movie-ing...

... while things are still in town, often at the 'cheap seats', before they go off the big screen. Having not been to the walk-in in  months, I have a lot of catching up to do. Starting about a week ago, I've seen six. And this includes a couple of days when I didn't get there at all, due to family amusement when we went to Chattanooga for twenty four hours last week.

It started with "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day". Then something a bit more educational, that was surprisingly interesting, and not nearly as awful as the last one I saw that was loosely based on Biblical history. "Noah" was so bad, I wanted to ask for a refund, and I saw that one at home! "Exodus: Gods and Kings" was pretty good, even though Christian Bale can be a drama queen at times. Kept the story-line intact pretty well, over all.  The plagues were made to seem really plausible, and seeing the Egyptian army swamped in the Red Sea was really impressive

The "Hunger Games" was next. I have not read the books, so not familiar with the plot. Plus it's been so long since I saw the last one, it's hard to know where that one ended to remember what's going on in this newest installment. I was not impressed. Feeling like they devoted most of the film to the 'commercial' making aspect, with places that were really slow. The most interesting part was when I was absolutely convinced I recognized a scene as 'local'. Certain it was a place in middle Georgia, just north of Macon. So I had to stay for the credits and sure enough, it was filmed in Georgia and Paris. But that brick building façade I was sure I knew: I've never seen before. It is an old mill at Sweetwater State Park, just east of Atlanta.

Went to see "St. Vincent" purely to be amused by Bill Murray. Seeing him as a curmudgeon, and doing it so well, was almost Murray playing himself. But it was a sweet story, and enjoyable. Also made me want to see "Ghostbusters" again.

The "Hobbit" was disappointing. It was pretty dark, in lots of ways. Plenty of action, but exclusively people, dwarves, elves, and non-people getting skewered, sliced, chopped, decimated. Not recommended for the squeamish.

And certainly Not Recommended for the Squeamish: the one I saw today, "The Equalizer". I knew it was rated R, only went because a friend suggested it might be good, as we thought it was based on the old TV series. That show from thirty years ago was the idea behind the movie, but it's not something a family could view,  material not suitable for children. Not at all. I really like Denzel Washington, but I'm wishing he had not made such a gruesome gory movie. It was like the Chainsaw Massacre without the chainsaw.