The Cinedome 7 Newark is quickly becoming my favorite theater, at least for general non art-house releases. $2 per movie is the regular, non-discount price ($1 on Tuesdays, $0.75 if you bring at least three people on a Monday.) They only play one or two trailers before the feature. And because it's so behind the times they actually still play film (according to Cinemark's website, they are equipped for digital cinema, but based on a sample size of three films I've seen there, they've all been film so far.) I just have a bad feeling that it won't last long, so please all my Southeast Bay Area friends, try to make a point of giving them your business.
Anyway, I gave them my business for two more movies today, starting with this years first re-imagining of the Snow White story, Tarsem Singh's MIRROR MIRROR. Julia Roberts is the vain queen whose excesses have driven the kingdom into ruin. She also introduces the movie, giving the backstory and insisting that this is her story, quickly letting the audience know this will be a different kind of story. Snow White is played by a pair of giant eyebrows attached to a girl named Lily Collins. I'm sorry, that was really mean, but I found her eyebrows distracting. Normally I'd let something like that go, but if the whole point of the story is she's the most beautiful in the land, I feel justified in judging her looks.
But in terms of looks, the real star is the art design--gorgeous, excessive, and a little silly in typical Tarsem Singh fashion (self plug: I'll be co-hosting his IMMORTALS at Bad Movie Night August 26th.) Beyond that, it's pretty silly. As much as it promises a different kind of story, and takes some steps towards a more powerful Snow White character, it's really a standard fairy tale story. But what it lacks in really re-envisioning the genre, it makes up in a sense of silly fun. Of course, if you don't embrace the silliness, it can be tedious and groan-inducing. It's the sort of movie where Nathan Lane (who plays the queens right-hand man) actually gives the proceedings a bit of class. Just a bit...at one point he's turned into a cockroach. But the silliness is delivered with a bit of a smirk and wink to the audience, and if you accept it it's fun. And honestly, I like the dwarfs in this one better than the Disney version.
Running Time: 106 minutes
My Total Minutes: 188,181
No comments:
Post a Comment