Since my parents aren't going to return for another three weeks, we decided we would take advantage of our current situation and go see a movie. Before the kids, Lisa and I would see a movie practically every weekend. It was very rare when we would see two movies in the same day, but when we did it was usually because we just saw a sucky movie. I remember one day we went to see Sliver at the Mann National in Westwood. It was such an awful movie, we decided we needed something to clean the cinematic palate. So we drove to Century City to see the next showing of Hot Shots Part Deux (hey...at least those laughs were intentional).
So what movie were we to see? We narrowed it down to two choices: There Will Be Blood and Semi-Pro. One critically acclaimed, the other critically panned. As usual, we went down our list of criteria to decide which movie to see:
1) Our mood: We wanted something light and frothy, unlike Andrew's diapers which are heavy and farty.
2) Theater or DVD worthy: Will we lose anything not watching it in the theater besides $30 at the concession stand?
3) Reliability: Are the people who made the movie reliable (i.e. director, writer, actor, gaffer, key grip, etc)? That is do they usually make movies that we enjoy?
4) Critical consensus: What is the general critical consensus on the movie? Do the critics love it or do they want want to gouge their eyes out?
After going through our list, we decided upon Semi-Pro. We wanted something light, comedies are funnier with a theater audience, we both find Will Farrell funny, and the critics hated it. Oh wait...hmm...maybe we should've paid more attention to criteria number four.
I bought the tickets online for the Arclight Theater just down the street from us. The Arclight is a pretty fancy theater. Ticket prices are a little higher, but the movie-watching experience is of a higher quality. What do you get for a few dollars more than your usual $10.50 movie ticket? You get reserved seating. You get no commercials. You get leather seats. You get a maximum of three trailers. You get a lobby with exhibits, a store, a coffee bar, and a liquor bar. And most importantly, you get a personal wet nurse to sate your daily protein needs.
"Semi-Pro" wasn't that great. It was just so-so. It had a few chuckles, but I don't really remember what I laughed at. Not a ringing endorsement, and I'm sure "There Will Be Blood" is a better movie. But I'm also pretty sure without having seen "There Will Be Blood" that it does not open with the entertaining ditty "Love Me Sexy" nor does it have scenes of an escaped bear attacking random cast members. So take that Mr. Daniel-Day-I-Won-Another-Oscar-Lewis.
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