALLY different experience, but regular movie theater is not worth the price of gas let alone the ticket, as far as I am concerned.
The wife and I are planning on going tonight.
I truly detest going into a movie house. The only 2 movies I can remember in the last 10 or 15 years that I deliberately saw first in a movie house were Armageddon and Saving Private Ryan – because I thought (correctly, I believe) that they needed to be first seen on the big screen. So I’ll wait until it comes out on DVD.
But you’re right about supporting movies like this – so I’ll buy a ticket and just not go into the movie house. Cheap at twice to price.
Ok, even if you are not a fan of Zuckers, Top Secret! is basically a must see. They never did anything better than that.