Lawrence of Arabia
#25 in my movie challenge was a date with my husband to see Lawrence of Arabia. We got a babysitter, I spent three nights expressing enough milk for two bottles for Guppy–enough to cover a four-hour absence–and we indulged in popcorn, candy, and soda at a local theater showing a pristine print in 70mm. I had seen it before over ten years ago, but remembered almost nothing. It was beautiful to look at, and engaging even at almost four hours. Roger Ebert says seeing this film in 70 mm “is on the short list of things that must be done during the lifetime of every lover of film.” I’m glad we did.
April 3rd, 2006 at 9:34 am
I just visited Morocco a few weeks ago where some of LofA was filmed. There’s this kasbah across the mountains east of Marrakech called Ait Bennadouh (or something like that) that they advertised as being a location for “Lawrence of Arabia”, “Jesus of Nazareth” and “Gladiator”. It was pretty cool and we were given a little tour by a 7-year old kid. Faux Guides seem to be a major source of income in Morocco. Then, when I got home I noticed LofA was on cable so I DVR’d it.
But all I did was fast-forward it looking for this one kasbah (and couldn’t find it). I know I should have watched the whole movie, but the length was too intimidating. I have trouble sitting through movies at home. Did you see it at the Oak St.?
And I also just watched 40-Year Old Virgin yesterday via Comcast OnDemand. I wish I shared your appreciation of it. I thought it was alright and definitely elicited some good chuckles, but, again, the length got to me. Standard comedies should be no longer than 90- or 100-minutes in my opinion.
April 5th, 2006 at 2:56 pm
Welcome back! LoA’s length is intimidating, which is one reason I was glad to see it in the theater. We saw it at the Heights: http://www.heightstheater.com/
I agree that 90 minutes is about perfect for comedies, and have been annoyed by ones that go longer, such as Shanghai Knights. Yet The 40-Year-Old Virgin was a film that I liked better the more I thought about it, and remembering Paul Rudd in the closing sequence still makes me smile. I found Steve Carell was utterly charming and believable as a 40-year-old virgin, which is a pretty good acting job, I think.