300 + 1

I went to see 300 tonight, with Snow. It was actually a pretty good movie - the visual style was spectacular, the light in particular appealed to me. It was unnatural, utterly created, but beautiful. It made a remarkable contrast to the absolute violence of the film, which was executed somehow gracefully. I'm not really a huge fan of violent films, or war films in general, but I was thoroughly engaged.

What broke the scene for me, though, were the fuckheads in the back row of the theatre and their running commentary, their throwing of peanuts, their inappropriate laughter. These little imbeciles managed to nearly ruin a movie that Snow graciously payed $19.50 for us to see. After a fairly polite (or, amusingly sarcastic depending on your view) request from M. for them to shut up, and finally an uncharacteristic outburst from me in the form of a loud, "What the FUCK is wrong with you?", they finally left, leaving the last 10 minutes of the movie for us to enjoy.

This is why people are crazy about building home theatres. No one to throw stuff. No color commentary from the peanut gallery. No sticky floors, no over-loud audio, no skipping video (why on Earth would a movie have visible flaws in it, when it costs that much? It's not reasonable). In short, a perfect movie experience, for only a few grand in audio-visual gear.

When I get a house, it'll be high on my list.

(For those curious, also on my list: fruit trees and a wine cellar)