Thankfully sneaking in to see The Matador saved the day
My friend Liz and I met for lunch last Sunday afternoon (2/26) before heading into the city to catch a movie. The Malibu Diner in Hoboken is a favorite spot for 4:00 AM drunken munchies and 10:00 AM hangover omelets. However, upon having to send my grilled cheese back three times because the cheese was not melted, and Liz getting a very lame looking Souvlaki, it is apparent that the mystique wears away with sobriety. Oh, and my soup was cold too.
After this let down of a meal, we hopped the bus to the city. We were going to see the new Neil Young movie ‘Heart of Gold’. I was haunted by a nagging cough since the night before. This is really nothing new, but it was still annoying. So I loaded myself up with cough drops and water so as to not bother anyone else in the theater. After the many quizzes, quotes, commercials and trailers came the movie. At first it looked promising but then…
Now I love Neil Young. Unfortunately this film does not do him justice. Sure it started out with a few cool interviews which gave us some insight on his life, the aneurysm that nearly killed him and the death of his father. I had hoped these would pepper the film. Instead it went straight into a performance of his entire new album.
Don’t get me wrong, these are sweet, decent enough songs, but we felt as though we had just paid to watch a very, very long music video. And, unlike his past efforts, the overall direction of this was way lame. We expected more from both Young and director Jonathan Demme. What I’m sure was meant to be abscure angles and artsy plays with focus came across as poor camera work. The time came for us to pull a stunt neither of us had done since high school. Sneak into another movie.
Nothing of interest on the floor we were on at the Loews on 42nd street. So we shrugged and were going to leave until Liz noticed that when we got to the next level, we were already behind the ticket taker. So we walked as if we were going to the bathroom, saw that the Matador was about to start in one of the theaters and simply walked in. That was too easy. Too bad we left the popcorn in the other theater, but Liz went and got Twizzlers and all was better.
The Matador was a pisser and ultimately made both Liz and I feel a lot better about paying for the Neil Young disaster. Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear make a good team with a believable, easy comic chemistry. Plus, it really, really makes you want margaritas. Watch it, you’ll see. Luckily there is a Chevy’s attached to the theater where we were. So we went in to have a couple of drinks.
Even before drinking I was already feeling light headed with what would later prove to be the onset of a fever. A fever that would hit 102 for several days and would explain my lack of all activity other than sweating and sleeping from Sunday night thru early this morning.
