Cinemat(ic) Fun

After class, running, and weight room today I walked down to Fourth Street to this little video store/movie theater called the Cinemat. It's a nifty place--fairly run-of-the-mill old school video/DVD store right when you walk in, but go a little further back and you see a door leading into a home-grown movie theater. For seats they have those fold-out chairs you usually see at the campgrounds, outdoor concerts, and cross country meets. On the screen was already the DVD menu screen for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which I had come to see.

Eternal Sunshine was interesting, kind of like Garden State on acid. Most of the movie is spent wandering through the memories of the protagonist, Joel (Jim Carrey), as he recalls a tempestuous relationship with Clementine (Kate Winslet). Both have decided to undergo a procedure which purports to erase their memories of each other. For anyone who is part of, or who knows people in, a relationship that doesn't lack in love but still cannot seem to work, this movie will resonate. Anyway, I think I need another look before I really form a concrete opinion, but my first impression was pretty positive. Another great Charlie Kaufman script, so the writing was sharp. I was also impressed with both Jim Carrey in a somewhat less comic turn, and Kate Winslet as a kooky girl with a different color of hair dye for each day of the week.

Anyway, I really enjoyed the movie and a large part of that was the atmosphere at this little theater. I am doing a story on it for my immersion reporting assignment in literary journalism, so I'll definitely be back. I told the girl who was working that I'll be back tomorrow to talk to the owner, and then I might go on Saturday night to watch bad horror flicks, which is apparently one of their nifty traditions. And then Oscar night on Sunday. That should give me plenty of material. I'm just not sure who I can speak to other than the owner, but I'm hoping that I can just observe and write some stuff down said by the patrons. The point is to be unobtrusive anyway.

I also volunteered to write my first movie review for IDS in months. Diary of a Mad Black Woman...I haven't even heard of it yet. But yeah, it'll be nice to be getting some clips again. And I really like writing reviews of movies and books and whatever else I see. I think that would be the perfect job, really. Reading books and watching movies and then just writing about them. I would honestly rather do that than true reporting.

Well, enough rambling. I have a review for CLASS that I need to rewrite. =)