A day of winter weather, grey and wet, forced us to the cinema yesterday. The local cinema has matinee pricing until 17:15 each day, so early afternoon movie going is $7 a ticket, compared to the $9.75 regular cost. Back in the UK, the cinemas we frequented either had no matinee prices or ended them before 13:00.
The film we saw was “American Gangster”, a partial return to form for director Ridley Scott. It may not be “Alien” or “Gladiator”, but neither is it “A Good Year”. It has a fascinating story and excellent performances from the two lead actors. Although it runs to over two-and-a-half hours, it did not drag or seem overly long; although I am pretty sure that twenty minutes could be cut to the film’s benefits. I would be surprised if it did not garner at least some nominations in the major categories at next year’s Oscars.
The “Coming Soon” segment included a movie that looked promising, but it was when I saw the scriptwriter’s name that I knew it was a must see. “Charlie Wilson’s War” is about the covert funding and training of anti-Soviet fighters in Afghanistan. The results of that funding have, of course, had terrible consequences. The film stars Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. The scriptwriter is Aaron Sorkin, the man responsible for one of the greatest TV shows of all time; the West Wing. Oddly, the film is slated for a Christmas Day release in the US; hardly typical seasonal fare.
