27 January 2006
MegaPlex

Filed under film

When it was announced a few years ago that a sixteen-screen theater was going to be built near Ward Centre, my reaction at first was, “Great. That’s ten screens for the next Ace Ventura movie and another eight for whatever Bruckheimer and Bay have next. I don’t honestly remember if I actually said, “Bruckheimer and Bay,” but that’s the sort of movie I had in mind, and it makes for better storytelling because “Bruckheimer and Bay” is alliterative and kind of cool-sounding. Plus, the theaters opened in time for Pearl Harbor, which was produced by Bruckheimer and directed by Bay.

Even if we had a thousand screens on this tiny island, the number of screens dedicated to showing the kinds of movies I’d rather see (most of the time), the anti-Bruckheimer, anti-Bay films, would certainly remain the same. I’d like to say this ticks me off, but it’s really just an inconvenience. It can’t tick me off because the truth is that when I go see these films on the four or five screens on which they show, there aren’t a whole lot of people in the audience. Whether the few screens is cause or effect is up for debate, but even when the theater at Restaurant Row tried to make a go of being an “arthouse,” and a lot of the good films were getting more exposure, there weren’t hundreds of people lining up to get in.

Which is too bad, because as you and I know, when people actually see these films, they seem to enjoy them as much as you and I do. I mean, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Shall We Dance?, and Spellbound are wonderful films no matter who you are, and they are exceptional only in that word of mouth somehow brought the popcorn-movie crowd through the hallowed doors of the Varsity. The films themselves are certainly no more appealing than lots of other films I’ve seen in the same space — that’s for sure.

Well. Except for Spellbound, which is the best documentary I’ve ever seen.

I’m saying all this because right now, there are nineteen titles listed for the eighteen screens at Dole Cannery, several of which are up for Academy Awards. It’s true that this is Oscar season and that a lot of these are in second release, and it is also true that this is usually not the time for multiple-screen blockbusters, but even in years past, I don’t remember there being so many different titles at one theater. That’s kind of cool. Especially since just last weekend there was nothing I really wanted to see and now there are quite a few interesting titles, including Woody Allen’s Match Point, Sarah Silverman’s Jesus is Magic, Philip Seymor Hoffman’s Capote, and Terrence Malick’s The New World. I’ll probably see Silverman first, since she’s a babe and since this will be the shortest-run of these films. Also because I don’t feel like going WITH anyone to a movie, and I don’t know anyone very interested in Sarah Silverman.

And speaking of Pearl Harbor, check out these two lists:

List #1

• Chasing Amy
• Good Will Hunting
• Shakespeare in Love
• Dogma
• Mallrats
• Jersey Girl

List #2

• Armageddon
• Pearl Harbor
• Paycheck
• Gigli
• Forces of Nature

If you’d seen only the movies in list #1, and none of the movies in list #2, you’d think Ben Affleck is a pretty good actor. If you’d seen only the movies in list #2, you’d think exactly the opposite. May I suggest that a good actor can often be bad, but a bad actor can never really be good? Check him out (again, if necessary) in Good Will Hunting, which is easily his best performance. Watch the scene where Affleck gives Matt Damon his birthday gift, and you’ll see some great acting (not to mention some pretty good directing). Earlier, when the guys are sitting in a booth at the bar, Affleck is the center of one of my favorite guys-sitting-around-talking scenes ever. Ever. I mean, Damon and Affleck just nail it.

Sure, he’s a pretty boy who gets too much press, but the guy’s got chops. Jersey Girl had a lot of problems, but none of the problems have anything to do with Affleck’s acting. I think he plays it just right, and where it’s not right, it’s really Kevin Smith’s fault.

In Dogma, there’s a scene where the Damon character asks the Affleck character why he dislikes humans so much. Watch that scene a few times. That’s acting. It’s dark and haunted and raw, and it’s just about perfect.

So give the guy some credit.

2006-01-27  ::  me