Sunday, June 04, 2006

"Madam, we must have waffles! We must all have waffles forthwith."

The Movie: The Ladykillers, 2004 (Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, directors and screenwriters, based on an earlier screenplay by William Rose)
Who says it: Tom Hanks as Professor G.H. Dorr, ringleader of a group of would-be casino thieves
The context: The flamboyant Professor Dorr takes charge of a meeting among his co-conspirators at a Waffle Hut.
How you can use it: At breakfast with friends.

Happy birthday to Tom Ehrenfeld, who asked for a movie quotation to mark his birthday, but didn't specify which one. This movie is uneven, but well worth seeing for a few great and daring performances and a really terrific soundtrack (I've said that before). Tom Hanks is astonishing, with a performance so oily and over-the-top you can't help watching, even while you cringe.

Tom Hanks is a brave and gifted actor, which is just one reason why The Da Vinci Code is such a rotten movie -- the lines he has to say would be laughable in anyone's mouth, and it's a criminal waste of a major talent. Plus, his hairstyle is horrifying.

Yes, I saw The Da Vinci Code last night, because I wanted to go to the movies with my friends and that's what they were seeing. It's not as if our local theater had much to choose from; my friends had already seen X-Men 3, and our other choices were The Breakup -- no -- RV -- no -- Over the Hedge -- Anna doesn't do animation -- MI:3 -- no -- Poseidon -- pfft -- and See No Evil, a horror movie starring a professional wrestler. (OK, I admit it; left to myself, I'd have seen See No Evil. Horror movies starring professional wrestlers can be pretty entertaining.)

It makes me angry to pay money to see a movie that I know will be bad, but everyone does it. People want to go to the movies; if crap is all that's playing, we'll go to see crap -- and spend $100 million at the box office to see it -- but this does not mean we want to see that $100 million movie. People just want to go to the movies, to sit in the dark and share popcorn with their dates, and almost anything will do.

Several people have told me that X-3 is pretty good, and I might see that today -- but when the rest of the field is so lousy, almost anything looks good by comparison.

It's raining again -- still -- and the bad weather is starting to get to me. Anna said, "Get in the car and drive until you find the sun," but looking at the weather map today, I'd have to drive to western Ohio before I escaped the cloud cover. The movies are closer, though I might have to go to Waterville in order to see anything I'm actually interested in.

Now that I think about it, though, waffles... a good waffle might cheer me right up.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yummy Waffles!! Large families do not have waffles very often, so they become a real treat!!

Anna said...

I'll admit it. Tarren and I have very low standards when it comes to movies. We've been trained to and we're accepting it. Unlike you, I will see The Break-Up and I've already seen MI-3. Now that we're having a baby, however, I think I may have to change my opinion of animated films. I did see Ice Age and was quite amused. It's a slippery slope. Ack.