Movie Mania

When we left Provo we were a little sad to leave behind one of our only sources of cheap entertainment--the dollar theaters. Sure you had to wait until the movie was released on video. Sure you didn't have great seating. But it was a movie, on a big screen, for just $1! I mean, for that price you could even see mediocre movies and not feel like you'd wasted a wad.

The drawbacks for the dollar theaters that were not so huge to keep us from going, but big enough to be an annoyance:

1. People felt like it was their living room. They'd make comments out loud to their friends, answer cell phones (or just flip it open every few minutes so I'd be bugged by the blue light radiating from the phone), make out, and generally make a lot of noise.
   
2. Without stadium seating you'd have to choose your seats very carefully. We'd often try to sit behind someone who was already slouching. It's amazing how many people sit straight up tall with huge heads or poofy hair! This is a place where poor posture is almost mandatory as a courtesy for the people behind you.
   
3. Because of the affordable ticket price, it was always packed. We preferred the University Mall Cinema to Movies 8 because it was a lot less crowded. Even so, we had to buy our tickets hours before the show to avoid a nasty long line.
   

We saw very, very few movies anywhere else during our time in Provo. One year my sister bought us a Cinemark gift card for Christmas so we could actually see a show when it came out. We saved it for movies we deemed worthy of the ample room and stadium seating. Napoleon Dynamite and Star Wars III. Both movies well worth it.

We have been quite happy to find that there is a happy medium here. The McKinney theater shows new movies, and if you go before 5 PM, it only costs $2.50 per adult (only $5 after 5pm)! It's fabulous! The interior corridors look like a circus painted with bright fuchsia and yellow with framed black and white posters of actors and actresses of yesteryear. The seating is better than the dollar theater but not so good as a regular theater. The crowds that frequent it are a little more courteous than the dollars, but more talkative than a full price theater.

We still have to be careful of our seating choices. Now it's mostly to avoid thick smelling smoke or perfume, chatty Kathys, and children who shouldn't be in the movie to begin with. (Yesterday for instance. Talladega Nights: the Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Not a kid's movie. The majority of the humor was too crass for me and I felt a bit uncomfortable myself. It was shocking to me that there was a boy behind us that was about 6 years old. The parents seemed oblivious to his constant "what does that mean? what happened? I don't get it." Come on people. You only paid 5 bucks for your tickets. Find a baby sitter for 2 hours!)

All in all it was a good trade.

My take on the shows we've seen here thus far: (out of 5 *)

• Superman: **** (good, but not quite so good as Batman Begins. Can't put my finger on why it's not a 5*)
  
• X-Men: ***** (I'm starting to quite like and even prefer these comic book movies)
  
• The DaVinci Code: **** (what's all the fuss about? it's fiction pure and simple.)
  
• Pirates of the Caribbean: ***** (good though unfortunately we had to sit in the 2nd row)
  
• Lady in the Water: ** (ok but a bit boring)
  
• Talladega Nights: a ballad of Ricky Bobby: * (the 1 * is for the out takes and the few scenes shown on the previews that were funny. It's too bad because I really love Will Ferrell as an actor.)
  

I would like to see World Trade Center, though I'm sure I'll cry through the whole thing since I cried in the previews. Anyone seen it?