My friends and I started impromptu a "Saturday movie night", so I've actually been watching some movies lately. Last week was Everything Everywhere All At Once, which immediately became a favorite of mine. I"m a sucker for quirky, ambitious, stylish movies that you can just allow to wash over you. Last night, I saw The Northman. Not bad, but artsier than I was expecting. I came in expecting Conan, and got more Hamlet, instead, but I liked the portrayal of mysticism in it, and the overall feel of a quest.
Saturday was The Princess Bride. It is absolutely my favorite movie of all time. I've seen it countless times, and can play it out in my head, which is quite a feat for a guy who has trouble imagining things. Four of us watched it; three of us had a blast (I even wore my Princess Bride shirt and brought peanuts for the occasion.) Here's a question: do you or anyone you know not like The Princess Bride? Is it possible? I get there are stylistic choices that might not land, like it's intentionally cheap-looking and cheesy, because that's the pastiche it's emulating -- swashbuckling fantasy B-movies and public TV costume melodrama. But the guy who didn't like it said it didn't make any sense, which, well, doesn't make any sense. Dude lives for Broadway musicals, and The Princess Bride doesn't make sense? The other people in our group wanted to watch it because the one hadn't seen it -- and had been refusing to watch it up to that point. I'd just as soon not make him watch it because I'd rather not have one of my friends be a downer about something so important to me, but honestly, it just felt like he'd gone into it having decided he didn't want to like it, more to be a contrarian than anything. Kind of a bummer, but whatever.