Wednesday's Words for May 20, 2009

This past weekend I ventured forth into a world that was strange and foreign to me. Saturday evening my beloved and I went to see a movie.

This isn’t an activity that I engage in often. Actually that’s a bit of an understatement. It took me some time to recall the last movie I went to a theatre to see. But I eventually did remember. It was the first James Bond movie with Pierce Brosnan in the starring role.

Yes, the last movie I went to see was Golden Eye, which debuted in 1995.
Fourteen years! Even I was surprised by that. I’d been thinking, five, maybe six years since I’d gone. To put this into a weird kind of perspective, I have a granddaughter who is ten, and I had never attended a movie theatre in her lifetime until this past Saturday.

The first thing I realized when I stepped into the Galaxy Cineplex was that this was indeed another world. Instead of a single ticket seller in a tiny booth, there was a counter, with a menu board (there are 8 theatres in the building). I almost expected the girl at the cash register us to ask “would you like fries with that?”

The Cineplex isn’t just a movie theatre—or a collection of theatres. It’s a complete entertainment center. There was an arcade, a restaurant, snack counter, seating areas and people everywhere. There was so much going on, and it was so unexpected, that I really couldn’t take it all in. Talk about culture shock.

I don’t know how many people each little room (theatre) can hold. Couldn’t be more than a hundred, could it? You have to understand my frame of reference. The movie theatres I went to when I was young (just shortly after the discovery of fire and only days before the invention of the wheel) were enormous venues – likely seating hundreds of people. They were in fact the concert halls of their day, complete with orchestra level and balcony. They were staffed with ushers! Of course, that kind of theatre wouldn’t be economically viable in this modern age. But they seemed to thrive back in the day.

I don’t know what it says about me, that I don’t watch movies very often. And it’s not just that I don’t go to the theatre—I don’t watch them on television, either. One would think that, being a writer, and writing as I do about people and relationships, I’d want to keep abreast of modern culture. Well I do—I think—I just don’t use movies to do so.

There just aren’t that many films that I want to go and see. I watch the trailers, and I really do have an open mind, but there just aren’t that many flicks that make me want to invest a couple of hours of my time. The truth is, I’m easily bored when it comes to the visual arts.

My beloved is a great movie fan. I doubt there’s a major motion picture (do they still call them that?) that he hasn’t seen. And, he’s assured me, he’s seen quite a few that weren’t major, too.

The movie we went to see Saturday night was the new Star Trek adventure. I thought it was really well done. Since I’ve sat in front of my TV to watch the original series, and every incarnation thereafter, I feel like I’m an aficionado on the subject. Not to give anything away, I thought the major plot twist brilliant—on every level.

If you haven’t seen this movie but have watched some of the trailers, you might already know that the casting choices were exceptional. Karl Urban was so good in the role of Dr. McCoy, I wondered for a moment if he was related to DeForest Kelley.

Even though I thoroughly enjoyed myself Saturday, I don’t anticipate returning to the Cineplex anytime soon. We were treated to some commercials and many trailers as we waited and waited and waited for the “feature presentation” and I didn’t see anything that would prompt me to spend an evening of my time to see it.

I understand the producers of this new Star Trek are planning a couple of sequels. It will likely be at least two years between releases.
I think I might make it out of my cave for those.

Love,
Morgan
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