Movie Mania

Finally, I've got time to update! Hooray!

I'm doing a little better than I was the last time I updated. Roger Mexico made it to PA, and called me on Tuesday. Unfortunately I wasn't home; I was over at Zappagirl's watching Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Ooh, I felt bad when I picked up my messages and realized I missed his call. I did call him back the next day, and spoke to him briefly. His father was flying out to join him for a few days in the Great Apartment Hunt, and as a result of that, I've not had a chance to speak to him since Wednesday morning. Oh well. He'll be swinging back through town when he comes to pick up his cats. I'm sure I'll get the dirt on his past week then.

I saw something in the paper today that both amused and bothered me. There's a movie playing at the Esquire, the local "art house" movie theater called The Center of the World. Or rather, it was playing at the Esquire. Seems the movie was more than a bit sexual in nature, and one scene was edited out of the cut shown in the Queen City. (It involved a woman and a lollipop. Figure it out for yourself.) The decision to edit the scene was not made by Artisan, the company that released the film. Nope. The owner of the Esquire took it upon himself to delete the offensive scene. Well, the public found out, Artisan found out, the movie got pulled, wacky hijinks ensued.

Now, mind you, I had no desire to see this film. I'd read the review, and it didn't really appeal to my tastes. But it does bother me that this guy decided that since the scene squicked him out, then the rest of the city shouldn't be able to see it. I loathe censorship. I mean, the movie was unrated, with the "adults only" tag on it. I doubt anyone who was plunked down their hard-earned cash was expecting a family film. And generally, the Esquire is the theater in town who shows the movies that National Amusements won't touch. I've seen several films there that pushed the envelope. Happiness. Your Friends and Neighbors. Requiem for a Dream. (Side note: do not rent Requiem for a Dream from Blockbuster. They've done a snip job of their own. Reportedly, they cut something like 30 seconds out of the film. Whatever.) It ticks me off that my favorite theater is showing this lack of integrity by showing their own censored version rather than the version that the director and Artisan deemed as the finished product. It's kinda like putting a pair of boxers on Michaelangelo's David so his naughty bits won't be dangling in the breeze. Only in Cincinnati, folks.

Not to equate this movie with an artistic masterpiece, but you get the point. Anyway, that isn't what I wanted to talk about today.

I have pretty varied tastes when it comes to movies, and with the people I usually see films with, it's a good thing. A few people in my life are what I refer to as movie nazis. They have set rules as to what genres they will and will not watch, which sometimes makes choosing a feature difficult.

Take Roger Mexico, for instance. We saw a lot of movies together, either in the theater or on videotapes we rented. He will not watch anything animated, which meant he gave me a look every time I mentioned the latest Disney flick or South Park. He also wasn't big on comedies, which meant that about half of my video library never was taken to his house for late night viewing. He was Mr. Drama/Political Intrigue/James Bond/War Movie guy. So somehow I ended up watching The Thin Red Line over Memorial Day weekend. It was OK, but it really wasn't I went into Blockbuster to rent. Of course, it meant I had someone to watch The Contender with, so I guess things could have been worse.

And then there's JohnnyB, the cinematic polar opposite. He will see practically anything animated (being an artist and all), and he's all about bad comedies. Yes, he's the one who dragged me to see Little Nicky. He's the one I rented Road Trip with. He's also a bad sci-fi/horror movie fanatic. I don't want to think about the profanity that has escaped my lips in Hollywood Video when I catch him eyeing the schlocky straight-to-video movies. He made me watch Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows. Let us never speak of it again.

Trying to get JohnnyB to see anything at the Esquire is like pulling teeth. I managed to get him there twice: once for Being John Malkovich, once to see Princess Mononoke. Unfortunately, he made me sit through House on Haunted Hill after Princess Mononoke. Gaaaaaah.

As he put it once, he looks for at least one of three things in a movie: big guns, scary monsters, and women in various states of undress. Do you see what I'm dealing with, people? At least we met all three requirements when we rented Heavy Metal 2000.

Actually, Roger Mexico also had a penchant for the sci-fi/horror thing. He was obsessed with renting Hellraiser for over a month. Alas, our local Blockbuster sucks, and didn't have it.

To this day, I have a hard time remembering who I saw Stigmata with and who I went to End of Days with.

It's a good thing I love those boys, or someone would have been throttled in the New Releases section by this point.

Thankfully Zappagirl isn't a movie nazi. She understands my chick flick needs (Charlie's Angels, What Women Want, Bring It On), not to mention the musical thing. It's a proven fact that most women our age have the Grease gene. (Roger Mexico rolled his eyes and said he's rather be trapped in a closet for 5 days listening to the Backstreet Boys than watch Grease.)

So guess who I'm going to see Moulin Rouge with? (Roger Mexico didn't even know it was a musical, and looked a little terrified when I mentioned that I wanted to go see Obi-Wan sing.)

(Oh, and one more thing...JohnnyB? I'm sorry I was such a killjoy and resisted when Rush Hour was playing at the cheap theater. Zappagirl and I rented it last night, and I rolled on the floor giggling the entire time. I'll make it up to you on the sequel, OK? Opening night? And if you play your cards right, I might even go see Tomb Raider.)