I recently went to the movies, so I’ve taken out a second mortgage.
Just kidding. But as I typed in my credit card number to purchase the tickets online, I was actually a little shocked by the total.
In fairness, it’d been a while since I’d been to the movies. I most recently saw “Wicked: For Good” last year, long enough ago that the pains of the price had faded and I had blissfully forgotten how much it actually cost to see a movie in theaters.
But I had heard that “The Odyssey” was best in theaters — better yet, it was a must-see in IMAX. I never go to the IMAX theater (frankly, it seems like a waste of money!), but I figured if I was going to see the movie in a theater, I might as well truly commit to the experience. IMAX it was.
I bought the tickets for my brother and me on a weeknight. We both had work the next morning, and I was coming off a full eight-hour day and an evening meeting, which meant the earliest we could see the movie was their 8:30 p.m. showing. It’s a three-hour movie. My brother gently asked if I was sure I could handle that.
No matter! I told myself I’d caffeinate the next day. Life is short! If you’re not staying out until midnight on a weeknight every now and then, what are you doing?
And so we piled in the car and drove to the theater. I told my sibling we’d live it up, splurging on popcorn and everything. Again, I never go to the theater. I wanted the full experience! So we got there, and lo and behold, it was another $20 for popcorn and a drink. Insane!
But ANYWAY. We sat down in the packed theater and patiently waited through Nicole Kidman’s commercial about how much she loves movies.
I stole a glance at my brother with every preview that came on. Some of them looked fun enough; most of them looked painfully bad. I decided if I ever write a movie, I’m going to really focus on the preview quality. If you’re going to refinance in order to come to a theater, the movie better be worth it.
As it turns out, “The Odyssey” was, admittedly, worth it. The movie lasted three hours, but it didn’t drag, and the acting was phenomenal.
(But dare I say it? The IMAX was unnecessary. It’s not worth the extra $10 or whatever. Save yourself.)
I’ve studied “The Odyssey” before in English classes, and I recently reread “The Song of Achilles” about the Trojan War, so I had some much-needed background knowledge going into the movie. This information was useful as we watched, because to be honest, it’s kind of a hard-to-follow story. Luckily, I knew what was going on through most of it.
Plus, a moment of kudos to the actors. Tom Holland, Zendaya, Elliott Page, Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway — they all killed it. And I like Robert Pattinson as an actor so much, it took me halfway through the movie to realize that (spoiler!) he’s supposed to be the bad guy.
We streamed out of the theater around 11:50 p.m., then drove home, and I was predictably exhausted the next day. But I had a lot of fun anyway.
Now, I’m not going to the movies every weekend. I still prefer reading to watching, generally speaking, so I’d rather spend my money on books than going to the theater (though I do love an adaptation — and a library).
But still, it’s really fun to see a story come to life on screen. I mostly just love stories, and spending time with my loved ones. That’s what made the movie worth it.
