Phantom Menace

The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie -- deliberate, contrived and dishonest -- but the myth -- persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.
-- John F. Kennedy

Wednesday, May 19, 1999
Two years ago: Measure Not the Work

Only two festival movies tonight, since Jack and I were going to see The Phantom Menace (and I still don't like that title) at 1 AM. Both were screened at the Harvard Exit Theater, improved this year because they've replaced the seats. The building is a former women's club, and there's a very comfy lobby where pass holders get to lounge between shows.

Praise
(IMDB page for this movie) This Australian movie was a grim slice of life that weakened at the end, but I liked most of it. A depressed slacker guy and an intense waitress with eczema problems get together, and for a while it looks like their relationship will continue. It really isn't spoiling the movie to reveal that they peter out instead. The most depressing thing about the movie was how long it took till folks intervened, in the bath-down-the-hall rooming house where they lived, when a woman was being abused. Lots of sex and nudity.

Lautrec
(IMDB page for this movie) A French biography of the painter and graphic artist, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (in case you thought it was about someone else with the same last name). Very lively and lavish, and I was glad that they gave him more of a love life than Moulin Rouge did -- that's the Hollywood version from the fifties. Elsa Zylberstein is very striking as a model, lover and artist. Régis Royer is fine as Lautrec. I couldn't figure out if he is on the short side, or did they digitally shrink him somehow? There are full-length shots where he is moving, and they didn't hide his feet or anything. The movie's flaw was the inordinate length of the ending -- Lautrec dies mainly of alcoholism, and it takes forever! Trips to the seaside, trips to the asylum, oops! he's back in the gutter again, and so on. I'd have liked more detail about his actual art, too! But this is really worth seeing.

I drove home and waited for Jack. He was driving down from Bellingham to see the movie with me, which was nice. I lay down on my bed, and I'm afraid I was dozing a bit, when I heard the buzzer from the front door of my building. I ran out, but he was nowhere to be scene. I found him in a few minutes, though. He'd walked around the corner to go tap on my window!

We sat on the couch for a few minutes and got caught up. It was so good to see him! We both needed caffeine, and maybe a snack, so I decided we should troll Broadway to see what was open so late. The Broadway New American Grill was the place we ended up at, for calmari (tasty!), salad, and beverages.

I really hadn't been rushing us to get down to the Cinerama. I didn't anticipate folks lining up super-early for a one AM show, on a night that wasn't the opening evening. I hadn't allowed for the attraction of the Cinerama theater! We started at the front door, and walked down the long block, and around the corner, before we found the end of the line -- and it was only midnight! I felt that I should have been pressuring Jack to get us down there immediately.

We noticed some theater staff talking to folks at the back of the line, and also punching our tickets there. It turned out that they had oversold the show! Our tickets said "1 AM Weds 19th" which really meant early Thursday morning, since there wasn't a 1 AM Wednesday showing. It's a one-screen theater and they'd started the movie at midnight the night before. I guess they noticed this mistake, and changed it in the computer to 1 AM Thurs 20th. This had the unfortunate side effect of messing up the tracking of the tickets sold; they went beyond the capacity of the theater.

So they were doing like the airlines do when they overbook a flight; they were talking to people, hoping to get takers for an alternate deal. They were adding a screening at the Pacific Place theater, which is only a few blocks away. They'd give us coupons for free popcorn and soda, and a pass to another show at any GC theater, if we'd only walk ourselves over to the other show.

Jack thought about this for a few moments, then decided to take the deal. We'd be at the front of the line over there, and be able to get our choice of seats. We'd still have forty five minutes to wait, but it would be indoors, with a bathroom in reach. So off we walked. I refused to run, though, just to beat the people who were doing the same as us.

* * * * * * * *

I enjoyed the time we spent waiting in line, chatting with two guys who worked at Sierra games. I kept my popcorn and soda consumption to a minimum, so we did have some left when we got into the theater. Jack chose the middle of a row, in the middle of the front section. A benefit of going to a late-night screening -- everyone there was into the movie and enthusiastic, but there weren't little kids running around. I'm glad the one guy a few rows from us, who was whooping, hollering, and making "witty" comments, calmed down and shut up when the movie started.

I did enjoy the film! But I think the flaws pointed out by other reviewers are real ones. I'd have liked young Obi-Wan to actually be a main focus of the story; he's someone we could care about, if we had a chance. The technical wizardry and CGI characters make it clear that many fine science fiction novels could be successfully filmed now. Pride of Chanur, next please.

I was pleased that Jack wanted me to be there when he saw this. The whole latenight atmosphere made it sort of dreamlike, though I did stay awake throughout.

Jack's plans had been up in the air for after the movie, but he was tired enough that he decided to sleep at my place, for the limited time that he could sleep. He was committed to running a meeting at nine AM, in Bellingham, and it was already three thirty when the movie let out. The only other problem with sleeping at my place -- I have only a twin bed. (I must get a bigger bed, soon! but that depends on a general rearranging and clear out in my bedroom.) But we made do, and got comfortable, and were soon asleep.