Sunday, January 21, 2007

Girls' Night Out

Thursday was Goldilock's birthday. We had our office lunch on Wednesday and included Snoopy, who was totally puzzled by the card I gave Goldilocks. It said (roughly), "As you get older, you start getting bedroom syndrome--that's where your chest falls into your drawers." Laughter from everyone else, and a puzzled, "What's that mean?" from Snoopy. Ah well.

Thursday night, Bosstopus, Vegan Lawyer, Goldilocks and I went out to dinner and to see "Dreamgirls." Dinner was decent, if a bit overpriced, at a new chain place near the movie theater. I thought the movie was incredible. Bosstopus had seen it before, and enjoyed it so much that she had suggested the four of us see it. Goldilocks enjoyed it also, or so she told me Friday morning.

VL, however, spent about twenty minutes picking it apart on Friday, within earshot of Bosstopus. As far as I can tell, her biggest complaint with the movie was that it didn't stick with one person's storyline throughout the whole thing, so she didn't know who she was supposed to like. When I tentatively mentioned that it was supposed to be an ensemble piece, she said, "No, because then they wouldn't have listed the Jennifer person as a supporting actress." Yeesh.

I think VL just takes entertainment too seriously. For me, movies are about suspending disbelief, being transported to another world, and enjoying myself. VL analyzes everything to death. Side note--back when it came out, I was wowed by "The Life of David Gale" and suggested VL see it. She said no, on the grounds that if you see disturbing things in a movie, those images are in your brain forever. A few months later, she was telling me that "Farenheit 9/11" was the best movie she'd ever seen. Erm, that's got a lot more disturbing things than "The Life of David Gale" in it, VL. She sort of upset Bosstopus by trashing the movie, too--after all, it was her personal idea and she was all excited about us seeing it. I tried to tell her it wasn't her fault, but sometimes she takes things personally.

I'm really glad I got to see "Dreamgirls" in the theater. The songs were good, the acting was good, and all of the Dreamgirls had a happy ending. I don't usually go out for movies, so it was a treat to see this one on the big screen. If I see only one movie in the theater this year, I'm glad this was the one.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I got to see Dreamgirls when it was on Broadway (yes, actually in New York) when Nell Carter was in it. I left the theatre completely enraptured and also swearing I would never sing again because I couldn't sing like that.

I've been reluctant to see the movie, though, because that live stage version was so powerful. I don't want to lose that memory.

Jammies said...

I can sort of see where you're coming from--it's like when I hate a movie because I read the book first and the book was so much better.

Otoh, you went on to sing again, so presumably you could see the movie without totally crushing your Broadway memories.