No guarantees in dinner, movies
(Posted Wednesday) In the old days – and by old days I mean anything before the year 2000 – combining dinner and a movie was a bit of a hassle. These days, though, it couldn’t be easier. And that’s true whether you choose to see movies on the North Side, downtown, in Spokane Valley or Coeur d’Alene.
Take yesterday. My wife, my brother and I went to see “The Drop” at AMC’s River Park Square 20-plex. Seeing James Gandolfini in his final big-screen performance, performing in a cast with the likes of Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace and Matthias Schoenaerts, was a rich experience. You can hear my take on the film by tuning in to “Movies 101” this Friday (today) on Spokane Public Radio.
Afterward, we had our choice of downtown eateries. But we opted to eat in the mall. At Rock City Grill, in fact.
I ordered the linguine with butter and myzithra cheese. My wife had the baked pesto salmon, while my brother chose chicken al forno. And everything was … well, edible. My brother’s chicken was overcooked, and my pasta was passable, while my wife’s salmon was, as the Italians would say, delizioso. So you could say our dining experience was mixed.
That’s to be expected, though. Seeing movies is just as chancy as dining out. Just as not every movie can be “The Godfather,” not every pasta dish can be worthy of Wolfgang Puck.
Dan Webster
Opening this weekend
(Posted Monday) What’s Friday at the movies have to offer us? A bit of sci-fi, some comic domestic disturbance, a tad of neo-noir, two dueling UK comics and Terry Gilliam. There may be even more.
For the moment, though, this is likely what the Friday movie slate looks like:
“The Maze Runner”: Unable to remember how he got there, our young protagonist must vie with a group of boys to escape a dangerous, ever-changing maze. Don’t they call that high school?
“This Is Where I Leave You”: When a man dies, members of a dysfunctional family are forced to face the problems that have separated them. Jason Bateman and Tina Fey should find something to laugh about here.
“A Walk Among the Tombstones”: Liam Neeson stars as a former cop who does private security work, for “favors,” and gets hired to investigate a deadly kidnapping team. Be fun to see what accent Neeson uses this time.
And at the Magic Lantern:
“A Trip to Italy”: Adding Al Pacino and more to their impersonation battles, Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon continue their trek (begun in 2010 with “The Trip”) through la bella Italia. Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.
“The Zero Theorem”: Christoph Waltz stars in the former Python cast member Gilliam’s look at a computer hacker getting distracted from his quest to figure out the meaning of human existence. The distraction? A woman, naturally.
Anyway, enjoy.
Dan Webster
Machine Head cancels
The Bay Area-based metal band Machine Head has postponed its upcoming North American tour – which included an Oct. 2 stop at the Knitting Factory in Spokane. The postponement is caused by a delay in finishing the band’s latest album, “Bloodstone & Diamonds.” “We had to make the difficult choice to either delay the album, let it go out as incomplete, or cancel the tour in order to properly finish and promote the album,” the band said in a statement.
They hope to reschedule the tour in early 2015.
Tickets purchased through Ticketweb will be automatically refunded. Others can be refunded at the point of purchase.
Carolyn Lamberson