Viewed: Theater

I took Calfgrit11 to see this movie this weekend. I’ve been cautiously excited about it for about a year, (since I first heard about it), and we’ve been planning to go for a few months, (since first seeing the trailers).

IT WAS AWESOME!

When anyone ever asked me what my favorite movie is, I’d always say, “Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark are in my top three.” I could never pin down for myself what the third movie of my top three was — it could be any new flick I was excited about. Well, The Avengers may have kicked SW out of the top three list. Yes, that’s right. I just said that. Joss Whedon is my master now.

The writing was fantastic. The story worked, the plotting worked, the dialogue worked — it was all so well planned and thought out. The casting was perfect, the acting was great, just everything about this flick is very well done. All the characters got to show off their personalities and abilities, (and not all abilities are for kicking ass). This movie was better than the comic books it was based on.

Being a big comic book fan, (especially Marvel comics), and knowing the characters, setting, and history as well as I do, the whole movie made sense to me. But I wonder how well it worked for someone not as steeped in the lore. I mean, there’s a lot going on here. I wonder if someone who hasn’t seen the Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America movies can follow all the characters.

Although this movie is a big budget spectacular, really, it’s the writing and directing and acting that make this so damn good. The characters and the dialogue rule this.

Bullgrit

I see maybe two hours of TV in a week. One hour consists of 10 minutes here, 15 minutes there, of just random tidbits throughout the week. Mostly some news and/or weather in the mornings while getting ready for work. The second hour is what I manage to catch in our bedroom on Saturday morning while the boys are watching a couple of cartoons in the living room. I very rarely get to see any TV on the big screen in the living room.

Yesterday, though, it looked like I was going to get a little more. Just after noon, the boys had already eaten their lunch, and were upstairs playing well with each other. I was downstairs in the kitchen making me some lunch, thinking I might just sit and eat with the big TV. It could be a nice little spur of the moment indulgence.

I got my meal, and sat down in front of the downstairs TV. My timing was randomly perfect; V for Vendetta was just starting. I remember seeing the trailers back when it was in theaters, and I thought it might be interesting to catch a few minutes of it while I ate. I might actually get to watch half an hour.

Forty-five minutes later, I was hooked on it. The boys had continued playing quietly upstairs, but it was time for one of Calfgrit10′s friends to come over. Usually when one of the boys’ friends come over to play, they all three hang out upstairs or outside and play for a couple hours without needing direct parental attention. That’s usually a great time for me to get stuff done around the house or on this web site. So I figured I might actually get to watch the whole movie. I was excited, it would be cool. It was a good movie so far, but it wasn’t something for the boys to see. (Violence and subject matter inappropriate for 6 and 10 year olds.)

When the friend arrived, I turned off the TV, and answered the door. My boys came downstairs, the friend came in, and then all three ran upstairs. Yay! I talked with the friend’s parents for a minute, and then I was able to get back to the movie.

Ten minutes later, the boys came downstairs with Nerf guns in hand. I clicked off the TV as they came into the living room. They told me they wanted to play Nerf guns, and I told them they had to go outside for that. “OK,” they said. A couple minutes later and they were out, and I turned the TV back on.

Ten minutes later, the boys came back inside. I clicked the TV off again. They were done with Nerf gun fighting. When they bounded back upstairs, I turned on the TV again.

Ten minutes later, the boys came downstairs again. I clicked the TV off again. They had plastic lightsabers and wanted to sword fight. Again, I told them they had to go outside for that. “OK,” they said, and out they went. I turned the TV back on.

Ten minutes later, the boys came back inside. I clicked off the TV again. They were thirsty and wanted water. A couple minutes later, they charged back outside.

Ten minutes later, the boys came back inside, and I clicked off the TV again. All this in and out interruption got repeated over and over and over.

This wasn’t a DVD I was watching, where I could pause it and restart it. This was a TV channel. So every time I turned off the TV, the movie continued on with its action and plot. Half the time I had the TV on, it was showing commercials. Hell, I don’t think I even saw a full commercial without interruption.

The action and plot that I was seeing, was interesting, and I really wanted to follow it and see how it went and ended. But after interruption after interruption, I just dropped my head into my hands.

Really? Come on!

So now I’ve seen half of V for Vendetta. Not the first half, not the last half, not even half in the middle. I’ve seen half of every 10 minutes of the whole two hours. It’s like having read a book with every other page torn out.

This all just validates and confirms why I usually see very little TV. It’s better to not even bother trying when the effort turns out so frustrating. It was foolish, even dumb, to think of trying to watch an adult, (not-for-kids), TV show in the middle of a Sunday with kids in the house. Really, I did this frustration to myself. And even with continuing to put in the effort against all obvious problems, I still don’t know how the damn story ends.

Bullgrit

With Calfgrit6 recuperating from his tonsillectomy, and with no school because of track out time, (year-round schedule), the boys have had some time to watch some movies. Their mother borrowed a stack of movies from a friend, and I looked through it to see what was on the schedule: all the Harry Potter movies, plus The Princess Bride.  I’m not a fan of the HP series, but Calfgrit10 has read all the books, (as has his mother). Over the past several days, the family has sat down and watched a HP movie each evening. I’ve joined in for a little while during a couple of the movies, just to enjoy the family enjoying something. (I have to refrain from rolling my eyes at a lot of scenes in the films.)

But The Princess Bride is something I would enjoy watching again. The TPB package looked kind of “accidentally” included in the stack of HP DVDs, and no one had mentioned making time to watch it this week. I wanted to watch the movie with the boys, as I thought it would be something they’d both enjoy, but I knew they’d be immediately turned off just by the title of the film. “Princess” and “Bride” aren’t words that excite young boys, 10 and 6 years old.

When I mentioned to the boys that I wanted to watch it with them, they reacted exactly as expected: they scrunched their faces and slightly shook their heads. I intentionally didn’t show them the DVD package. Calfgrit10 asked, “What’s it about?” with a tone of doubt.

“It’s got sword fights,” I explained, “a giant, monster eels, rodents of unusual size, a six-fingered man, and a dread pirate.”

“Huh?” they both responded. Yeah, those aren’t things you expect to find in a movie titled, “The Princess Bride.”

“Trust me,” I encouraged. “You’ll like it.” Then I did my best Inigo Montoya impersonation: “My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”

Trust me they did, and like it they did.

There were several times that Calfgrit10 laughed out loud. He even often put in his own commentary on various scenes and lines, much to my annoyance. I was glad he was engaged with the story, but good lord, he talked over some lines I wanted him to hear.

And every time a new character walked into a scene, Calfgrit6 would ask, “Who is that?” before the character got three paces in. “Why is he doing that?” “Where are they going?”

I had to say, “Just watch and listen,” probably twenty times through the film. I was rather surprised. They didn’t do this during the Star Wars movies. Maybe they knew so much about the Star Wars story already that they never got confused for a moment about what was going on or who someone was. I didn’t hear any of this during the Harry Potter movies, but maybe that was because when I sat down with them, they had already been through a couple of the movies and, like Star Wars, already recognized the people and places.

Still, in the end, they both seemed to enjoy the movie. They didn’t even seem to mind so much the kissing parts. And they were pretty revved up and difficult to herd toward bed afterward — that’s usually a sign that they got worked up about a movie.

After getting them both calmed and tucked in for the night, I told them, each, “As you wish.”

Bullgrit

I’ve felt déjà vus many times in my life. I wouldn’t say I get it a lot, (maybe a dozen times in my life), but judging from how déjà vus is portrayed in movies and TV, I guess I get it more than script writers or directors or producers. Maybe they’ve never felt it. Or maybe I’m feeling something else, and I’m misusing the term?

In movies and TV, déjà vus is identified when something happens again. I mean, actually happens again. Like in The Matrix, when Neo sees the cat walk past the doorway, and then he sees the cat walk past the doorway again. <Keanu Reeves>”Whoa, déjà vus.”</Keanu Reeves>

That’s not how I’ve felt déjà vus. My déjà vus isn’t actually seeing something happen again. It’s almost totally just a feeling of having experienced something before. Being a feeling, I don’t think it could be accurately portrayed in any kind of visual medium, like movies or TV.

Yes, I know that many people call, “déjà vus” when something actually does happen again — like when they see a second person trip over a cord stretched across the floor in a high-traffic area. But that’s just using the term to be funny. Right? Like saying, “I read your mind,” when you predict what someone else is going to say. You didn’t really read their mind like a psychic. Right?

I’ve walked into a room for the first time ever and had the gut-level feeling that I’ve walked into that room before. The feeling only lasts for a few moments, and it’s not a memory. It’s a weird sensation. I remember the first time I ever felt it: I was at the home of a friend of my parents, (I was probably 11-12-13 years old), and I was standing in the kitchen looking out into the living room. Someone walked across my field of vision, and the sensation struck — it was like momentary blip in reality. It wasn’t disorienting, or disturbing. It was just a sensation of, “this moment — everything around me — has happened before.” And then the feeling was gone.

Have you ever felt real déjà vus? Is my description what you felt? Or am I the one who is weird?

Bullgrit