I went with Jimi and the boys (who I think I shall start calling “the J. Crew” to avoid writing “Jimi, The Man and Michael” each time) to catch Mission: Impossible III.
We crammed into one of the colossal theaters upstairs at the Lowe’s on 42nd Street with approximately the rest of Manhattan, although it was an attentive and well behaved group.
During his brief moments on-screen, villain Philip Seymour Hoffman is dull and angry, like he was just shaken awake from a nap. Instead of spending time trading zingers in a hero-villian showdown, this movie is more about Cruise globetrotting to retrieve a rogue plot device known as the Rabbit’s Foot, which appears to be an amber liquid in a glass cylinder.
Tons of shaky handheld camera work, to dizzying effect, particularly because our movie screen was one of those so wide that during a two-shot scene, I had to move my head back and forth to track the actors talk to one another.
But as usual, this is a movie less about talk and more about rock. There’s Tom in Rome, China and Germany, dodging missiles and bullets, firing guns, walking up walls, sliding down buildings, impersonating people with those CGI/latex masks again, and freefalling off tall buildings, all within the Violence Lite confines of the PG-13 rating. There’s an amusing scene with Tom scribbling what appear to be advanced geometric equations to plan a swing from one skyscraper to another, Spider-Man style.
There’s so much action, I had forgotten all of it by the time the movie was over. I did however remember the trailers for Over the Hedge and Nacho Libre (starring Jack Black as Chris Farley in Beverly Hills Ninja), both of which I’d like to see; and to a lesser extent, X-Men: The Last Stand and Superman Returns, to fulfill my summertime superhero movie quota.
Afterwards we walked over to the Film Center Cafe for dinner. It’s located in the Theater Distric across the street from the Film Center and keeping in the theme, features a décor of movie posters. Plus, I saw some chick wearing a Ghostbusters T-shirt. For a nice price, I had an extra large and delicious hamburger smothered with mushrooms.
Film Center Cafe
- 635 Ninth Ave.
- (212) 262-2525
- Meal 18 of 52: mushroom burger with fries and cole salw ($9) and a pint of Guinness ($5).