Mission Impossible: Laughing quietly

Over the weekend, we went to see Mission Impossible III. We decided to go see it at a boutique theatre in Vancouver, Washington and between the overpriced theatre and the ridiculousness of the movie, the evening was just slightly more enjoyable than sitting through three hours of church. (Plus, at least the refreshments at church are free--$5 for a pop!?! Give me free bread and water any day!)

First, the boutique theatre: We had no idea how much a movie cost here when we came up. We were just enamoured with the idea of sitting in big leather recliners and putting our feet up on the ottomans in a theatre. Half the group had bought their tickets before we did, so we couldn't back out when I was told that our two tickets would cost TWENTY-EIGHT FRICKIN' DOLLARS!!! That's the annual wages for a Bangladeshi worker! Plus, my brother was put out because after he'd stood in line for a pop and sat down in the theatre, a waitress came in and asked if she could get us any refreshments. At $14, she should have given us foot massages during the previews and peeled us some grapes. All in all, it was an interesting, albeit overpriced, experience. Jayson captured it perfectly when he said, "That was the first time I've been to Vancouver, Washington, and after that, I'm never coming back."

Now on to the movie: Ugg, several groan-worthy scenes had Margaret and me laughing in incredulity at the sheer absurdity. The movie was filled with them, but the best example is Tom Cruise being revived with CPR and just when you think he's dead, he springs up, grabbing a pistol and checks out the room to make sure there are no bad guys. I would think that there would be SOME lag time to get your bearings if your heart has stopped beating for over a minute. Evidently not Tom Cruise's! I'm not that alert ever after I've drunk 96 oz. of Diet Pepsi! Jayson had a good time, though. It was his second time watching the movie, but his back had been hurting him so he took a hydrocodone (the preferred drug of Rush Limbaugh) and said that the movie was much more enjoyable with narcotics. I believe him--my brain was in the "on" position and I just found it mildly entertaining.

This has set the stage for me to be either really impressed by or really disappointed by The DaVinci Code tomorrow. One thing's for sure, though: we're going to see the movie in Portland--if I want to sit in a leather seat, I'll just bring a leather jacket to sit on.