Weekend at the movies!

Little Jamal in the outhouse!

We saw the much-acclaimed Slumdog Millionaire last Friday. Above is my favorite scene – there is nothing more endearing than a little boy’s determination to get the autograph of only the most famous actor in India – yes, locked in the outhouse by his brother with the loud rattle of helicopter above carrying his favorite actor to town, he took a dive into the … emerged at the other end, drenched in … which of course means the crowd instinctively made a “hole” for him to pass through and damn it – he got the autograph – the famous actor seemed not to notice the condition of the strange looking, strange smelling little child : ) : )

Our new Muvico Theater - notice the sette on the right

And, we saw that at the much awaited opening of the new Muvico Theater (cinema) at our recently upgraded mall. It opened its doors for the first time last Friday at 10:00 am. I booked online 2 premier seats (over-21 seats) for the 8:00 pm screening.

You may wonder what the big deal is about a new cinema! Well, Muvico is a high-end cinema operator out of Florida. Muvico 14 in our town has premier seats in only three of its 14 auditoriums. These are balcony seats on the second level with its own entrances. Cinemas in this United States rarely have balcony seating.

Premier seats are plush 74-inch love seats equipped to hold shelves for entrees and appetizers and the cup holders are large enough to hold a bottle of wine. The premier concession stand offers in addition to traditional movie fare, crispy calamari (yummmmmy!), bacon-wrapped dates, mini-crab cakes, burger and sushi. Beverages include beer, champagne and wine. And best of all, we can bring all the goodies to our seats.

We arrived early to check out facilities. The premier level concession and Bogart’s Bar and Grill were buzzling with people who were clearly enjoying the new experience. Bogart’s Bar and Grill had a 45 minutes wait – so we ordered sushi and crispy calamari to bring to our seats. Popcorns are free in the premier seating. It is kind of strange to watch people stroll to their seats with wine bottle and wine glasses, champagne, martini’s, beer mugs etc.

Bogart's Bar and Grill and the Dome above (quite beautiful)

According to the designers, the theme of the theater is turn-of-the-century Paris. I don’t know what Paris looked like then, so I cannot comment on its authenticity. The main architectural feature is the theater’s lobby rotunda space capped by a copper-like dome that is supposed to resemble the Opera House of Paris. Again, I have seen the outside of the Opera House in Paris, but don’t recall ever going inside. In any case, the dome looks quite beautiful.

Valet service for Premier guests - canopy with settee

Outside, there is a curbside valet parking for guests who bought Premier tickets. There were quite a few sheriffs hanging about on opening night. Not quite sure why they would be needed as we live in a very quiet, generally non-violent town.

For parents with little ones, there is “Baby Tuesday” which allows free admission for children age 3 and under and matinee pricing for parents. Theater lights will remain and the sound level will be adjusted with babies in mind. Parents with children between ages 3 and 8 can eventually enjoy a movie together when the fully supervised playroom, staffed by certified educators for children is ready. The children can choose from supervised games, movies and crafts. So, going to the movies is still very much part of the culture of this United States. Friday is the day when new movies are launched.

Slum in Mumbai

Both my H and I somehow expected more from Slumdog Millionaire. The scenes of the slum were amazing. Sadly, it still exists today. My H was in Bangalore at the end of January this year. It was his first trip to India. He can’t believe that people would build huge gleaming luxurious homes all walled-in and steps from that luxury – slums! I asked, “Wouldn’t it make sense to have a few less gold fixtures in those homes and use the money instead to at least improve the surrounds.”

It reminds me of the life of young Gautama Buddha, how his father tried to protect him from seeing the misery outside the walls of the palace. It made an impact on him when he saw what was beyond the walls of his father’s palace when he turned 18 (I think). How could it not have any impact on the rich who lived near the slums. They must see it every time they get out of their homes. Perhaps, they wear blinders and have dark tinted windows in their chauffeur driven cars whenever they leave their houses.

A colleague of mine, from my very first job, visited India in the early 80s. She came back with stories about the poverty, about parents and exploiters of children deliberately maiming the children so they could solicit greater sense of pity and charity from passers-by. It turned me inside out to hear that. From that day on, I told myself I will not go to India because it would be too much to bear – it would be too difficult to see the children and know that they were disfigured for immoral reasons.

My H’s sales engineer who grew up in India, traveled with him to Bangalore> He told my H not to look into the eyes of the children beggars on the streets – no eye contact! How do the rich in India avoid seeing the poverty around them for years and years and not be moved to do something to change the condition of their fellow citizens?

I have seen poverty of a different kind in Myanmar when I participated in a Buddhist pilgrimage trip in the late 90s. I did not actually see any slums there. Much of Myanmar is pastoral – life centers around farming the land or by the waterways which include farming some kind of vegetable that thrives on water (they float like lotus plants) and fishing.

Lone fisherman on Inle Lake, Myanmar

Life is simple – people generally live off the land. They clearly do not have the modern conveniences that we take for granted. In the remote towns, facilities were not exactly forthcoming and toilets were mostly still primitive including the outhouses that were more horrendous than what I saw in Slumdog. Some may say they are live in poverty, but from my perspective they enjoy a simple, uncomplicated life. They have family and religion (most of them are Buddhists). They have a roof over their head, food on the table and they are healthy and strong enough to work the fields and the rivers. What more does one need in life?

Not quite satisfied with Slumdog, we decided to see "Taken" on Saturday at the Mann Theater near our home. "Taken" stars Liam Neeson - he is one of my favorite actors and generally makes good movies. This movie is action-packed but unfortunately it is a so-so movie about him rescueing his daughter who was kidnapped in Paris by people involved in trading of the flesh. If I have the time, I may try and catch "The Reader" starring Kate Winslet. I read the book years ago - it was kind of slow and monotonous. Friend of mine saw the movie and said it was kind of slow but nice.

The Lakes

Last Monday, my H went back to the dentist because the filling that the dentist inserted some weeks ago came off completely. Whenever my H has his dental appointments, usually scheduled during lunch hour, we would meet for lunch at Claim Jumper located The Lakes, another lovely open mall in our neighborhood and very close the dentist's office.

Claim Jumper is a chain of restaurants that is designed like huge log houses. They have huge stone fireplaces and their servers (waiters) wear name tags in the shape of a Sheriff's star. A claim jumper in fact one who illegally occupies property to which another has a legal claim. I guess that is why we need the Sheriffs : ) : ).

What Claim Jumper is probably more famous for is its 6-layer Chocolate Motherlode Cake. It may gross some people out because of its mere size and the way it is served (with a knife pierced through it) but it is really a very, nice light chocolate cake : ) : ) - I am a self-confessed chocoholic and no, we did not finish the cake by ourselves although the server assured us that some couples could. My H brought the remaining 2/3 to his office for his staff.

Chocolate decadence - it is easily about 12 inches in length