Thursday, March 23, 2006
V for Very Large
Did I mention that I saw "V for Vendetta" this weekend? At the IMAX theater on Navy Pier, which was an entertainment in and of itself. Before the show we had $13 salads at one of the many fine tourist-gouging establishments on the Pier; I was tempted to take a $5 ride on the Ferris wheel as well, but then I realized I'm not retarded or from Missouri. I also had never seen a movie that wasn't about sharks or space at an IMAX, so I really enjoyed the simple thrill of seeing Natalie Portman's chrome dome magnified to thirty feet in diameter. It's good that someone's finally figured out how to take the learning out of the big screen.
Anyway, as to the movie itself, I thought it was pretty good. I haven't always been on the Portman express (I thought Angela Lansbury would have been about as convincing as the stripper in Closer), but she really sold me here. She did a great fake British accent in the Gwyneth/Madonna tradition, and managed to sob heavily without getting a case of fetus face. The main problem with the movie was the fact that the hero wore a mask literally the whole time, which A) meant he had about as much emotional range as Jessica Biel and B) made his voice kind of lispy and tough to understand. Although I have to say I was glad we didn't have a big facial deformity reveal, a la Phantom of the Opera. It generally just ends up looking like Jessica Simpson before the Proactiv.
Did I mention that I saw "V for Vendetta" this weekend? At the IMAX theater on Navy Pier, which was an entertainment in and of itself. Before the show we had $13 salads at one of the many fine tourist-gouging establishments on the Pier; I was tempted to take a $5 ride on the Ferris wheel as well, but then I realized I'm not retarded or from Missouri. I also had never seen a movie that wasn't about sharks or space at an IMAX, so I really enjoyed the simple thrill of seeing Natalie Portman's chrome dome magnified to thirty feet in diameter. It's good that someone's finally figured out how to take the learning out of the big screen.
Anyway, as to the movie itself, I thought it was pretty good. I haven't always been on the Portman express (I thought Angela Lansbury would have been about as convincing as the stripper in Closer), but she really sold me here. She did a great fake British accent in the Gwyneth/Madonna tradition, and managed to sob heavily without getting a case of fetus face. The main problem with the movie was the fact that the hero wore a mask literally the whole time, which A) meant he had about as much emotional range as Jessica Biel and B) made his voice kind of lispy and tough to understand. Although I have to say I was glad we didn't have a big facial deformity reveal, a la Phantom of the Opera. It generally just ends up looking like Jessica Simpson before the Proactiv.
