The kids and I went to the movies last night. Big production. We got crossed up on the start time so ended up taking four taxi rides: one trip to get the tickets and find out that the movie didn't start for another three hours, another to dinner, then back to the theater and then finally home. The taxi fares were all around 35 Pesos, which translates to about $3 US, so they were cheap enough. The movie tickets were comparable to what they charge in the US, in other words all the money in your wallet. Not that I'm complaining, I would never do that, would I?
The dialog was in English with subtitles in Spanish, which I appreciated. While I intend to learn to speak Spanish, I have a long row to hoe to get where I would be able to get by on my own. Fortunately I've got my entourage (the kids) with me whenever I got out which means I can get by on 'Buenos dias', 'gracias' and my favorite phrase d'espanol: 'uno mas cerveza fria, por favor, and be quick about it'.
The movie? I dunno. Part emotional roller-coaster, part action-thriller, part socio-political commentary. It bore absolutely no resemblance to the book, but it's been a few years since I read it, and come to think of, I don't remember much about it at all. I know I really liked the books, but what I remember are the movies, especially Katniss and what's-his-name, the stumblebum. There was a lot of dead air in the movie, but maybe you need that for the transitions they made.
A couple of times I got something in my eye and had to wipe away the tears lest the kids think that the rock could be swayed by something so trivial as a movie. These moments were totally unexpected, there was no big lead up, nothing to lead me to expect that this was a critical juncture, but turn the corner and, oh.
The action scenes were pure Hollywood, but we aren't trying to recreate an actual military operation, they are just support for the main story, and the main story is big, wide and deep.
We are talking about revolution, civil war, the rule of law, and law and order versus the rights of man. Heavy stuff, stuff that has been under discussion for millennia. Some discussions lead to 'better' situations for all involved. Some lead to amusement parks for the wealthy. Am I talking about North Korea or the USA? I'm not sure.
P.S. Google doesn't know the word millennia? Their spell checker doesn't like it.
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