Arthur

Last night was my last night of living alone. To celebrate, I cleaned the house, cooked myself a well balanced meal, strategically left some lights on and peaced the scene before the ‘rents got home. Where did I go? Well, as I am a young, single, fabulous female, I naturally went with Danica to see the remake of Arthur at the Rialto Twin Theatre in that wild and crazy city we like to call White Rock.

Let me be clear. I have, in the past, expressed my hatred for White Rock cinema. The Criterion 4 is the most depressing place in a city known for lonely old people, sitting in coffee shops midday looking forlornly and wondering where their youth went, which is to say that it is VERY depressing. However, I looooooove the Rialto.

Let me explain. The Rialto is what is known as “the old person movie theatre” in White Rock. It is ancient. It only has two theatres, the screens have those old fashioned sparkly curtains, it only accepts cash, and the manager is an ornery mustachioed old man who has been that way since the beginning of my memory.

Why do I love the Rialto when I so loathe the Criterion 4? The Criterion 4 tries too hard. It wants to be a modern theatre, but it fails so hard. The Rialto on the other hand, knows it’s the shits and accepts it. I can respect that.

When Danica and I arrived at the theatre, we weren’t sure if we were late, or early, or just what was happening. There was no one in sight, save for the child selling tickets and the aforementioned Mr. Grumpy-Pants. We lamented over the fact that the Rialto is now charging $9.50 for its craptastic movies. The man said something about spending that much at a bar, to which I said something pithy and dripping with wit (under my breath).

We began to enter theatre 2 (the one that is poorly designed) talking about how poorly designed theatre 2 was when Danica quickly said “How many people do you think are going to be in there? My guess is 3”. I quickly guessed 5 others, apart from ourselves. We walked in to find the theatre completely empty, at which point we laughed whole-heartedly and took hilarious pictures.

Eventually a few more people trickled in, and the movie began. Danica shh-ed me as I named every actor I recognized from an upcoming historical drama about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and we both feverishly tried to remember whether Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks have ever done a movie together before (Charlie Wilson’s War, point Kirstin). And then Arthur began.

I did not enjoy the beginning of this movie, but mostly because the Rialto is the loveable shit hole it is, and didn’t have the sound on properly. It was very quiet, Russell Brand sounded a bit like a chipmunk, and partway through a scene, the pre-movie elevator music started to play over the film. But, like clock work, some old lady complained and it was fixed.

As far as the film goes, I quite liked it for what it is, which is a comedy featuring the delightful stylings of Brand. There were some laugh out loud moments, the relationship between Brand and Helen Mirren was understated yet believable and quite heart warming, and as always, Jennifer Garner was both gorgeous and a little bit crazy. The soundtrack was quite good too, and I plan on looking up who is featured on it because I quite liked some of the stuff they were using to score the film.

If I have one critique, it’s that most of the hilarious moments in the movie were featured in the trailers I saw before going to the show. I think that trailers should show strong parts of a film, but not give all the good stuff away. That being said, I realize that that makes no sense from an advertisement perspective. They just want to get you into the theatre, and if you end up disappointed, who cares? They already have your money.

Brand was quite good in this film. I generally like him across the board, and while I feel like he was playing himself in this movie, I liked it anyways because he’s so charming. His relationship with Mirren both on and off screen is quite lovely, too. Also, Danica and I agree that he is really quite handsome if you can look past his hilarious hair.

Overall, this film was maybe just okay, but likeable just the same. If you like Russell Brand, I suggest renting it when it comes out on DVD because he is lovely in this.

Side note. I was working on a “Top 10 Favorite Musicals” blog, but it was basically my ranting about how much I love Les Mis, and there was a lot of “It’s just…. Ugh. Amazing”. Which is not entertaining for anyone. So one of these days coming up, if I can find a moment for myself, I’m going to do my “Top 5 Worst Musical Experiences”, which I feel will be more hilarious. Perhaps I will also do a review of living on my own, now that my parent-free stint has come to a close. Nevertheless, things are on their way. And fair warning: they will be delightful.

The Rialto, lively as ever: