santosmatildedzulsblog

Venue:


Regal Oceanside Cinemas 16

Silent picture:

Mona Lisa Smile

Well it?s been almost two weeks since this project began I?d figure I?d open the ole e-mail bag and answer some questions.

The first question comes from Dan in East Orange, New Jersey: ?The posting of the entries seems to be delayed, what gives?? Well Dan, I usually write up the entries after I?ve seen the film. Then there?s the actual posting of the entry. Sometimes I post in the afternoons or the majority of the time I post in the late evening hours. So while Sunday?s movie is going up on Monday night, I am writing Monday?s entry to go up on Tuesday. It?s kinda weird but remember that I do have a life and I?m not just sitting in front of my computer and going to movies. If I were to go out of town then the entries will be posted once I get back (unless I have access to a computer).

Next question comes from Linda in Toronto: ?I noticed there are a lot of grammatical errors in your postings. Do you have an editor?? I use to be an assistant to an English professor for three years and I try to proof read my entries, but every once in a while a mistake will slip through the cracks.

Tommy in Austin, Texas writes: ?How do you rate the movie and why do you prefer independent films over major studio releases?? To answer the first part: I for one do not go along with critics, if I like the movie I?ll give it a high rating and if I hate the movie I?ll give it a low rating. I try to go into the movie theatres with an open mind and draw my conclusions based on what I see in the movie and not what anyone else says. The second part of the question: I like independent films because they are original (at times) and rely more on solid acting and a good storyline instead of action sequences and special effects. But I do like major studio releases as well, I?m not like the movie guy on

Mr. Show

who doesn?t eat any food accepted by the masses and only sees foreign films.

Now onto a question everyone has been asking me: ?Zeb when are you going to take me to the movies?? Since this project has started my phone has been ringing off the hook from people who want to see a film. Unless you are treating me, it?s

INVITATION ONLY

. My schedule is hectic and I don?t want to worry about if you can make it or not, sorry.

If you have any questions please feel free to send an

e-mail

and I?ll answer them.

Now onto today?s entry:

I have been on a movie going roller coaster. After seeing the lovely and poetic

Lost in Translation

, I followed it up with the dreadfully awful

Love Don?t Cost a Thing

which was washed from my palette by Jim Sheridan?s touching

In America

, now today I am forced to watch a film that is considered a ?chick flick? and starring an actress that I can?t stand: Julia Roberts. The movie for today is

Mona Lisa Smile

.

I entered the screening at the local Regal cinema with an open mind as I usually do with the films that I have been seeing. It was the afternoon screening of

Mona Lisa Smile

and on a Tuesday afternoon the Regal was almost empty. I didn?t get any stares from anyone today; the lady who was manning the booth was older and had the mature sense not to judge people by the movies they pick.

My back was still hurting but not too much thanks to the Bayer pain relief pills that I popped earlier. I could finally walk up to my preferred spot at the top row center of the auditorium. I was ready to go.

Some more people came in but not too much, just old couples spending a quiet afternoon at the movies. The Twenty was half way done when I entered the theatre and I am beginning to develop a deep hatred for the Twenty that I have never felt before. I am thinking if I should arrive at the theatre at the time the movie starts instead of arriving early for good parking and a good seat but maybe not getting a good parking spot and sitting in the front is a small price to pay for not enduring the Twenty ever again. I understand that the

Regal chain of theatres is heading off to the U.S. Supreme Court for their stadium seating

, but I think they should be tried for imposing the Twenty on us. But I think audiences are smarter than that, as I noticed that all the past Twenty ads have failed (NBC?s

The Lion?s Den

, Rachel Farris,

Hulk

,

Love Actually

, and some perfume I don?t even remember).

Mona Lisa Smile

is set in the 1950?s and is about a teacher who comes to a prestigious all-girl college in New England from liberal Berkley. The movie centers on Julia Roberts? character trying to break the mold by teaching the girls to be independent in a college that prefers the girls to wed rich men then to live their own lives.

This film tries very hard to be a touching and inspiring story but fails. This was supposed to be a comedy, right? Then where are the jokes? Julia Roberts looked bored and gave her usual three emotion performance (Oscar-winner my ass). The movie is rather long and drawn out filled with awful direction and a weak script. However, I did enjoy the costume design of this film and it did a good job turning Julie Stiles and Kirsten Dunst into 1950?s college students. But Julia Roberts sticks out like a slob eating a bacon double cheeseburger at a PeTA meeting in this movie since she's the only one wearing some futuristic clothes that looked like they were made in the 1990's! And speaking of people who looked out of place: what the hell is Tori Amos doing in a movie like this?

I?ll give this film one extra star just for the costume design and the fact that I think Julia Stiles is hot and for the only fine performances in the film from Marian Seldes, Marcia Gay Harden, and Juliet Stevenson.

-Zeb

ZEB?S MOVIE RATING FOR ?MONA LISA SMILE?