Out & About

This was a great concept that was executed sloppily with the result being the movie dragged on and on. Not even the fact that I got to watch Matt Damon and Emily Blunt made this an enjoyable experience. Plus, who knew that while god did a good job of creating a colorful cast of multicultural operatives/angels, she didn’t bother to make any FEMALE operatives/angels?*

Even if one is not the biggest fan of boxing movies and tends to hide behind one’s hands while the actual boxing is happening, I would recommend this movie. Simply fabulous acting by all players combined with colorful characters, fun accents and excellent storytelling made this a movie I had to keep reminding myself to breathe during. Also, if someone wrote a novel about the lives of Micky Ward’s seven sisters, I think I would be first in line to read it.

Note that the above three sentences were written with the feminist filter turned off. Here’s my problem: Near the end of the movie, Amy Adams has this big speech about how she’s trying to really do something with her life. And that’s great as all women should try to do something with there lives. My problem? The big thing she is trying to do with her life is support her boxing boyfriend. While this is a noble endeavor, I think that actually falls under the category of “supporting” and not actually “doing.” Give me ONE example of a movie where a man makes a big speech about how his main purpose is to support his girlfriend/wife and that is fine and dandy with everyone. I would love to see more examples of Hollywood storytelling where women are DOING things, not just hitching their stars to the men in their lives. Or, at the very least, movies that portray men hitching their stars to the woman in their life.

The Oregonian’s weekend section featured three movie theaters you’ve probably not heard of. I eagerly turned to the article, thinking that I had probably been to the theaters they were discussing, because I’m such a fan of off-beat theaters. Upon reading the article, it seems I can check that attitude. I’d been to one, Cinemagic, but the second theater mentioned, PSU’s student-run theater, I have still never visited despite living within a mile from it for four years. The third I had no idea it even existed even though it is less than two miles from my house. Kelly and I decided to check it out over Spring Break. Here is our tour of The Portlander.

The Portlander is an 80 seat movie theater inside a “Travel Center” which is what truck stops seem to be calling themselves these days. If you look to the left of the Marketplace sign, you will see that indeed there is an advertised Cinema. We walked in and were in a convenience store.

We sort of stumbled about a bit before walking through the convenience store’s back entrance into a concourse that contained a fast-food restaurant, a shoe repair shop, a chiropractor, the sign for the cinema and some restrooms. We had to ask how to get into the cinema. It turned out you buy tickets at the fast food place and the nice lady buzzes you in. They show second-run movies and the cost is $3.00

Inside, it looks just like a cinema. There are posters, stadium seating, comfortable chairs. You can even bring ice cream or any other item bought at the fast food place into the show. Our movie unfortunately had some tracking issues and I would suggest that if it happens to you during your visit to immediately pop up and go find someone, because there is no one in the projection booth making sure things are running smoothly. Aside from those tracking issues, it was a great experience.

After the show, we wandered through the rest of the Travel Center. Kelly observed that with the laundromat, the urgent care center, the restaurant and all the other things listed above, that this would be an even better place to be stranded than the airport in that Tom Hanks movie.

I suggest you plan your visit to the Portlander soon.

What to say about this movie I feel that you should watch? It was quiet, charming, incredibly compelling and the ending completely destroyed me. I sobbed through the credits, exiting the movie theater, walking to the car and all the way home.

It seems I am a fan of Sophia Coppela’s form of storytelling with mostly music and pictures and limited dialogue. Aside from enjoying the above, I found the acting in this movie outstanding and enjoyed hanging out with the queen for a bit. The costumes were fabulous, also.

It strikes me this movie was made as a way to make a few more dollars off the legions of people (mostly women) who have read and loved the book as I think this would not at all be compelling if you hadn’t had the reading background first. It was fun to see who was cast as which character, but the book, sprawling and mostly internal dialogue, was greatly compressed to make this movie. Even in compressed form, it felt pretty long.