Valerian vs Wonder Woman or the Movie Experience
I’m not fond of crowds. I’m not oclophobic. I can attend a concert and I have attended protests but I just don’t like being surrounded by people when watching a movie.
I blame it on my lack of patience on a number of behavior I’ve observed and been subjected to over the years: being distracted by the glare of mobile phones of people texting, people talking over the movie dialogues, people’s feet on top of the seats in front of them, a person’s foot on the arm rest next to me from a person sitting behind me who thought it was okay to stretch his foot and shoe to the arm rest in front of him, and kids throwing food with a piece landing on me.
It came to a point where I refused to watch a popular movie or any movie in cinema during popular show times. Since H greatly enjoyed the cinema experience, we compromised. We’d watch movies but only when it’s shown in the morning or around lunch time on weekends when people don’t normally watch.
Since arriving in the US, we’ve never been to the movies. We either watch the movies on the plane or waited for them to be shown on TV. About a month ago, we caved in. After researching movie theaters in Boston and reading their reviews, we watched Guardians of the Galaxy 2 at the AMC Loews Boston Common Cinema.
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Old movie posters lining the wall[/caption]
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Purchase your tickets from the self-service machines on the premises[/caption]
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Coke machines[/caption]
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Popular movie one-liners[/caption]
We had a wonderful experience, meaning the cinema wasn’t full and the people behaved. Last week, we wanted to watch a movie again, This time, it was choice between Valerian and Wonder Woman. Guess which one I chose? Guess what we ended up watching?
Valerian. Despite all the negative reviews, H was enamored with Luc Besson. He used my tactic on me to win me over.
Me: What are you watching?
H: Valerian trailer. Look, doesn’t it remind you of the Fifth Element?
Me: Uhuh.
Repeat with some variation.
H: Wonder Woman at Loews doesn’t have a morning showing. (trying to keep his face sad)
Me: Fine. Let’s watch Valerian
After watching the movie.
Me: Could any of the dialogues be any cheesier? Who was the writer? What did I watch?
H: Yeah, but the visuals were great, right?
We did better today. We went to the local cinema. Hey! They allowed beer and dogs inside the cinema. It was also the first time, I saw free iced water for movie goers. How cool was that? While the seats squeaked, the screen wasn’t as big, and the overall theatre looked dated, the movie was wonderful.
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Capitol Theatre in Arlington. Check out the old poster[/caption]
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Cinema 3[/caption]
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Obligatory pop corn.[/caption]
Gal Gadot was still rough around the edges as an actress but the other actors’ performance, the plot, the cinematography made the movie an enjoyable experience.
In terms of where to watch a movie, I’d still stick with Loews because the place isn’t as dated and there’s a big gap between seats so it’s not awkward passing in front of people. One thing I’m not particularly fond of is the lack of reserved seating. I was told some cinemas offer it but not in the two we’ve been to. It’s then a matter of getting there early and having the choice of seats or watching the movie weeks after the popularity’s waned.
