Those Lazy Days of Summer

New at NightsAndWeekends.com Since Last Week:
Speed Racer
Redbelt
Made of Honor

May seems to be a pretty sleepy month for movies. And by that, I don’t mean that the movies are boring. I just mean that there aren’t a lot of them. For instance, last week, two movies opened (in wide release, that is): Iron Man and Made of Honor. This week, it’s What Happens in Vegas and Speed Racer. Next week, it’s just Prince Caspian. The week after, it’s Indiana Jones. In other words, all kinds of big movies that no one wants to try to battle at the box office. So while each week brings an exciting new adventure for us critics, they’re few and far between.

This week, we had just two screenings—both on Tuesday. On Tuesday morning, we were scheduled to see What Happens in Vegas at The Other Theater (the one where we rarely have morning screenings—but where we totally prefer to have them). Since it’s much closer to home, that meant that I could leave at the same time and still make a stop at the nearby Tim Horton’s. It’s a good thing that I had plenty of time, though—because the poor kid working the counter clearly had no idea what he was doing. He greeted me when I walked in and asked what he could get me, and I said, “I’ll have a chocolate chip muffin…” and I paused to let him do whatever he needed to do. Instead, he just stared at me. So I went on. “…And a small hazelnut iced coffee with no cream and a little bit of sugar.”

His response: “A chocolate chip muffin.”

At that point, I knew I was in trouble. This one took a whole lot of explaining on my part—and when I walked out, I ended up with a regular iced coffee with no nothin’, but I wasn’t about to complain. The movie would be over by the time I got what I wanted.

But at least I had my muffin. And some sort of coffee.

When I got to the parking lot, David was already there, eating a breakfast burrito in his car. (I’ve mentioned that film critics have a glamorous life, right?) And Jason had just followed me from the Tim Horton’s drive-thru. So we gathered in the lobby to wait for the others.

Apparently, everyone was a bit burnt out after seeing Made of Honor last week—because very few people showed up for the screening. And when it began, I, too, was a little (okay…more than a little) worried. But, fortunately, it turned out to be much better than Made of Honor (not that the bar was set all that high).

After the screening, we all went our separate ways, heading back to our offices to try to write something up before racing back to the theater again that night for Speed Racer.

Since most of our evening screenings have been at the same time and same place lately, I didn’t even think to double-check the time of the screening—until we’d finished dinner. It was then that I realized that the screening was at 7—not 7:30—and we had to race to the theater. I called David to ask him to save us seats, and we headed out—dirty dishes all over the kitchen. It looked like a tornado had just gone through—but we had places to be.

Of course, we were still there plenty early. So no worries there. We were, however, displaced from our usual seats—this time, not by the usual rep, complete with entourage, but by one of our own. He had taken the center seats, leaving the rest of us either to split up (which sucks—but we do it if we have to) or to sit at the very side of the theater, right by the steps (which would mean that half of the movie would be blocked out by the constant parade of kids heading to and from the bathroom). Though Jason asked him politely if he could move down just a couple of seats, he refused—first stating that they were press seats (apparently assuming that the rest of us were just pushy fanboys) and then announcing, “No, I’m good here.”

It’s not like someone was asking him to sit up front—or way off on the side. They were just asking him to move a seat or two over. We do it all the time. No big deal. But apparently it would have meant the end of the world for this guy. Eventually, Jason got the rep to ask him to move over—which, I’m sure, made us look a little spoiled, but we didn’t really care. At least we didn’t have to deal with the parade of kids headed to the bathroom.

As it turned out, though, not only did the guy refuse to move over, but he also refused to let anyone sit next to him, preferring to save an extra seat for his coat. Now, in many cases, that’s okay. The theater doesn’t always fill up. But, in this case, there were more passes than seats—and there were all kinds of people who were turned away. The reps in charge asked (several times) if anyone had extra seats around them, but he never said a word. So someone was sent home that night because his coat needed a seat. Now, I understand that some critics like to have their “buffer seat”—but even John, who loves his buffer seat, will give it up when there’s a full house. So I’d say that this guy ranks right up there with the one who, upon showing up late for I Am Legend and demanding a seat, told the guy who showed up on time and still got thrown out, “Yeah, like you’d lose your job if you didn’t see this movie.”

So when people tell me that film critics are jerks (and yes, people have), I guess I can’t totally disagree. Some are. But I swear that most of us are totally cool. Really. So please don’t throw things at us or send death threats via email. We’re really not that bad.

But anyway…Speed Racer was, as expected, one crazy movie. Needlessly complex but totally crazy. When we walked out, Bill announced that he was going to go home and stare at a blank screen for a while, just to recover. A few guys complained of headaches. And I couldn’t actually see normal colors—everything was red and blue and swirly polka dots and stuff for hours after the movie ended. But, well, it was kinda fun anyway.

The kids, on the other hand, were barely effected—unless, of course, you count the fact that they came running out of the theater and ran around in circles and bumped into things. Other than that, though, they seemed happy.

After the screening, Kevin had to head back to greet his in-laws, who moved in for a few days to take care of Kevin’s two little guys while Kevin and his wife, Carolyn, brought the third little Kevin into the world. And on Wednesday afternoon, we got the news—along with the unauthorized photos—of the birth of the latest Carr, Nicholas Ronon. In a couple of years, he, too, will be wreaking havoc on movie theaters and running into things—and I look forward to it. Believe it or not, little Carr kids are really quite adorable. Why, just last week, at the Iron Man screening, the youngest walked up to Neil and, out of the blue, announced, “I love you, Neil.” Of course, this is the same child who, right after the Speed Racer screening, also exhibited is talent for farting on cue. So, yeah—cute…and entertaining.

But that’s it for this week—just one crazy day of screenings followed by a few days to recover. Next week will be even quieter. We just have one screening scheduled for next week—Son of Rambow (yeah!). Of course, there’s no Prince Caspian screening—so we’ll all be heading out on Friday to see it at the Movie Tavern (where there will be fried pickles). My brother-in-law, Ed, the coolest brother-in-law ever, will be showing up for a visit on Thursday night, so he’ll get thrown right into the craziness that is known as the COFCA Mafia (AKA “The Internet Mavericks,” AKA “The Rodents”). It’s sure to be quite an adventure for young Ed. Perhaps I’ll drag him away from the Wii long enough to guest blog for me on Monday, following his movie-filled weekend.

Welcome to the Circus

New at NightsAndWeekends.com Since Last Week:
I Am Legend
Atonement
Juno

HOOOO, BOY! Do I have stories to tell today! Refill your coffee and settle in—because this one’s a long one.

Monday morning, I skipped a screening. First of all, it was Monday morning. Second of all, it was a documentary about skiing. And third, it’s December. I don’t have time to watch skiing documentaries on a Monday morning. So I skipped. That meant that my first screening of the week was Tuesday night.

Tuesday night’s screening was I Am Legend. This was one of those movies that everyone’s been looking forward to for months. Not only was everyone looking forward to it, but this particular screening was the only pre-release screening. It was the only chance the press would have to see it. So pretty much everyone was coming. And, apparently, so was everyone in town.

Typically, I leave home an hour before an evening screening—sometimes more. Usually, that gives me enough time to drive to the theater, get a parking spot, make my way into the theater, and get a seat before the theater people start letting in the general public. Yeah, it’s early, but it guarantees that I’ll get a decent seat—and it means that I have some time to catch up with my esteemed colleagues before the movie starts.

This Tuesday, I was a little worried that I might be late. My husband was planning on joining me, but he had a meeting until at least 5:30. So I made sure the rest of the gang knew we’d be there—though maybe a few minutes later than usual. Fortunately, though, the meeting didn’t go too long, and we were able to make it to the theater at a decent time. We arrived at around 6:20 for the 7:00 screening—and by the time we got to the theater, there was already a line down the hall and through the lobby.

So here’s the thing about screenings: there are always more passes than seats. The studio wants to make sure the theater’s full for the screening, so they give out a ton of passes. It even says so in the small print on the passes. Most of the time, it’s not a problem—but that does mean that, from time to time, the reps have to turn people away. I Am Legend was one of those times.

There are times when it’s good to be press—and this was one of them. It meant that we got to walk past all the people who were still waiting in line in the lobby. I went up to the guy at the door and told him I was press, and he let us in. As we walked down the crowded hallway, I saw the rest of the gang standing at the door, waiting to get in. Jason waved and motioned for us to hurry, so I trotted down the hall to catch up. As I did, I was met with all kinds of shouts from the peanut gallery.

“HEY! The back of the line’s BACK HERE!” they called out.

Actually, it was a good thing I was running—because otherwise, I probably would have gotten myself beaten.

So at that point, I knew we were in for an interesting evening. After all, people are never happy when they get turned away from a screening—even (or perhaps especially) if it’s a free screening. People get angry. I’ve heard that one of the reps once got her car keyed by angry people who were turned away. It’s stupid, but it’s true. So we got ourselves settled in, saved seats for Kevin and Neil, and braced ourselves for what was to come.

To be honest, I don’t even know how to begin to explain the insanity that was Tuesday night. First of all, let’s just say that the theater was packed. Usually, there’s someone at the door, counting people to make sure they know when to stop letting people in. Apparently the count was a bit off—because too many people were allowed in the theater. This meant that many of them ended up standing in the aisles—or on the stairs—looking for that one open seat. That meant, of course, that they were eyeing our saved press seats like a vulture eyes a dying bunny rabbit. Fortunately, Kevin and Chris made it into the theater in time to get some seats, and Neil showed up and took his seat, too. He said that they almost didn’t let him in, and he had to pull a “Don’t you know who I am?” to fight his way in.

After Neil showed up, it turned out that we had two extra seats. There just happened to be two sad-looking young guys standing right by us, so we decided to give them the seats. They were so happy and so grateful. But the second they sat down, the rep swooped in and asked who they were with. The two guys looked so befuddled. But apparently there’s weren’t enough press seats saved. (We later heard that they’d only held 15 press seats—for the only screening of one of the biggest releases of the month.) So the poor guys had to give up their seats again.

Fortunately, those two guys handled it really well. Yeah, it sucked. And I felt really bad for them. But they didn’t throw a fit. That was still to come.

So seats in the theater were so in demand that people would do anything to get them. At one point, one empty seat turned up in the middle of the upper section of the theater, sending two grown men racing to get it. They raced through the aisles, up the stairs, and over all the people in the row. Seriously, it was a circus. For those of us who already had seats, it was sad—but highly entertaining nonetheless.

But one of the guys ended up with the seat and the other one ended up having to leave. As he was walking out, some woman got up and announced that there was another empty seat available. As the rep tried to explain that it was being held for someone, the woman stopped halfway down the stairs and yelled out, announcing to everyone, “No! That seat is open because I’m leaving. My son got thrown out, so I have to go—even though I waited in line for an hour to get seats.” In a way, I felt bad for the crabby old lady. Yes, it sucks to wait in line for an hour. And yes, it totally sucks that her son was the guy who didn’t race to the extra seat quickly enough. But I have no pity for someone who throws a fit like that. She laid into poor Brook, who was working the theater that night—even though it wasn’t Brook’s fault. At that point, I just wanted to give the poor girl a hug—because she looked like she was ready to cry. Or have a nervous breakdown. Perhaps both. And I couldn’t blame her.

So after all that, there was still another problem: two members of the press decided that they could show up at exactly 7:00 and demand to get seats. Now, I realize that we’re one of the big reasons why they have these screenings. We’re there to review the movies and give them more press coverage. And that’s why they let us in before everyone else—and it’s why they save us seats, just in case we can’t get there an hour early. But there’s definitely a reason why most of us get there ridiculously early. We know that people with free passes don’t take kindly to those “Reserved for Press” seats—so they rip the signs off and take the seats anyway. We know that sometimes the reps forget to save seats for us. We know that sometimes the theaters fill up. And it’s just easier to get there early, get out of everyone’s way, and hang out for a while. And if we’re going to be late, we make sure that someone knows we’re coming—so we’re sure to have a seat waiting for us when we get there.

Of course, as I said before, this isn’t usually a problem—which is a good thing, since there are a few press members who are infamous for always showing up at the last minute. But screenings aren’t usually this popular. In fact, I’ve never seen people waiting in the lobby like that, just hoping to make it to that line in the hallway. But we knew it was going to be crazy. It’s I Am Legend. There’s one screening. It’s Will Smith. Of course everyone’s going to show up. So, for one thing, the reps should have saved more than 15 press seats. But, at the same time, our colleagues should have known better. If you’re going to be late, at least let someone know that you’re coming. As David pointed out, those reserved press seats are a privilege—not a right. And if the theater’s that packed, and it’s ten minutes before the screening, the reps have every right to give those seats up to some guy who actually showed up an hour early because he wanted so desperately to see the movie.

So here’s what happened: because of these two press members, two more people were thrown out—after they’d been so relieved and overjoyed to actually get seats. The first was (understandably) quite upset, and the press member who was taking his seat threw an attitude and said, “Yeah, like you’d lose your job if you didn’t see this movie.” Okay, now if it’s that important that you see this movie, don’t you think you could show up on time?

Meanwhile, the second press member was getting a seat, too—which meant that the poor guy who had raced through the theater to get a seat got ejected from the theater.

So all of us who had been there on time (or who had let other people know that they’d be a little late, since they had to work until 6) watched the whole thing in horror. You see, people already resent us. They harass us in the hallways for walking right into the theater when they’ve been waiting in line for a half hour. They get pissed off when they don’t have their choice of every seat in the theater because a couple of them are reserved for press. But at least most of us get in there, sit down, and shut up. We don’t harass them or taunt them. We don’t let them sit down, only to take away their seat and tell them that they’ll have to leave. And those who do just make the rest of us look bad.

So anyway…once everyone was settled in—and the rest of us were all buzzing about what had just happened, I looked at Bill, who was seated next to me, and announced, “This is the most entertaining screening I’ve been to all year—and the movie hasn’t even started yet!”

Eventually—to our great relief, that was the end of the pre-screening show. And the movie did eventually start—though a little later than planned. Once again, though, we ended up seated behind a bunch of people who felt the need to talk through the entire movie. Worst of all, though, was the fact that someone had actually brought a baby to the movie. First of all, it’s a PG-13 movie. There’s no need for a baby to see it. And second of all, you got a free pass. Pay for a freakin’ babysitter. Instead, though, these people brought their baby, who cried and laughed and babbled through the entire screening—until Kevin complained (twice) and finally got the inconsiderate parent (and the babbling baby) thrown out. Really, though, it makes me sad to think that someone else got thrown out so the entire crowd could listen to a baby babble through the whole movie.

Needless to say, the post-screening banter was less about the movie itself than it was about the pre-screening entertainment.

In fact, the same was the case the next morning, when a few of us met up to see The Water Horse. John doesn’t sit by us at evening screenings (or perhaps we don’t sit by him—since he was here first). He prefers sitting way up front (something to do with the legroom and the quick getaway). So we compared notes on the previous evening’s events. And as more critics showed up, everyone added their two cents to the discussion.

On Wednesday night, there were a couple of screenings, but I ended up taking a much-needed night off. But the discussion continued on Thursday night, when a bunch of us met up for dinner before a late screening of Sweeney Todd.

Really, this week was a big week: both I Am Legend and Sweeney Todd, two movies that we’d been looking forward to seeing for ages. Actually, I’d been looking forward to seeing Sweeney Todd since I first heard it was being made. Up until last week, I was a bit concerned that I wouldn’t be able to see it until Thursday night—the night before release—thanks to next week’s screening schedule insanity. But this last-minute screening popped up on the schedule, and we all decided that it was much more important than the screening of P.S. I Love You. To celebrate, we all met up for happy hour before heading to the screening.

Since it was such a last-minute screening, it was held in a tiny theater. Still, there was a line when we showed up. We walked up to the security guys, and Neil announced, “Hi. We’re cool.” The guard gave him a funny look, and the rest of us laughed and explained that we were press.

“Ah,” the guard said. “Then you are cool. Go on in.”

We took our seats and continued the chatter, comparing notes on screenings—and the award screeners that we’ve been sent. And we all took note of the obvious improvement when one of Tuesday night’s press members showed up at six minutes before the screening instead of one or two. Fortunately, it wasn’t a crowded screening, so there were plenty of seats left.

Since I’m not really supposed to talk about the movie until it comes out next week, I’ll just say that I wasn’t disappointed—and I’ll leave it at that.

The week concluded with another screening on Friday morning. Apparently, There Will Be Blood was a popular one—since all kinds of press members came out of the woodwork for it. There were people we rarely see (because they don’t actually review movies anymore) and others that we’d never seen before. Personally, I wouldn’t be coming out of the woodwork for a 2½-hour drama on a Friday morning, but I guess that’s just me.
Fortunately, the screening went off without a hitch—until about 2/3 of the way through, when the speakers started crackling. I had a flashback to last year’s The Pursuit of Happyness screening, when, about 2/3 of the way through, we got to a reel that was backwards and upside-down, causing us to sit and wait for an hour before watching the end of the movie. I was a little worried that it would happen again—this week, nothing would have surprised me. As the speaker crackled again, Jason announced, “It’s White Noise! There’s a ghost in the theater!”

“What’s he trying to tell us?” I asked.

“That this movie’s way too long.”

Eventually, though, the movie ended—without interruption. I had lost all feeling in my legs, and I seriously had to pee. So it was good to get out. When it was over, John and Clay and I went out for a late-late lunch at a new little restaurant down the street. John and Clay bickered like an old married couple. John and I gossiped like a couple of teenage girls. And Clay and I discussed how much of a snob John is. So, pretty much, it was lunch as usual. The food was good, and the company was even better.

Next week, we’re in for a long haul. It’s nice that we had some scheduling changes—so we can actually see more of the movies that had all been scheduled to screen at the same time—but it means that we have that many more screenings to attend. We’ve got screenings on Monday and Tuesday morning, as well as Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night. If I want, I can go to a Thursday night screening, too—but since we’re packing our bags and heading out for our Christmas travels on Friday afternoon, that might be a stupid idea. But, then again, that’s never stopped me before. So we’ll see…

Underwater Singing—And Other Screening Catastrophes

New at NightsAndWeekends.com Since Last Week:
The 11th Hour
In the Shadow of the Moon
The Brothers Solomon
Shoot ‘Em Up

This week was another slow screening week—but it was far from uneventful.

It all started right away on Monday. My husband was once again gone for a few days this week (Dallas this time), so I started the week on my own again. This is not a good thing, but it definitely makes me appreciate my husband even more—because it shows me what a mess my life would be if I didn’t have my structured engineer-type husband to keep things in order. But more on that later.

Anyway, we had a screening of The Brave One scheduled for Monday night. In my planner, I had it written down as 7:30—which meant that I’d be able to go to my kids’ knitting group in the afternoon and still have time to grab dinner at Wendy’s or something and get a little bit of work done before the screening. It’s a good thing that I checked my pass when I left the group at 6, though—because the pass said that the screening was at 7 instead of 7:30. So I dug a smushed SlimFast bar out of my bag (I keep them there for emergencies such as these—which reminds me…I need to restock) and called it dinner. I ate it in the car on the way to the theater, while talking on the phone to my mom…and then my husband…and then my mom… I swear I’m going to get myself killed doing that. But, fortunately, I made it through this week without incident.

I made it to the theater just as Bill was making his way through the parking lot (and right after our pal, Hazel, had made her way inside). Bill had just spent the weekend setting up his new computer—one that we’re all quite sure could launch missiles. I’ll be sure to be extra-nice to him from now on.

You never know what kind of a crowd you’re going to get when you go to a screening. Sometimes, they’re just fine. Sometimes, they’re filled with babies and people who can’t shut up—like Monday’s screening. Personally, I would think that if you’d gotten a free pass to a movie, you might be able to spring for a babysitter for your toddler (And hello! A movie about a woman who goes vigilante and starts shooting people? It’s not exactly a Disney movie, people.). But maybe that’s just me. Still, there were a bunch of babies at the screening—one or two of whom were gone before the first Michael Clayton trailer started (we got to see the trailer twice—but it still didn’t make any of us any more excited to see the movie).

So we were still left with a couple of babies—and one loud, crazy man who was sitting right behind the rather substantial row of critics. The guy felt it was his duty to add his own sound effects and shout out totally random comments at inappropriate times throughout the movie. At first, it was funny. A little bit. And then it just got irritating. At one point, after one totally random outburst, Jason looked at me and said, “Jeez, does this guy have Tourettes, or what?”

Finally, Kevin (who was way down on the other end of the row) had enough. And after yet another random outburst, he responded with, “Dude. You’re not funny.” Fortunately, that shut the guy up—though I was totally waiting for a brawl to break out. And I didn’t walk out into the parking lot with Kevin, either. Just in case.

On Tuesday, I’d been planning on heading to an evening screening of The Game Plan—but it had mysteriously disappeared from our schedule. There weren’t any other screenings scheduled for that night (no screenings on a Tuesday night—very strange). So I was left with a free night. A whole night free. I’m not used to those, and I really had no idea what I’d do with myself. Since my husband was still gone, I ended up working until 7. I would have worked later, actually, but I was getting hungry. (Did I even eat lunch on Tuesday afternoon? I have a feeling Tuesday’s lunch consisted of a cup of coffee…) So I ordered myself a giant bag of Chinese takeout and threw myself down on the couch, got out my chopsticks, and picked out one of the DVDs from the pile on the coffee table. After I finished my General Tso’s chicken and crab rangoons, I went back into the kitchen and cracked open a bottle of wine.

Now, I realize that my night was, by comparison, totally lame. I realize that most women, when faced with a husband-free night, would call up the girls and head to a bar. But (a) all my girls have babies. And (b) I was just too lazy to leave the house (other than to pick up my General Tso’s). I also realize that it’s pretty pathetic that I technically spent my night working. But just wait—it gets worse.

So after I finished my first DVD, I realized that it was only a little after 9. I picked up another screening from my pile and noticed it was only 96 minutes long. So I refilled my wine glass and settled in for a double feature.

Yes, I do realize that I’ve lost my mind.

I was interrupted once by a phone call from my husband in Dallas, after which I got out some ice cream and a spoon and had dessert while watching the end of Movie #2. By the time it ended, it was after 11, so I figured I’d call it a night. Although I usually stay up late and sleep in when I’m home alone, I knew that I needed to get up at the crack of dawn on Thursday—because I needed to be downtown at the station to record the radio show at 8:30—so I figured I’d better stick to a somewhat normal schedule.

The problem, however, was that I couldn’t sleep. Apparently, my brain isn’t used to sitting on the couch all night and then going to bed. It’s used to rushing through dinner, to the theater, through the screening, and then heading back home to take a few notes before hurrying off to bed and willing myself to sleep right now. My brain isn’t used to spending a whole night chilling out. Eventually, I stopped trying. I just got up and worked on a review until 2 and decided to try again. So much for getting to bed early.

Wednesday was, strangely, another free night—one that I once again spent attempting to get to bed on time, to no avail. I must say that Thursday morning’s 6:30 wake-up call came much to early. But I had a show to do, so I got my ass out of bed and grabbed a Coke for the road. The rush hour gods were smiling on me, and I even got to the studio early. I was all crazy and jittery and sleep-deprived, but I somehow made it through our recording. And you can listen to this week’s show at WCBE.org.

We made it out of the studio by about 10 and headed straight for the theater for our 11:00 screening. We had more than enough time to grab a cookie and a much-needed coffee. And as we sat and recapped the show, we found out that there was a bit of a glitch with the screening. Apparently, Eastern Promises is at some random aspect ratio that the theater didn’t actually have. Now, you’d think that a movie theater would be able to accommodate all the aspect ratios out there, but I guess you’d be wrong. We were told that they had to use a different lens, and they had to tape it off. So if the heads were cut off a bit, that wasn’t the director’s fault.

Lovely.

To add to the strange aspect-ratio thing, at one point, about a half hour or so into the movie (just when Viggo Mortensen and Vincent Cassel are hitting the brothel), it just cut out. And the lights went up. I started having flashbacks, back to last December, when about 2/3 of the way through The Pursuit of Happyness, the print was suddenly backwards and upside-down. After about an hour or so of sitting around, we got to watch the last part. Fortunately, though, we didn’t have to wait a whole hour this time—but we did get to sit and chat for a while before seeing the rest of the movie.

And it was more of the same today. When I was on the way to the screening, I got a call from David, who told me that the parking lot was already full, and he was driving around the streets, trying to find a spot. Now, it’s bad enough when there aren’t any spots left in the lot, but that happens often, since there are only about 20 spots to begin with. But now they’re doing work on the streets around the theater, too, so the street spots aren’t available, either. It means that we have to walk three or four blocks from our car to the theater. I’m all for exercise and all (and I realize that I should probably get a little more of it), but I really don’t want it forced upon me—especially not when I was running a bit behind to begin with, and it’s only ten minutes until the screening’s supposed to start. It’s a good thing morning screenings never start on time—because I still had enough time to down a cookie and grab some coffee before the screening started.

Today was Across the Universe, the Julie Taymor movie with all the Beatles songs. Now, if you were to think of the worst thing that could go wrong during a screening of a musical, what would that be? If you guessed “sound problems,” you’d be right—and that’s exactly what we got. At one point, most likely at the beginning of a new reel, the sound went all weird. Remember back in the days of cassette tapes, when the sound would go all wonky right before the player ate the tape? That’s what it sounded like—for about a third of the movie. Once the first wonky song began, Jason quipped, “Are they singing under water?” But that’s exactly what it sounded like. One of the guys even got up to complain, but it didn’t do any good. It was seriously annoying—and it caused much grumbling from the crowd of critics. For me, the worst of it was that it destroyed Bono’s song. And I love Bono. Screwing with Bono is just not right.

Okay. So clearly this week wasn’t the best of weeks for screenings. But hey—you win some, you lose some. I’m just going to cross my fingers and hope that next week is good enough to make up for this week.

Stay tuned to find out…