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Worth the price of admission...
Feb. 22nd, 2001 11:02 pmThe other night, when I went to see Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with Lee, the film in the projector decided to do one of those weird things that projection film does from time to time, stabilizing after a few seconds into a split-screen display of the movie.
Unfortunately, this happened just as the bad gal let loose her worst salvo at the good guys, and though it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what had happened, the fact that the glitch had occurred - and that nobody fixed it for about 5 minutes (by the wrist watch) - caused me to mosey by the manager's office on the way out of the theater to complain about what happened.
After all, I'd just enriched the AMC chain to a nearly unconscionable degree, and the least one can expect is for little bumps such as the one that happened to be taken care of expeditiously.
The long and short of it was that Lee and I got passes good for free admission for some future movie.
Upon returning home this evening, a note from Lee informed me that she was off to attend a concert with her boyfriend. I took the opportunity to use one of the passes to go see Hannibal, which Lee had seen and didn't want to go see again.
All of the emotion, which in the book lies dormant like a snapping turtle below the surface of a tannin-stained bayou, was concentrated into the final few scenes of the film, and for the uninitiated, none of it could make any sense at all, I'm sure.
What is the meaning of Lecter's cryptic crack about love? That was worth a movie all by itself (hell, maybe that's what the movie should have been about?). Why is Starling wearing that dress? Is it something to do with Lecter, or do we in the audience need a flash of pale flesh to feast our eyes upon lest we fall asleep from boredom?
Sure, some of the main plot points of the book were reflected in the movie, particularly the gory parts, which Hollyweird pursues with careful attention to detail (probably because they are the easiest to understand and film). Surprise, surprise. Other plot points, particularly the important one at the end, were resectioned and sewn back up to conform with standard Hollyweird clichés, even if it makes the whole film nonsensical.
The end result is a gutless screenplay, seemingly written by someone with only half a brain, that comes to an abrupt and choppy ending just when things could get interesting. I enjoyed Ridley Scott's Gladiator very much yesterday; this evening's film just goes to prove that you can't hit a homer every time you step up to the plate.
Rumor has it that Thomas Harris, who has written of Lecter in three best-selling books up to now, has agreed to continue the saga of the evil doctor for a follow-on movie, bypassing a book version. Would that it were so. Such an approach would spare us the needless butchery of what might otherwise be an interesting read.
Cheers...
Unfortunately, this happened just as the bad gal let loose her worst salvo at the good guys, and though it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what had happened, the fact that the glitch had occurred - and that nobody fixed it for about 5 minutes (by the wrist watch) - caused me to mosey by the manager's office on the way out of the theater to complain about what happened.
After all, I'd just enriched the AMC chain to a nearly unconscionable degree, and the least one can expect is for little bumps such as the one that happened to be taken care of expeditiously.
The long and short of it was that Lee and I got passes good for free admission for some future movie.
Upon returning home this evening, a note from Lee informed me that she was off to attend a concert with her boyfriend. I took the opportunity to use one of the passes to go see Hannibal, which Lee had seen and didn't want to go see again.
WARNING! Spoilers may lurk in the comments below.The movie was, for me, a grand disappointment.
All of the emotion, which in the book lies dormant like a snapping turtle below the surface of a tannin-stained bayou, was concentrated into the final few scenes of the film, and for the uninitiated, none of it could make any sense at all, I'm sure.
What is the meaning of Lecter's cryptic crack about love? That was worth a movie all by itself (hell, maybe that's what the movie should have been about?). Why is Starling wearing that dress? Is it something to do with Lecter, or do we in the audience need a flash of pale flesh to feast our eyes upon lest we fall asleep from boredom?
Sure, some of the main plot points of the book were reflected in the movie, particularly the gory parts, which Hollyweird pursues with careful attention to detail (probably because they are the easiest to understand and film). Surprise, surprise. Other plot points, particularly the important one at the end, were resectioned and sewn back up to conform with standard Hollyweird clichés, even if it makes the whole film nonsensical.
The end result is a gutless screenplay, seemingly written by someone with only half a brain, that comes to an abrupt and choppy ending just when things could get interesting. I enjoyed Ridley Scott's Gladiator very much yesterday; this evening's film just goes to prove that you can't hit a homer every time you step up to the plate.
Rumor has it that Thomas Harris, who has written of Lecter in three best-selling books up to now, has agreed to continue the saga of the evil doctor for a follow-on movie, bypassing a book version. Would that it were so. Such an approach would spare us the needless butchery of what might otherwise be an interesting read.
Cheers...
