Saturday, December 21, 2024
The Big Picture
We have actually been to a movie theater a few times over the past month! This is unusual, and our return has kind of reminded me why. There were literally twenty minutes of previews before the movies even started, and that's not even counting the damn Nicole Kidman ad. They were short on the liquid "butter" that is the only thing that makes movie theater popcorn worth eating, and the Coca Cola "remix" machines ran out of Diet Coke, leaving us with, like, Fanta and various fruit flavored syrups. And then there's the constant fear of being shot, which may just be me, but this is America, so it's on my mind.
But regardless, as to the actual substance of the movies, well, they were perfectly fine. We saw Moana 2 with my niece and nephew, and they were suitably entertained by it, which was all that mattered. I did not find the plotting to be all that compelling, but I enjoy a spunky heroine as much as the next person, and the animation was much higher quality than, say, everything I ever saw as a child. We also saw Wicked, which was honestly very well made. People want it to be on the level of a West Side Story when it's essentially Hairspray, but it was entertaining. The "Ozdust Ballroom" sequence goes on for what feels like years and some of the dancing is literally laugh out loud aggressive. On the other hand, Ariana Grande is really quite solid, even though as a general matter I despise her and her boyfriend Spongebob. And Cynthia Erivo has some lungs on her, to be sure. Did it need to be two and a half hours long? No, but essentially nothing does in my view, and it didn't feel super long.
Anyway, we left the house! Unlikely to be repeated, but lessons were learned.
