Movies

Ah, she already spotted those. I've not seen those but presuming they're a disappointment? That would be a shame as I think she was keen to watch them.

Definitely a disappointment.
Currently rewatching Ronin. Definitely not a disappointment.

Just secured extended release tickets for The Odyssey in 1.43:1 70mm IMAX. An absolute fucking ordeal on the website and near impossible to get two seats together (life if sometimes much easier when you're on your own). One thing increasingly pissing me off about Melbourne is that anything good sells out quick as a motherfucker. I even heard people are flying in from Hawaii for this shit. And even after all that I'm pretty sure I'll still favour this unsurpassed podcast series on the epic instead odysseythepodcast.com/

Even in Manchesterfor the fancy proper big IMAX, tickets are released at the beginning of the week and it just sells out. Quite the phenomenon.
So went to see The End of Oak Street for some lightweight entertainment. If you like endless screeching and screaming instead of acting then this is the one for you. Wait for it to get to streaming.

Made it through almost 30 minutes of The Invite before I had to turn it off to prevent myself throwing heavy items at the television. A character-driven sex comedy with only 4 actors, all of whom appear to have been instructed to play the most annoying, unsympathetic, loathsome versions of their character they possibly can. And with the amount of talent they have, they're very good at it. I may go back and watch the rest but only if someone tells me that I turned it off just before the part where the serial killer bursts in and tortures them all in ways that would make Eli Roth feel uncomfortable, before dousing them in gasoline and setting fire to the building to ensure that none of them can ever do something like this again.

Watching the John Wick movies to feel a bit of catharsis after double Leeds tedium. Not quite dead-dog levels of misery, obviously.

I rewatched Top Gun: Maverick last night. Enjoyed it more this time, movies are always way more enjoyable watched at home than in a cinema.

Have to conclude your local cinema must be a lot shitter than mine.

Certain films lend themselves to being sat on the sofa (which is where I tend to watch most). Others, especially with the big set pieces or fancy special effects, are better on the big screen for obvious reasons. It was ever thus, I think.

I got the impression Russ was seeking to get a rise with his comment for shits and giggles.

Not really. I really dislike the cinema, it is on pretty much every level an inferior viewing experience to watching at home. We're not sitting in front of 28" CRTs any more and listening through shitty internal speakers so the only advantage that the theatre once had has been largely nullified. Now all the things that make the cinema shit - cost, other people, inability to pause to go for a leak or fetch a beer - massively outweigh any slight advantage it might still be able to claim about being bigger and louder.

£20 a month for unlimited films, reclining seats, take your own drinks and snacks , no issues with other people works for me.

I like going to the cinema for the huge screen, better sound, and the 'experience'. It makes it an event. Also it means there's no temptation to look at my phone and get distracted from the film.

For the last two years these have been my local theatres:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TIFF_Lightbox

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotiabank_Theatre_Toronto

I don't think it's an issue of the cinemas, I just don't enjoy it as a night out. I go out enough that when I watch a movie I want to do so without having to go anywhere to do it, and with an audience exclusively curated by me.

I get the 'other people' bit to an extent. I can remember watching The Exorcist for the first time at uni for a special 25th anniversary Halloween viewing and having the experience ruined by a bunch of youths laughing at the 1970s special effects. That film remains the best I've ever seen and those cunts spoiled my first watch of it.

More recently, we took Little Miss BW to see something and a family turned up with a baby, who spent a decent chuck of the film crying (as they tend to do). That struck me as somewhere between odd and selfish.

That said, I think Jim's right that going to the flicks is an experience and more of an event. We would only go every few months and, again, only if there was something we really wanted to see, so it feels more like that to us.

Some films need to be seen on the biggest screen possible. Lord of the Rings. Dune. We have one of the proper big IMAX in Manchester and The Odyssey is almost impossible to get tickets for.

But also like to do a film at home.

The End of Oak Street we saw at the cinema. Didnt even deserve a phone screen.

Saw the new Spiderman film at the cinema. Was excellent. I think they kept the 'baddie' well under wraps. I had no idea who it was until we heard the name.

I was with a fellow dad from school, more an acquaintance than friend (but the only person who I know that would appreciate the film as much as me). He is one of those people who has no volume control to his voice and he also talks alot, so we (he) got told to shut-up by a bloke in front of us during the trailers. I thought that was a bit OTT to be honest given the film hadn't started, and told the guy as much. Half expected him to be stood at the exit after the film had ended to continue the discussion but he wasn't thankfully.

Russ will enjoy adding that he doesn't have this problem watching it at home.

Watched Tony at our new local hipster theatre. Was a very big fan of Kitchen Confidential and Bourdains career that followed. It tones down a lot of the extremes from the book, a hell of a lot less smack, but does build that love of food.
Liked it a lot.