Movies

Wednesday was a movie intensive day! I went to see two of them. On the big screen.

There was a good reason. Both had a very limited number of screenings. In one case it was see it today or never. Well maybe not "never", but not anytime soon.

Movie 1 is called "Moon". This movie had a $0 advertising budget, which is a shame because I liked it. I only found about it by looking at show times for the other movie I went to see. I saw a listing for one showing of "Moon" at noon. That was it. Well that was a bit odd, seeing as how I had never heard a thing about it.

So I looked it up and discovered a few things. First, it is a Sundance film. Sony is behind it - so it had some sort of budget. And it takes place on the moon, So I wanted to see it.

The movie is about one Sam Bell, who has a three year contract to mine helium III on the far side of the moon. Earth needs helium III, not for balloons - but as fuel for fusion reactors. Important stuff!

I recommend not watching the trailer. Just look for it playing near you and check it out. Watching the trailer lets you in on too many things.

I did not watch any trailers or whatever before I saw it - and I am glad. I just had to watch it without any clue of what was going to happen next. The way a movie should be watched.

It was nice that there was no advertising at all. Counting me and my friend I went with, there were only 6 people watching it. It was quiet, nobody was trying to yell things at the characters in the movie - it was like a private screening just for the two of us.

Movie 2 was a one time one day showing of an opera. The Magic Flute. The live performance took place in 2006, but this was an encore thing. It played nation wide yesterday only at 7 PM in whatever time zone you are in. If you missed it - you missed it. Better luck next time I suppose.

It was interesting. First, they made all the opera people stand in a special line. Normally you just hand the people your ticket, they rip off the stub and hand it back to you, and then you are in. You can go buy concessions or play video games and stuff.

But no. Not this time. I was directed to the special line. Everyone else in the line was old. So I am thinking why the special line? Did the opera goers cause a problem last time? Did they get routy? Did they all try to sneak into another movie they did not pay for? Did they rob the concession stand? What?

The mystery deepened when none of the other people in the line reported never having seen such a thing before.

And then they checked everyone's ticket stub again before walking into the theater - which was only a few steps from the line.

Those opera people must be a big problem! Trying to sneak into Harry Potter 6!

Anyhow the theater we were eventually allowed to go into was one of the larger ones. There was PLENTY of room, although a good number of people showed up. It was really nice too. A good seat at a live opera is a couple grand. In Miami, the best seats are $2 - $3 grand! That is some serous scratch.

The step down from seats that cost $1k or more only cost about $700. Then $400.

The cheap seats way WAY in the back are around $45 each - but you are looking down at the stage from great height. Good luck seeing much.

At the theater, you are looking at a big screen. You can see the performers and stage set very well. And it is only $12 a pop for tickets.

All in all, it was worth it. I liked both movies. So did my friend. She had not heard anything about Moon. I knew we were going to see the opera, and since Moon was only showing Wednesday and Thursday at noon - I just asked her if she wanted to see two films on the same day. It was either that or miss it. We both have things to do today, but Wednesday was clear.

There are other movies I want to see. One is "The Hurt Locker".

But if you can find it playing, DO watch Moon. If not, there is always Netflix! Add it your your queue now.