Summer movie time is in full swing in Abu Dhabi, and since in this heat the only place to find refuge other than your apartment is the mall, we've done our share of movie watching. The theatres here are pretty good and you get used to the Arabic subtitles pretty quickly. However, there definitely seems to be a different etiquette when it comes to movie watching in this part of the world. Based on the conversations that surround us and the almost compulsive amount of texting lighting up the theatre, one gets the impression that most people don't actually care about seeing the movie. It doesn't matter what's even playing. The lines at the ticket booths are slowed down by people who are still deciding what movie they want to see (I suspect more movies are chosen based on which seats are available than on reviews). Movies here are a different kind of escape. Growing up, movies were always a way for me to escape into a different world; here, the air conditioned theatres are escape enough, and the movies playing on the big screen are just an added bonus. Needless to say, big loud movies like Thor play really well here because they do a good job of covering up all the chatter, but the quieter films lose a little something. Julie and I really enjoyed Super 8 earlier this week, and nothing was lost in that fantastic train wreck, but it felt like I was the only one invested in all of the father/son scenes--perhaps that says more about me than Abu Dhabi.
One Line Summer Movie Reviews:
Thor: Thunderous! As expected. Great performances by all the leads. Swagger is not an easy thing to pull off, but kind of necessary for someone playing a Norse god.
X-Men: A lot better than the last couple of entries in the franchise, but that's not saying much. Again, the lead performance was great, I just found large chunks of it kind of tedious. I never thought I'd say this, but Hero training sequences are starting to wear thin.
Kung Fu Panda 2: Entertaining. Not as funny as the first, but, surprisingly, more touching, and we were able to find a theatre not showing it in 3-D. Hallelujah!
Super 8: Managed to recapture the vibe of stuff like The Goonies, The Explorers or Gremlins without feeling derivative. Easily the most enjoyable thing I've seen so far this summer.
 |
| It's not the Ferrari or the Lamborghini in our parking lot that's surprising; it's the Civic that's parked between them. |
1 comment:
Our movie going lately is sparse, at best. Though we did see Thor. I loved it. My tastes have changed in the past few years. Sigh. I'm not sure it's for the better!
Post a Comment