Occasionally, Cheri and I have common tastes in men ... she generally prefers the super-buff athletic types such as Van Diesel in XXX -- and dated professional athletes -- so it came as a surprise that she loves Colin Firth. (Really? since when?) Joy likes Geoffrey Rush since his stint as Barbossa in the Pirates trilogy. A date to the Angelika to watch an arty film was in order.
Oh, yes, the Angelika is an arthouse in the northern part of Uptown in Dallas, on the other side of the DART rail line. It's near some very trendy loft apartments, the type that have murals painted on the side and ooze attitude. (I may look plain, but you can't afford the rent!) Cheri went on and on about how it reminded her of New York or San Francisco, two places that -- as Joy reminded her -- we haven't seen, and probably will never get the chance to see. But Cheri, in the midst of reminiscing, overlooked the side comments. I kept quiet ... Whenever there's a monologue in session, you might as well listen and keep silent ... and observe the scenery.
The Angelika Theatre definitely was plain on the outside -- and a challenge to approach from the street. You parked in the DART parking lot (very tiny) or in the 3-tiered lot across the street and walked across the DART station, which is a 2-tiered station; you get your tickets on the street level, where we were, then descend to take the train ... The Angelika's interior has many arty posters, ranging from Charlie Chaplin to foreign films. There's a wine bar (very expensive) on the ticket level, and regular concessions upstairs near the auditoriums. We headed upstairs. Yeah, you need to dress up for this place -- even the quartet of teens were upscale, though I wonder which movie they were there to see. The remake of The Tempest with Helen Mirren as a school project? Who knows ... I didn't think they would find any films there to their tastes.
Still, we had time to kill and ate nachos and hot dog and popcorn while we waited for our film to begin ... oh, and the pre-movie ads were classy, too. What can I say? Still, Cheri and we could count on our fingers the times we'd been in an arthouse -- We'd gone to the Magnolia in Uptown Village with Cheri to see 13, and she had gone to 2 others, all to see Jeremy Sisto, one of her favorites, in a rather depressing film about a teenager who gets into cutting herself and drugs.
Angst and indeterminant endings are hallmarks of a well-made art film for the thinking man.
I guess The King's Speech didn't haven't to meet those criteria since it was based on history. I'm sure there were liberties taken -- no movie gets the official blessing from Buckingham Palace -- but all the actors did an impressive job. Naturally, the movie centers around Bertie, the unwilling King, and Lionel, his practical speech therapist. For Americans raised on the romance of "the woman he loved," the portrayal of David and Wallis is rather biting. Both are intent on their own pleasure, and everyone else be damned. It's enough to make you want to research the era a bit more ... although it's a bit before my time, pre-WWII times are as alien to me as the 60s are to my students ... the world before Hitlet changed everything.
I sense that Cheri might indulge in a bit of historical reading -- she does more history than fiction. I may take a visit to the local library to pick up a few books myself ... I need something that's the total opposite of what I'm trying to write. Back to the movie -- Joy commented that this one was mainly talking heads, but what expressive heads they were! As Bertie struggles to find his voice, the audience empathizes with him -- after all, the #1 fear of many people is speaking in public. The knowledge that this first wartime speech will be the first of many -- and Bertie's comment that he fears this is only the first in a long conflict -- adds solemnity to the triumphal moment.
And, on our exit, I noticed that there was a sign for "Teens Who Stutter" -- maybe the girls were coming to our movie. Who knows? We swept outside into the chilly winter day as a larger audience began to enter. I hope that "the boys" get those Academy nominations in 2011 ... They deserve it. (That means I have to follow the awards next year ... Jeff Bridges did out Colin Firth in 2010 ... True Grit won the Academy for the Duke, but I wonder if it can do the same as a remake in 2011.
All in all, if they ever show anime as the Angelika (they did, once upon a time), we may have to head northward once more.
Oh, yes, the Angelika is an arthouse in the northern part of Uptown in Dallas, on the other side of the DART rail line. It's near some very trendy loft apartments, the type that have murals painted on the side and ooze attitude. (I may look plain, but you can't afford the rent!) Cheri went on and on about how it reminded her of New York or San Francisco, two places that -- as Joy reminded her -- we haven't seen, and probably will never get the chance to see. But Cheri, in the midst of reminiscing, overlooked the side comments. I kept quiet ... Whenever there's a monologue in session, you might as well listen and keep silent ... and observe the scenery.
The Angelika Theatre definitely was plain on the outside -- and a challenge to approach from the street. You parked in the DART parking lot (very tiny) or in the 3-tiered lot across the street and walked across the DART station, which is a 2-tiered station; you get your tickets on the street level, where we were, then descend to take the train ... The Angelika's interior has many arty posters, ranging from Charlie Chaplin to foreign films. There's a wine bar (very expensive) on the ticket level, and regular concessions upstairs near the auditoriums. We headed upstairs. Yeah, you need to dress up for this place -- even the quartet of teens were upscale, though I wonder which movie they were there to see. The remake of The Tempest with Helen Mirren as a school project? Who knows ... I didn't think they would find any films there to their tastes.
Still, we had time to kill and ate nachos and hot dog and popcorn while we waited for our film to begin ... oh, and the pre-movie ads were classy, too. What can I say? Still, Cheri and we could count on our fingers the times we'd been in an arthouse -- We'd gone to the Magnolia in Uptown Village with Cheri to see 13, and she had gone to 2 others, all to see Jeremy Sisto, one of her favorites, in a rather depressing film about a teenager who gets into cutting herself and drugs.
Angst and indeterminant endings are hallmarks of a well-made art film for the thinking man.
I guess The King's Speech didn't haven't to meet those criteria since it was based on history. I'm sure there were liberties taken -- no movie gets the official blessing from Buckingham Palace -- but all the actors did an impressive job. Naturally, the movie centers around Bertie, the unwilling King, and Lionel, his practical speech therapist. For Americans raised on the romance of "the woman he loved," the portrayal of David and Wallis is rather biting. Both are intent on their own pleasure, and everyone else be damned. It's enough to make you want to research the era a bit more ... although it's a bit before my time, pre-WWII times are as alien to me as the 60s are to my students ... the world before Hitlet changed everything.
I sense that Cheri might indulge in a bit of historical reading -- she does more history than fiction. I may take a visit to the local library to pick up a few books myself ... I need something that's the total opposite of what I'm trying to write. Back to the movie -- Joy commented that this one was mainly talking heads, but what expressive heads they were! As Bertie struggles to find his voice, the audience empathizes with him -- after all, the #1 fear of many people is speaking in public. The knowledge that this first wartime speech will be the first of many -- and Bertie's comment that he fears this is only the first in a long conflict -- adds solemnity to the triumphal moment.
And, on our exit, I noticed that there was a sign for "Teens Who Stutter" -- maybe the girls were coming to our movie. Who knows? We swept outside into the chilly winter day as a larger audience began to enter. I hope that "the boys" get those Academy nominations in 2011 ... They deserve it. (That means I have to follow the awards next year ... Jeff Bridges did out Colin Firth in 2010 ... True Grit won the Academy for the Duke, but I wonder if it can do the same as a remake in 2011.
All in all, if they ever show anime as the Angelika (they did, once upon a time), we may have to head northward once more.
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