Here's what I've done in the preceding week. Last Monday and last Wednesday were boring but on Tuesday, I went out to eat with someone. We decided on an Ale House restaurant, as I hadn't been to that Southeastern chain in months. We went to the new location they built in Winter Garden, which is convenient for us. It's not the largest location but overall it's fine and the food was good. I'll mention now that in the past I've sometimes made complaints about Apple and its products, as I've had a number of problems dealing with them and their products that are not intuitive at all to use. This actually started last fall but I had issues with some money I had on my iTunes account via some giftcards. It literally finally was fixed this past week-no kidding it took that long. I purchased some random older albums and it took some effort to figure out how to put it on my device so it can be used in the automobile as that was not intuitive either but I figured it out. I doubt I'll put more money on iTunes as I have zero faith the added cash would be immediately recognized.
Thursday, I was out on the town, so to speak. I spent time in the Orlando area. Among other things, I got some items from the Safeway grocery store, purchased a few beverages from Total Wine & More (more on that later) and because the weather was rainy at that time, I went to the AMC Theatres in Altamonte Springs early and I had dinner while sitting on a bench near the lobby-it was some flatbread pizza and it was good. What I saw was Valerian and the City of One Thousand Planets. Until the movie was announced two summers ago, even I hadn't heard of the old French comic book series Valerian & Laureline that it was based on. I just know it is or was popular in Europe, naturally. As it was an independent movie financed and directed and written by the guy who gave us The Fifth Element, I was hoping to be entertained.
I was entertained, although I definitely understand why a lot of people wouldn't love it, at least in the United States. For years now, many of the movies from Hollywood are quite homogenized and safe, which is why I don't go out and see as many of those as most others do. Even some movies I rate highly can be accused of having the homogenized and safe label. I was happy the new Planet of the Apes movies weren't like that (which is why I enjoyed all three) and yet this movie is pretty weird by any standard; I am not shocked at all that in the United States this won't make a lot of money. I admit the story isn't always the best, there's some hammy acting (including from the two leads) and some cornball dialogue. Yet I thought that and it being very weird was part of its charm and the movie is a marvel to look at. It looked amazing the entire time and was full of many bright colors, and the universe was full of wacky characters and unique alien races. Yeah, it'll naturally be a cult hit and I hope it makes money elsewhere around the world.
I am glad I saw the movie on a Premium Large Format screen (you know, that's what they now call those giant screens such as the original IMAX, the smaller newer IMAX screens, Cinemark's XD, Regal's RPX, etc.), and that was why I went to that particular AMC as it has what I think is the best, Dolby Cinema at AMC. It was awesome watching it that way. Friday through Sunday, things were quiet. The only thing of note is that on Saturday night I returned to Walmart, where I got some items and things weren't as chaotic or as dumb as they were when I last visited that infamous chain.
When I return a week from today, I do have an idea or two as to what I'll be doing. It may very well include more theatrical experiences.
No comments:
Post a Comment