Movies

Movie Rental Blues

So I’ve seen more than my usual share of movies lately, too. Firstly, there’s that monthly coupon at the local movie rental gallery I usually end up forgetting until the very end of the month and rushing into the store to use before it expires. Which coupon, of COURSE, I have to use, cuz… well, it’s there.

And, of course, the last week of June was a really bad week to rent a bunch of movies, especially since they’ve reduced their rental times down to five days rather than a full week, and I had entirely too many things going on. I ended up watching two of the movies with the folks the day they were due (at 11 pm, and we finished the second one at about 10:50 pm), one of the movies on my own earlier in the week (for some reason, nobody else wanted to watch “8 Below” after I told them I cried myself into a migraine watching it… never mind that also explained I was hormonal at the time and it wasn’t really THAT bad…) and I ended up keeping one of the movies over another week cuz Mom and I really wanted to watch it together.

That one was called “Stay”. Very odd movie… but it doesn’t really let you go… keeps you hangin in there just to see how it ends and what the hell is going on. And I think it’s worth it. Mom and I looked at each other after the movie was over and were like “Okaaaaaayyyy”… but then the more I thought about it, the more I liked it. It’s definitely one of those movies that makes ya think.

Last Minute Movie

Amway, the Thursday that IHOP Buddy came up to visit (I know I’m hopping all over the last few weeks, here), she happened to have a coupon for 2 free tickets to see the Da Vinci Code. Now, let me explain here, that I have two women in my life that absolutely adore the Da Vinci Code… at least the book. I haven’t read it yet. These two women are Mom and IHOP Buddy. And both have been very excited in expectation of the movie come out. Well… IHOP Buddy even went one further and bought the video game (this is the game she wanted me to see over the weekend at her place), and the coupon for free movies came with the game.

Now, IHOP Buddy really wants to see the movie, but she doesn’t like goin to the movie theater. So as soon as she heard that Mom really wanted to see the movie too, she immediately offered me the coupon. The only catch was that the coupon expired the very next day: Friday, and the last day of the month. So I called up Mom and asked her if she’d be willing to drop everything (including our usual Friday night shows) to go to a movie the next evening. And, of course, she was happy to do so, so that’s what we did. I liked the movie … and had a steady stream of commentary beside me of what meshed with the book and what didn’t, so I was able to follow along well enough.

I also liked the game, too, when I got to play it some at IHOP Buddy’s place the next day. But, then, it’s a mystery/puzzle game, and those are always a plus in my book. :)

In the “WTF!!” Category

The other movie we saw recently was “Pirates of the Caribbean II”. That was this past weekend. Another one Mom (okay, and me, too) has been impatient to see. We don’t see too many movies on their opening weekends, but Saturday happened to be Mom’s birthday, so it was already a special occasion. Now, I have to give fair warning about the movie: it was as great as the first one (a bit more slapstick goin on, and playin up the yucks with absolutely impossible physical situations, but still fun) but I would highly recommend that anybody who cares about the characters NOT see the movie. At least not yet… not until the third one comes out. Cuz they leave the damn thing in an absolutely ridiculous mess. Mom was not happy… she kept saying “I really would have gone to see the third movie anyway without them doing THIS!” Not a fair move, really. But in future, the series will be a fun set to watch all in a row.

As it is, we watched the first Pirates at Mom’s place before leaving for the theater, and it was definitely a good thing, cuz I would have missed a lot of references… it had been a while since I’d seen it. So we decided we’ll have to watch both I & II in a row before we go see the third one, too. Whenever it comes out. Probly a decade or so, with the way they left things. *snort*

Girl’s Night Out

The last movie on my list will actually constitute a first for me. At least the first in a long while. The Receptionist and I were talking a few weeks back about wanting to see a new movie out, “The Lake House”. It looks very interesting, and since her hubby died last year, she hasn’t really had anybody to go out and do stuff with. So I asked if she’d like to go together, and she readily agreed. Now, I don’t usually do social stuff with coworkers… with the single exception of going to the movie theater with a coworker once several years ago. We’d both felt like idiots for wanting to see TITANIC a second time, but had recognized kindred spirits in each other, so we went. That was the only movie I’ve ever seen more than once in the theater.

Amway, the Receptionist and I ended up asking the other support staff if they wanted to see “The Lake House, too, and we now have a group of us who will make a girl’s night out of it at the movies. We’re just not sure when. We had this discussion before the holiday weekend… and that weekend was obviously not a likely candidate for the outing. Neither was this past weekend, since I was doing other things with Mom for her birthday. And this weekend is out cuz the Office Whisperer is out of town. So… if the movie is still in theaters, we may actually try for next weekend. I guess we’ll see.