We’ve (meaning me) been chomping at the bit waiting for Pirates of the Caribbean to come out.  I was excited when I heard some local theaters were doing sneak previews on Thursday rather than having to wait until Friday…I know, I know.  As if one day really makes a difference.  Weird rationalization considering that although I enjoyed Pirates II (more than Pirates I), it’s not one of my all-time favorite movies.  So you can imagine my disappointment when the realization hit me that I had to drive Squid to volleyball practice and therefore miss the sneak preview.

Anyway, after much conversation about the anticipated crowds and which time would be preferable to see the mshould have been there.ovie, we settled on 7:00.  So we were heading into the theater when a man approached us and asked if we’d already purchased tickets and if we wanted free ones.  Since I know that one (me especially) generally does not get something for nothing, I was a bit inquisitive about what the catch was.  The man said we had to go to a different theater, but what he meant was they had a designated theater for this particular showing, along with the enticement that it was only half-full.  That was quite the exaggeration, but free is free, and worst-case scenario, we could always buy tickets if something went awry.  So in we went.  The theater was waaaayyyy more than half full.  Let’s say all the desirable seats were taken and all that was left were the front 5 rows.  Amazingly enough the seats we chose in the 4th row weren’t half bad, from a visual standpoint.  Lincoln Square is my favorite theater for the simple fact that they have big, roomy, very comfortable seats.

The movie was surprisingly good for a sequel and was done well enough that it can stand on it’s own without the other two to make it make sense.  I was lukewarm about the first one.  Keep in mind I saw it on dvd at a holiday event, and was underwhelmed by it.  I saw the 2nd at Lincoln and really enjoyed that one.  Number 3 was well done and I enjoyed it also.  I think these movies need to be seen on the big screen.  TV, regardless of size, just doesn’t have the same effect.

The other advantage of Lincoln Square is that when the movie’s over, you take the escalator downstairs and there’s a whole variety of restaurants to choose from.  There is a very good Italian restaurant, Maggiano’s, and one of the bartenders is a friendly face from another restaurant I used to go to, so he always takes good care of us.  Incidentally, he was also sitting behind me in my real estate class on the first day of school…boy, was that a surprise.  Anyway, after the movie we were a bit on the light-hungry side, so we headed down to Maggiano’s.  Our waitress, Meredith, proved to be almost as entertaining as the movie.  Let’s just say she had her own chemically enhanced personal party going on inside her head.  Getting drinks, a beer and glass of wine, proved to be quite challenging, and ordering food and any extras were even more so.  My regular bartender was out of town, so I was trying to describe my wine.  It’s a blended red wine and the name was sitting on the tip of my tongue.  So she grabbed the bartender and he knew what I was talking about, but she dingily thought “blended wine” meant blended like a margarita.  We ordered “a” chicken ceasar salad and a cup of soup.  Drinks took forever, but Meredith finally managed to deliver them.  She then asked to clarify our dinner order, but rather than give us what she had, she stood there and waited for us to tell her again.  She then looked at us with somewhat of a furrowed brow, as if in confusion.  Bread came and we asked for butter.  Meredith stopped at our table several minutes later and blankly asked if we needed anything.  Keven asked for butter and you’d think that was the first time we’d asked her for it (I should also mention that the section we were sitting in was mostly empty, so it’s not like she was overworked).  Apparently we were asking for a lot.  It took our girl quite some time and several trips back and forth to and from the kitchen to accomplish this task.   Dinner finally arrived and was quite tasty, but when I asked for a refill for the parmesan cheese bowl, Meredith stared blankly into the dish for quite a while, walked off with it and took forever and a day bringing it back.  Throughout the remainder of the evening, she would stop at our table, blankly ask if we needed anything and had to really stop and think and ponder about it when we said we didn’t need anything.  Keven thought she was smoking a little somethin-somethin on break, but my bet was Oxycotin.

This still has me cracking up telling this story…what can I say, you really should have been there.

This may have been one of those “you had to be there” moments, but I think you’ll appreciate this.  Especially Erik, who just finished working with kids in this age group.  I will give you the condensed version and Keven can add comments to anything I missed.  He, by the way, was laughing his ass off.

 I think we’ve already established that Squid can be very dramatic and is in that mode more often than not lately.  Also keep in mind that she has 2 ways to get to school, the school bus or a short walk.  So this morning Squid is being really unusually nice (your first clue), “hey Mom, when do you have to leave this morning?”.  Having been her mother for what increasingly seems like an eternity, I know the only answer to any question she asks is “why?”. 

Squid: “Well, I was wondering if you wanted to drive me to school.”

Keven:  “Did you miss the bus?”

Mom:  “No, you can walk”

Squid: ”I can’t, it’s cold & misty out”

Keven & Mom look at each other, then do a double take at the window, which clearly provides a beautiful view of a very extremely nice and sunny day, with a balmy 50 degrees.  Keven starts cracking up.

Mom: “What are you talking about, it’s beautiful outside”

Squid: “Well, but it’s humid out”

Keven’s practically in hysterics at this point.  So my follow up questions regarding where she thinks the air inside the house and school, which have the same humidity as outside, come from.  Keven is just about rolling on the floor, he’s laughing so hard, and all she could come back with is “shut-uuuupp”.  I’m sure I heard eye rolling too.

It was the funniest damn thing. 

Squid & I saw this on Mother’s Day.  I haven’t seen Meg Ryan in anything lately.  She played a reasonably likeable character and I liked the other characters, but the storyline was a bit weak and didn’t weave together very well.  It’s not quite a chick-flick, but not a romantic comedy either.  There is a couple of dramatic moments that could’ve been well played out, but there wasn’t enough lead up and bonding to make me really feel any kind of reaction to it.

I would say rent it, but if you’re looking for a good tear-jerker, this isn’t your movie.

I saw The Ex last weekend.  It’s another Zach Braff movie…I really like him, love “Scrubs”,  but I’m starting to notice a consistency with his movies.  The storylines aren’t half bad, his acting is good, but the end of the movies start to fall apart and end on a corny note.  Matt & I both agreed that The Ex had potential to be a good movie, but lost “it” at the end.   I was really hopeful this one would be different, but was sadly disappointed.

It makes me sad to see that the old style theatres are so quickly disappearing.  There are some movies that just “have” to be seen on the big screen.  And if you can see them in the older theatres like the Cinerama where they have the red velvet seats,  still open and close the drapes when the movie starts and stops, and the hand carvings, even better!  The Cinerama has a ceiling that simulates the evening sky and stars, in 60’s style of course.  Even the butter on the popcorn tastes better!! The old Northgate Theatre was recently torn down, the John Danz in Bellevue is long gone and what we’re left with are the new, smaller, and overall less impressive ones (I do love the seats at Lincoln Square tho Ü).   

Occasionally, Keven & I go to an older theatre, usually to see either an independent film or an old classic like we saw last night.   I have to say, I cannot imagine watching Lawrence of Arabia on tv or on a smaller screen and it having the full effect.  It was awesome!  I was also impressed at how many people were there, especially considering it was a work night and the movie is over 3-1/2 hours long!  I think the theatre was pretty close to full.

What would’ve been the end of a near perfect evening, would’ve been a trip to Shakey’s….do you remember that?