Worth The Price of Admission

On the treadmill this morning I saw the millionth commercial for the Black Panther movie. Maybe it was the over-advertising but it just got me thinking about how I will probably never see this movie and moreover, if I do end up seeing the movie, I probably won't like it. If I don't fall asleep.

Then I imagined the retorts of the people who are waiting with baited breath to see it and how they might intimate I am a snob when it comes to movies and how I think I am too good for superhero movies. 

I am not too good for any movie, the balance in my checking account proves this. My love for Airplane, Murder By Death, and Police Academy 1 and 2! prove I am not too good for any movie.

I would just say in this fictitious argument that I don’t appreciate, for the most part, superhero movies. I am more interested in willpower than I am super powers. I might also remind folks that the vast majority of movies are made for 15 year old boys.

I am not 15.

I also imagined the naysayers asking me “well if you don’t like superhero movies, what do you like?”

I don’t get to see a ton of movies because in addition to the treadmill at 5am I am on the treadmill of life with two tots and  a two hour commute every day…

BUT!

I can say that recently I really liked Wind River and Get Out.

Both movies had actors that were superb in scenes in which they had to be on the edge of emotions. Not fully immersed buy oh so close, could fall in, but avoids. This has to be hard for an actor and in both movies I appreciated these scenes immensely.

Which got me to thinking…about picking a scene from a movie that is worth the price of admission.

What is one scene in a movie you think is worth your $18 bucks?

This scene is one minute and seventeen seconds long but Renner makes it priceless.

And here, in a mere 2:27, Betty Gabriel just gets so deliciously close to falling in, dangling over the cliff but, with all of her might, doesn't fall in.

Worth the price of admission.

I Think It Was Van Morison Who Said La La La La, La La La

La La Land

Watched La La Land Saturday Night. I know I know, a little late to the party. Don’t yell at me, I’ve got two kids and a two hour commute.

It is a great movie. And while the ending is harshly bittersweet, the overarching reaction I had to the movie was laughing.

I thought it was very funny.

Ryan Gosling’s comedic timing is superb. It’s really kind of annoying how talented he is what with the singing and the dancing and the acting but, humor too! Not exactly fair.

He and Emma Stone are terrific actors. Her scene where her audition is interrupted when she is crying is beyond good. 

The home run for me was the explanation of jazz scene. As a, I wouldn’t call myself a musician, person who gained some facility on the guitar (enough to be considered a pro-am playing some larger venues in smaller towns) who gained an appreciation for jazz, this scene was, while written very concisely yet powerfully, acted such that one can’t help appreciate both at once – acting and jazz. 

Our tots love to watch movies in Mom's Honda Pilot and have commandeered the vehicle's sound system. On sunday morning drives to swim lessons though, they have succumbed, been won over, and have come to expect their little hearts and minds to be filled...by jazz.