Michele and I went to a late movie last night at the Bear Tooth Theatrepub. As I have probably said before, I do not know why this concept has not caught on all over the country. Nothing could be better than to spend three bucks on a not-quite-new-but-not-really-that-old movie, in a great movie house that has every other row knocked out for tables, and they bring you superb food and award-winning beer brewed on premises and poured from an actual bar on the first floor of the theatre. (Non-alcoholic section is in the balcony by separate entrance.) This is just genius - and bliss. But the thing that makes it great (and would make it easy to fail for anyone trying it) is the consistently fantastic food and the home brew begun years before when the Moose's Tooth guys started as brewers and restaurateurs, prior to the old Denali Theatre (buck a show for movies about two years old, and your feet stuck to the floor afterward) being renovated for what houses a fine grill, a second Moose's Tooth cafe, and then the theatrepub itself. Sorry for the dearth of punctuation in that sentence. They're also the local source for smaller-run films that won't get seen anywhere else, as well as a regular spot for open-captioned movies.
Anyway the real point of this note is to say that the other fun thing about watching movies here is that there is a little more relaxed attitude toward movie behavior. Possibly this also has to do with the beer, but when I say relaxed movie behavior, I don't mean inconsiderate. Far from it. People are sated with great food and beer, they aren't inconsiderate. But they do interact a little more with the movie.
So we went for a second helping of Viggo Mortenson last night in "A History of Violence" which I have reviewed elsewhere in this blog in the original. The thing about last night's crowd that made it fun were the editorial comments delivered (mostly by guys) during the sex scenes, the sincerely appreciative remarks (mostly by guys) at the sight of Maria Bello's full (and waxed) frontal exposure, and the equal-opportunity spontaneous eruption of applause that swept the room when Viggo's son opens the whupass on the school bullies. And no censorship on the verbal reactions to the blood and gore, so there was a Batman sense of punctuation all around as people stopped eating their spinach and artichoke pizzas or their sun-dried tomato hummus long enough to react with disgust as the gobbets flew.
For a prime time movie at Century Theatres, I can pay fifteen bucks for admission, a small popcorn and soda. (Bottom line: I don't, almost never.) Last night I paid about twelve, which got me not only a ticket but a blackened-halibut burrito the approximate girth of a regulation football, crammed full of veggies and perfectly seasoned fish and a refreshing surprise of peach salsa, plus homecooked chips dense with lime and cilantro. Watching Viggo's fine exterior with my hands wrapped around a delicious, warm, fleshy burrito that I could hardly fit in my mouth? That's entertainment.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
"History of violence? Great. OK, let's see....I'll have....the prime rim, make that rare, a side of tomato soup, and do you have a red wine tonight?"
Actually, I was trying to be a smart alec with that, but honestly, after American Psycho, I think I could eat during History of Violence without any trouble.
My problem with a place like that is finding a movie that I can be detached from enough to eat during it.
Well, it's not like you're at a restaurant table with lights and clinking silverware. The theatre menu is mostly stuff that you can hold with your hands or you can dig at, like their amazing nachos that ain't your mama's Velveeta. You put this little traffic cone with reflective tape on your table (which is just a narrow table and up high, like you might see at a standing counter in a food court, and the food runners come and go unobtrusively. And I guess since it's a second-run movie house, they figure if you wanted complete lack of distractions you would have ponied up the bucks during initial release! You can afford an attention lapse, dadburn it!
Lapses in attention are free. They cost me nothing. But I am still not sure I'd want to risk one during any part of Viggo's exterior - or posterior - and can we get a full frontal, waxed? I'll have a burrito with that!
We finally rented this last night, and I thought it was great! I agree with you that it was too short and I wanted more.
And I enjoyed Viggo's butt-shot.
Post a Comment