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While Seth Rogen fans and trendinistas flock to the independent theatres on Thursday, should the Spousal Unit and I go to The Imitation Game or Theory of Everything at the big chain nearest our favorite Chinese restaurant?
Reader Interactions
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ruemara
I’m going with Unbroken, to spite Amy Pascal and support Angelina Jolie.
Little Boots
sort of getting into it down there, but it is hard.
Mnemosyne
I know someone who saw The Theory of Everything and loved it. Haven’t run into anyone who’s seen The Imitation Game.
ETA: Also, for fans of musicals, the reviews I’ve seen of Into the Woods are that it’s a faithful adaptation of the Broadway show. If you love that musical, you’ll probably love the film; if you find the musical problematic, you’ll have the same problems with the film.
Little Boots
this? seriously, this?
good lord, with this site.
Mike in NC
On Netflix, I’m watching “Korengal”, about our stupid, pointless, fucked up attempt at nation-building in the failed state of Afghanistan. Your billions of tax dollars at work!
Little Boots
no omnes. no steeplejack. damn christmas.
PurpleGirl
The Imitation Game or The Theory of Everything would be good alternatives for Into the Woods, depending on where any of them are showing. I’ve done the movie on Christmas before, when I needed to either be alone or find an activity to take my mind off other things. The absolute last choice would be The Hobbit, I’m not in a LoTR mood.
different-church-lady
Being a co-greater-bostonian, I am curious as to what your favorite Chinese restaurant is.
I used to be quite fond of Royal East near Central Square, but I suspect they changed hands recently, as nearly everything (including the quality of the food) has undergone slight alterations.
Little Boots
seriously, nothing?
Mnemosyne
@PurpleGirl:
There’s always Big Hero 6 if you want something light but not completely mindless. ;-) It’s the classic story of a boy and his robot.
PurpleGirl
@Mnemosyne: Thanks, that is the type of entertainment I’m looking for.
gwangung
Sorry. I AM going to see The Interview when available. I know Randall Park slightly and I’ve worked for years with Diana Bang, the female lead. It’s her first major picture role and I’m gonna support,,,,
(But outside of the friendship mandated viewing, I’m looking forward to SELMA and comparing and contrasting with ALL THE WAY/THE GREAT SOCIETY, the LBJ-oriented stage plays that covers a lot of the same material….).
different-church-lady
@Mnemosyne: It is sad that I am so displaced from pop culture that they made five of those before I ever heard of it.
PurpleGirl
@Little Boots: Are you looking for someone to swap music references with? Sorry, but I’ve got nothing. I guess Omnes and Steeplejack went to bed early (for them) or they are doing things for the holiday.
Little Boots
@PurpleGirl:
leaving me all alone. so mean.
eemom
@Little Boots:
I like OO and Steep even better than you do.
There — that concept ought to keep you occupied for a while. I gotta go wrap gifts.
Little Boots
@eemom:
don’t mind. wrap.
Mnemosyne
@gwangung:
I had to see Battlefield Earth out of friendship, so it could be worse.
@different-church-lady:
It’s okay, it’s the even-numbered ones of the series that are the best anyway.
Anne Laurie
@different-church-lady:
Su Chang’s, in Peabody.
No doubt there are other options, but we’re north of the city, and it’s our go-to place even for urban foodie-snob visitors.
different-church-lady
@Anne Laurie: Thanks. I actually go through Peabody on a regular basis, so I should stop and check ’em out some time.
wasabi gasp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDDOcAalSFA
Tree With Water
Bill O ‘Rotweiller claims chinese-and-a-movie constitutes the act of a belligerent in The War on Christmas. Or I’m sure he would if you asked him.
Mohagan
I saw The Imitation Game a couple of weeks ago and really liked it. Benedict Cumberbatch is wonderful as Alan Turing and there are a lot of other good people in the cast doing good work. Also they manage to explain in a visible way how the Enigma machine code was broken (he basically builds the first computer) and points out how stupid prejudice against woman and gays really is (and would have held back the war effort if Churchill hadn’t supported Turing’s work). Plus it’s exciting!
NotMax
@Mnemosyne
With Into the Woods, they took a 3-hour Sondheim play and knocked it down to 2 hours.
A small step in the right direction, at any rate.
Emerald
Imitation Game is at the top of my must-see list but it isn’t playing here yet. Saw Theory of Everything, which was excellent. Interestingly, Benedict Cumberbatch, when he was about 26, did his own Hawking in a British TV movie called Hawking (available to stream on Amazon for about $2.00). Both portrayals were completely convincing. The movie movie goes much more in depth than the TV movie, though, obvs.
Also saw The Hobbit. OK. It’s 2 hours and 15 minutes. Maybe 15 minutes of that is spent in conversation mode. The rest of the two hours is non-stop slaughter.
So if slaughter is your thing, go for it. If not, I recommend a miss on that one, end of the series or not. However, it does have war bats, and more eagles. So there’s that.
ChrisH
I just came back from The Hobbit. I’m hoping it’s better in the standard 2D model cause I was frankly upset watching the IMAX 3D. Half the movie felt like I was watching an FMV video game cutscene. The CG just doesn’t seem to hold up at the higher framerate and resolution.
Along with that, I felt like the cinematography itself was crummy, panning when the camera should be still and too often getting lost in elaborate backgrounds and not focused on the main characters. I don’t think people really know what to do with 3D yet to make it special in any way.
Joey Maloney
So it appears another young black man has been shot dead by St. Louis area cops (Berkeley, I think people are saying). Plus ça motherfucking change.
Amir Khalid
@Emerald:
After seeing all three parts, my own feeling is that The Hobbit could have been shorter — two parts, tops, like Peter Jackson wanted — and it’s a damn shame the financing delays forced the original director Guillermo del Toro to drop out.
Amir Khalid
@ChrisH:
I think Lee Ang made good use of 3D in Life of Pi.
Debbie(aussie)
We have a family tradition that started with the first Lord of the Rings movie. It is my brothers birthday on 27/12, so we will be going to see the Hobbit.
Only 4 and 3/4 hours to Christmas here in the land down-under. So to all the Balloon Juice front pagers and commenters, have a great one, however and why-ever you celebrate.
mai naem
I don’t know anybody who’s seen either but I would see The Imitation Game but only because I’ve always thought Turing’s story is interesting and I enjoy WWII related stuff.
NotMax
@Debbie(aussie)
I can’t possibly be the only one who didn’t totally pooh-pooh Ralph Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings back in 1978.
Hey, the pickings were slim and we glommed on to whatever we could back in those days. :)
EriktheRed
I was just a 12 or 13 year-old kid when I read the Silmarillion back when it was first published in paperback in the late 70s; didn’t understand even half of it at the time. That same paperback survived for 20 years and I picked it up and read it again as a grown man with a college degree. ‘Twas still a hard slog.
jackmac
@EriktheRed: Over the years I’ve tried the read The Silmarillion and just couldn’t get through it. “Hard slog” indeed. Same with other post-LOTR efforts edited by J.R.R. Tolkien’s son (although his Unfinished Tales had moments as it filled in some back stories of the characters).
Anne Laurie
@NotMax:
I still prefer Bakshi’s version to Peter Jackson’s, myself. If only for John Hurt (Aragorn) snarling “Then we must live without hope! There is always vengeance!”
ETA: I have a near-first-edition hardback of the Silmarillion, which I… skimmed. It was obviously a private labor of love for Professor Tolkien, and if it didn’t please so many fanatics, I’d say it should’ve remained private.
Cheryl Rofer
Sadly, a great deal of entertainment that is passing itself off as history isn’t. That seems to be the case with The Imitation Game.
Tehanu
I think of The Silmarillion as a source book, not a story. To misquote Basil Fawlty, “There’s stories in it.” Anyone who reads it expecting another LOTR is going to be disappointed.
What I would really like to see is somebody like Neil Gaiman or Emma Bull take one of those stories, e.g., “The Children of Hurin,” and put his or her own take on it — which is what I think Tolkien actually wanted, when he talked about “creating a mythology for England.”
Gravie
I really want to see The Imitation Game but we opted for Wild instead when we went out a few nights ago. An incredible movie — so much more than I expected.
Alan "Danger" Turing
Remember how Titanic took an actual historic event and turned it into a set piece for entirely fictional stories that aren’t nearly as interesting as what actually happened? By the time you were done, all that was left were the boat, the British, the sinking, the staggering loss of life. So it is with The Imitation Game. It’s much better made than Titanic, but by the time they’re done telling stories all you’ll recognize are the boats, the British, the sinkings, and the staggering loss of life.