A Tale of Two Movies

One summer weekend. Two action movies. One of them is over 44 years old and its star has been dead for over 27 years. The other is the fourth in a film franchise that began in 1988 with one of the best summer blockbusters of all time.

And I just saw them both.

Those of us who reside in Los Angeles regularly get the experience of seeing classic films on a big screen. There are a variety of theater venues here that do this. The Egyptian. The New Beverly Cinema. The Alex. And, this past weekend for me, the Aero Theater in Santa Monica.

The Aero used to be the quintessential neighborhood theater nestled among some really cool stores and restaurants on snooty Montana Avenue. Built in the 1940s, it ran down over time until there were actually more rodents on the concession stand line than human beings. Enter the American Cinematheque group, which had already restored the old Egyptian Theater on Hollywood Boulevard to its previous glory. The Aero was painted, the seats refurbished, and the rats relocated. Now it acts as a home to some really nifty film festivals and they have caught on to a great idea. They generally play a blockbuster classic film on a Saturday night. In the past year, I revisited both Jaws and the Godfather. And they come in droves. For Jaws, there were kids in the audience, who had obviously never seen it before. They didn't know where the scares were. So, you can imagine how the rafters shook when Roy Scheider asks, "How long do I have to keep flinging this shit?" When the Aero ran the Corleones in all their bloody splendor, the theater staff actually had to drag folding chairs in to accommodate the overflow crowd.

This past Saturday, they ran The Great Escape. And I ran like hell to see it. Back when I was a kid, my parents divided up the movie genres that they took me to. My mom handled most movies, except for Disney live action, Jerry Lewis, and, of course, war movies. My dad took care of that. And I remember vividly seeing The Great Escape with him originally. I probably understood none of it at the time. Nevertheless, it quickly became one of my all time favorites, but I had never seen it again on a big screen. Saturday night brought me back to that widescreen stalag.

The Aero was packed for the occasion. There had to be about 20 to 30 teenagers, obviously being taken to it by their dads as I had been by mine. And the crowd loved it. With the cast "curtain call" at the end, the applause grew with each actor, until, of course, the obvious crescendo for Steve McQueen. It doesn't get any better than this. Or more simple. A great story. Not one single computer-generated special effect. McQueen tooling around during that motorcycle chase was, indeed, Steve McQueen on a motorcycle. The movie runs almost three hours and feels more like 90 minutes. And, at the end, the crowd sauntered out onto Montana Avenue having just enjoyed a great cinematic treat in air-conditioned comfort.

And that brings me to my Sunday night movie. Live Free or Die Hard. They should add the participle "And Be Forewarned." Once again, the multiplex theater is packed. There are tons of teenagers by themselves or with their parents. And it's a summer night of action and adventure. But, 44 years later, the genre has gotten muddled. The John McClane antics have ramped down in creative logic with each successive sequel. Yeah, he still spouts off funny lines everytime he snaps somebody's neck. But, it is all so weary. The implausible nature of this story made a season of "24" look like a History Channel mini-series. I couldn't keep track of who was where. Bruce Willis is at Rutgers in New Jersey with his daughter. Then, he's in Washington. Then he helicopters to Baltimore. His daughter is stuck in an elevator. In New Jersey? Who knows? Because, five minutes later, the villain is holding her captive someplace in Virginia. Or DC. Or West Virginia. The plot was sorely in need of a GPS device. Of course, the special effects were all video game-derivative. I might as well have been in Nathan's with a bunch of quarters in my pocket.

The laugh's on me. The audience applauded wildly right through the 2 plus hours, which felt like five to me.

Two nights. Two films. Two positive audience reactions.

But still decades apart in time. And quality.

Go figure.

Dinner last night: Super Dodger Dog at Chavez Ravine