Roland Emmerich, Anyone?

File under: Things I Never Thought I'd Be Doing

...interviewing bombastic disaster movie king, Roland Emmerich!

And just when the interview was getting good, it ended! I had a million more questions I wanted to ask him like: Does Vanessa Redgrave even breathe dramatically when the camera is off?; Were all those male royals and their bastards in Tudor England really full lipped ginger pretty boys or was that just a casting preference for Anonymous (I couldn't tell them apart!)?; 10,000 BC ....what the hell?; Why have I never been invited to the über gay parties at your LA estate?; Was directing 90s muscle hunks Dolph Lundgren and Jean Claude Van Damme in Universal Soldier (1992) on set as fun as watching them be brain-dead super soldiers onscreen? (Hey, it was fun in 1992. Don't judge!)

P.S. I know that you're not supposed to like Anonymous, but I had fun watching it. Sometimes big bold cheesy underlining, playing to the balcony if you will, is JUST right for ridiculous conspiracy theories like "Shakespeare never wrote a word!". Sometimes you just want to hiss at hunchback villains dressed in black and swoon with lusty queens who go weak at the knees for poets.

Theater Decor, Movie Prices, "Anonymous" Costumes

On my way home from morning appointments I usually slip into movie theaters to see if anyone has a matinee showing that piques my interest. Though I get my share of press screenings and screeners, I love to see movies in regular release. There was a Margin Call showing at the perfect time at the gorgeous new Elinor Bunin Munroe theater at Lincoln Center but -- argh -- they don't offer matinee pricing and I just don't do full price in the morning. We can only control so many things about the egregious costs of living and one of them for me is that I do not pay full price if I see a movie in the morning. You gotta draw the line somewhere since movie theaters seem to raise their prices at least twice a year. (Do any of you get raises twice a year? Show of hands? Nobody?! Why do movie theaters keep raising their prices?!)

So I stopped at my the Loew's Lincoln Square which does offer matinee $ but nothing at the time I needed and last time I bought a ticket merely as time filler I suffered mightily for it. But I was amused to see this costume display for Anonymous when I entered the lobby since I had just been talking to the director (the aforementioned morning appointment) and was carrying an Anonymous book under my arml the movie was suddenly enveloping me. T'was inescapable! 

The film's costume design is by Lisy Christi, who is best known for doing Michael Haneke pictures. (Quite a leap to Roland Emmerich, aesthetic-wise, eh?)  Oscar loves this time period (the movie stretches from 1560 to 1603) so could the costume branch be interested? Maybe this will be the third Roland Emmerich movie to win nominations? His movies generally make a mint at the box office but only The Patriot (2000) and Independence Day (1996) have previously entered the Oscar conversation.

At the very least it won't hurt that Vanessa Redgrave is playing Oscar's all-time favorite royal. Didn't Andy Warhol once say 'In the future every actress will be famous for playing Queen Elizabeth for 15 minutes.' ???

Enough of my silly babbling. Your turn! Any interest in Shakespeare conspiracy theaters? Does your movie theater dress things up with displays? And do you love starting your day with a cheap matinee show?