The Bank Job

The Bank Job was not the movie we intended to see. Diana and I had every intention of seeing Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, because, as you all know by now, I really, really love Amy Adams. At the ticket counter, however, we discover that Miss Pettigrew is not playing. Crap. We scan the list of movies. They all look horrible, except the Bank Job. I have some glimmer of a memory that it was supposed to be good. It has a later starting time, so after we buy tickets, mine at a student rate, and Diana gets her parking validated, we run across to Starbucks for a quick chat. Diana has brought chocolate with her, so we just need beverages. Eating outside chocolate at a Starbucks table feels like a mini-heist, especially after getting two bucks off on my movie ticket. We feel like bandits. We stride back into the movie theater all cocky so, after a quick pee break, we take seats at the front of the second section, to stretch out our legs, like small-time hoods might.

101 Dalmatians

Cruella DeVille is a great villain. When I was an earnest freshman at my first college, in Iowa, I went by myself to see 101 Dalmatians at the town's one screen theater. A couple of rows in front of me was an upperclassman who I recognized as being one of the prominent out gay men at the school. When Cruella came on the screen, he began to laugh archly and applaud pointedly. Throughout the show, it became increasingly clear to me that she was his favorite part of the whole movie.