oh pooh
I can't call Christopher Robin a great movie -- it was good; I gave it a B -- but I can say I did quite enjoy it. And people who love Winnie the Pooh will enjoy it too, and will have little reason to pay any mind to the mixed critical reaction to it, however justified it might be.
This is one of the "major studio releases" MoviePass is now restricting for its first two weeks, and it's only playing downtown at the Meridian. So, in order to use my AMC Stubs A-list pass to see it, I had to ride my bike to the U District to see it at the AMC theatre that used to be Sundance Cinema that used to be Landmark's Metro Theatre. I'm a little annoyed by how much more difficult it is to distinguish that theatre now that it's an AMC theatre: online listings show "AMC Pacific Place 11" for the downtown multiplex; "AMC Seattle 10" for the U District one.
I do love that I can reserve my seat to movies there in advance, though. I can't do that with MoviePass and never could; that was one of the restrictions they always had -- only check in up to 30 minutes before showtime. With the AMC pass, I can check in as far in advance as tickets are on sale, although more often than not I still do it on the say I'm seeing the film. Even then it's usually several hours beforehand, though.
A headline on my Google News homepage today: AMC's Stubs A-List is what MoviePass could've been. I love this comment on AMC's pass being twice the monthly cost: "But what good is a half-price bicycle if it doesn't come with wheels?" Indeed. And I think one thing that gets lost in the constant comparison of AMC being "twice the cost" is the vast amount you still save compared to paying regular ticket prices -- and the key difference being that when it came to MoviePass, every single one of us knew their model was unsustainable, and signed up with the full knowledge we'd only be using it for however long it lasted. I saved way more by getting a limited-time-offer annual MoviePass, and even now the new restrictions have been annoying enough for me to take the plunge with AMC.
I still pay for single tickets at SIFF Cinemas, by the way. That is a local chain for movie lovers that shows independent and foreign films usually (but not always: AMC shows a surprising lot of them) unavailable anywhere else, and subscription services make no sense for them. SIFF is a nonprofit that needs and deserves our support. And I get all the benefit I need by paying my $50 annual membership fee that gets me $5 discounted off all movie tickets, which in the evenings cost $14 otherwise. So I'm still getting my money's worth even there.
It was fucking hot yesterday. We had like two days of respite at the end of last week and we're back to heat wave central. It apparently reached 91° at SeaTac Airport yesterday; 89° in the U District, according to the National Weather Service. Highs today into the low nineties.
So, it was too hot when I rode my bike from work to the U District for that movie, and had sweat literally dripping into my eyes when I arrived. It was still too hot when I rode home from there, taking the usual route I used to do when the PCC office was still on Roosevelt Way. I got a good amount of exercise. Probably lost some water weight. I was down one more full pound as of this morning, so Monday to Tuesday to Wednesday it's been 155 lbs, 153 and 152, respectively. I pretty much expected the loss to slow down, but as long as it keeps going down I'll be happy. I was thrilled to be hovering around 140 a couple of years ago and I really want to get back to that.
I suppose I might have been down slightly further, except Shobhit suggested we share some ice cream right before I went to bed. I really should have just said no. Why can't I just fucking say no? I dished a small bowl and literally fed him spoonfuls, which he often wants and I usually refuse to do, and what did I get for my efforts? Literally several dirty looks because he felt I was making the bites too large. Seriously, go fuck yourself with that shit. This is what happens when I finally actually do the thing I long resisted that was supposedly going to make him happy -- in his mind, I just do it wrong. Fucking feed yourself then. Grow up. (And now I'll take a moment to consider taking my own advice.)
Anyway, before that and after getting home from the movie, I made myself a veggie chicken patty sandwich for dinner and then wrote the movie review. I'm pretty certain my brother, who has always loved Winnie the Pooh, will love it.
[posted 12:28 pm]