Saturday, July 09, 2011

Aborted plans and X Men

Took my niece to Camarillo Outlet Mall yesterday. I planned to spend all kinds of money on her, because isn't that what aunts are for? But she didn't want much until we hit Forever 21. Good thing she didn't buy anything else all day except a Glee button, because she nearly cleaned out my bank account in that place.

Anyhow, we ended up spending quite a bit of time there, and of course we had to introduce the girl to In and Out because she thinks McDonald's is good food, so we found ourselves racing to get home. We had tickets to see Clueless followed by a Q&A at the Aero in Santa Monica.

It took me a while to find the Clueless screening. I knew I wanted to take her to see something she couldn't get back home, something that would give her real exposure to the movie industry, and Clueless was the perfect PG-13 film. It was to be followed by Fast Times, but we weren't staying for that. I can just see myself trying to explain to my sister why her daughter watched Judge Reinholdt masturbate in a bathroom. We kind of hoped she'd fall asleep after the Q&A so we could stay and watch guilt free, but the girl does not sleep. It's ridiculous.

So I bought the tickets ahead of time because these things usually sell out. There we were, racing to get home in time to let the dogs out, change into our about-town clothes we just bought, and hop back in the car.

I live in the Valley, and as I said, the Aero is in Santa Monica. Know what that means? The 405. Know what time it was? 6:50pm. Movie started at 7:30. So if you live in LA, you see my problem.

We were just merging from the 101 to the 405 and it was 7:28. We finally had to admit it was not going to happen. We could make the Q&A, maybe the last half of the movie, but that was it. So I sighed away $30 in tickets and we took the next exit, which happened to bring us past the Sherman Oaks Arclight.

So it wasn't exactly a Q&A, but at least we introduced the girl to a quality theater. We looked at what was showing, and even though she really wanted to see Horrible Bosses and swore up and down that her mom lets her see R rated movies all the time, we gave her a choice between Transformers 2D or X Men First Class. Thank God she chose X Men.

In the end we spent $73 to see one movie. You're welcome, Hollywood.

By the by, they had Bridesmaids showing there. They also have Bridesmaids showing down the street from me at the $3 theater. Just thought people should know. Arclight is expensive.

If you don't know the Arclight theaters, they don't have commercials, just previews, and they have assigned seating so you don't have to do the mad rush to claim and save seats.

So we get in there and take our proper seats, and this dude comes in with his lady. He sits down right in front of my niece, but there's no empty seat next to him. The girl plops down in his lap and whips out her cell phone, texting away as the lights go down. There are empty seats in the theater, even two together, just not good ones.

So I say to her "Do you have a seat?" She insists she does. I say "And you're going to sit there texting?"

She put the phone away, and to her credit, we didn't hear a peep out of her or see her phone at all. I guess I scared her. The men on either side of that seat were too polite to complain about her all up in their personal space as she sat and watched the entire film in that dude's lap.

I really enjoyed the film overall. I had a few slightly spoilerish logistical issues - how did Mystique know Kevin Bacon had a helmet on? and why didn't Magneto make that Azreal or whatever dude take Charles to the hospital before he zapped away? I mean if they really are friends and all - but by and large I thought it was solid as hell. Loved all the cameos. It was like the movie gave us a game to play as we watched.

A whole bunch of people stayed to the end to watch the extra scene that didn't exist. There was a lot of grumbling when it did not appear.

15 comments:

  1. I also wondered about Mystique and Kevin Bacon helmet.

    Also, January Jones turns into a diamond and Magneto chokes her with brass bed posts?

    I'm no scientist but isn't the diamond the hardest substance on earth? In X-men universe, it's the third hardest substance after adamantium and the writer's head who wrote that scene.

    You should take your niece to the Hollywood Forever cemetery screenings. That's always cool.

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  2. Yeah I thought about that bedpost thing too.

    I wanted to do the cemetery, but it's Annie Hall this weekend.

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  3. What's wrong with Annie Hall?

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  4. I had the same problem with Mystique and the helmet BUT --

    -- I think it's actually explained.

    She saw him wearing it when they attacked Oliver Platt's facility. He took it off and said something like -- "Don't have to wear this dorky thing since the other telepath isn't here."

    Mystique witnessed that.

    They don't make a big deal about it -- and she later says her bit on the fly, so it raises the question, "Hey, how does she know that?"

    But I think she just assumed he'd be wearing it. I don't think she knew he was. She knew he had it. Knew what it was for. Told the team.

    @ Young Il Kim -- I did have an issue with the brass bed poles. He was choking her and I was like -- there's no tension here. You can't choke diamond. And then he did. And I was like WTF mate!

    I liked the movie a lot though.

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  5. If I Were Really Smart I Wouldn't Waste My Time...7:02 AM

    You're talking mutants and bullshit and you're trying to figure out how somebody can choke an imaginary creature who turns into a diamond with brass bed posts? You're suspending any sense of reality and brass bed post are your issue? Really?

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  6. Movie logic, dear. A film has to obey its own rules, even in a fantasy land. Move along now.

    RBR, Annie Hall isn't for 12-year-olds, and also I don't like it. I spent the whole movie willing Woody Allen to stop talking.

    Good observation, James. I completely missed that. I'll take your word it's in there.

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  7. Oh, Annie Hall isn't for kids but violent movies are fine? Strange.

    Annie Hall is superior to 99% of the movies you seem to like. You really have horrendous taste. I mean, I appreciate the fact that you like Martin McDonagh but mostly your taste is shit.

    People like you make me laugh. You just got into movies in the last few years and now you consider yourself some kind of movie buff/film nerd. You're not. Your tastes are conformist, boring, obvious, and mainstream.

    Also, while I'm at it, I may as well say that you have become one of the douche bags of L.A.

    Everybody in LA thinks their shit is so cool. Ooh, In-N-Out...ooh, the Arclight...ooh, the 405 freeway. Fucking arrogance to talk about a freeway like anybody gives a shit.

    I'm not gonna read your response and here is why. You are the most sensitive, unwilling to take criticism, person I've come across in some time. I mean, just look at your response to If I Was Really Smart...

    The slightest disagreement and you lash out. I can only imagine the response you'll have to this (or maybe because I mentioned it, you won't respond at all).

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  8. Anonymous1:35 PM

    I was willing to forgive a lot about X-Men, but what really drove me crazy was the battle on the beach. So much nonsense going on! It could have been so much better!

    I've got to agree with you on the Woody Allen thing. Not really for youngsters. (She might have actually napped though so that might have been a plus).

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  9. Well, Recovering Booth Rat, you seem really pissed off at me for having an opinion that differs from yours. I'm not concerned about the content in Annie Hall. I'm concerned about the fact that very few 12-year-olds would find interesting a film about grown up relationships.

    You don't actually know me so I find your judgments amusing. I never have any problem with people disagreeing with me. I have a problem with people being assholes while they do it. If you act like a dick to me, I reserve the right to respond in kind. But I'm not in the mood for that today, so I'll just assume you're having a bad day and leave it at that.

    Whether you return to my blog or not, good luck in your writing endeavors.

    Ashly, you made me curious. What would you have changed about that battle on the beach?

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  10. Huh. Just to make sure I'm not imagining things, I just went through the past few weeks of posts. I see a lot of RBR telling me I'm wrong and me respectfully disagreeing.

    Oh well. Guess you can't please everybody.

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  11. A_Fan6:40 PM

    @Recovering Booth Rat, you're entitled to your opinion. However, if you can't express it respectfully then you should vote with your browser and hit sites/blogs more to your liking.

    Emily, kudos for your handling of Recovering Booth Rat. Your experience handling hormonal, unruly adolescents shone through.

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  12. cshel7:09 PM

    Being an aunt is awesome. My nephew lives fairly close by, but he always comes and hangs with me for a few days over vacations and holidays. And I always spend too much money on him. We go to a bunch of movies, or rent them. There have been a few times, when he was younger, that I let him watch stuff I probably shouldn't have. He would tease that he was going to blackmail me by threatening to tell my sister. Until I pointed out that I would stop spending money on him. : )

    But, yeah, Emily. Stop bragging about that awesome 405 freeway that everyone in L.A. is so arrogant about! Sheesh!

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  13. Someone should make a movie about a girl who gets lost at a Forever 21 and wakes up down the rabbit hole of child labor.

    I used to love that store...sigh. Can I enjoy NOTHING these days?

    ...But don't tell your niece about it just yet. Give her a few more years to innocently marvel at how cheap that cute cardigan is without realizing some kid made 10 cents an hour to make it happen...

    PS: I wished Woody Allen would stop talking during Annie Hall too.

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  14. Anonymous10:53 AM

    Emily,
    It is okay to be down to earth.
    We hate being insulted on blogs and forums.
    But we like to insult others directly and indirectly on blogs and forums.
    This is nothing.
    I heard some agents and managers duke it out and you should see how ugly it got.
    And dealt with big budget international film prods, guys with 20 mil invested in a film, you should see the verbal abuse and yes some fights.
    It's okay, just ignore Recovering Booth Rat. He is just an average Joe, got nothing special or interesting.
    Rest assure most of the screenwriting blogs and forums I read are mild comparing to the real life of filmmaking when you got you mortgage your house to make a film, for eg.

    Wait till Recovering Booth Rat gets involved in 30 million film and the producers call the shots.
    Not for the faint of heart. Either you keep cool or you get fired and file lawsuits. You can scream and cry and call lawyers, you will only waste your time.

    THE GUYS WITH MONEY CONTROLS THE SHOW.

    So Recovering Booth Rat, you are nothing but maybe you are. I kind of like your piss and vinegar and nuances in your scripts.

    Emily, keep cool.

    Dennis

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  15. RBR. Ease up, man. We're all on the same side here. :)))))
    ________________________________

    Emily:

    Never been to LA, but hope to visit sometime. That's why all that 405-101-Arclight stuff, well...I eat it up with a spoon! [Almost like being there]
    _________

    Wow. A comment page is like a bar at 2 in the morning....you never know when a brawl is going to break out!
    _________

    As Elvis Presley would sometimes say to the audience, after he dealt with a heckler:

    "Man! There's some folk out there!!"

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