Arts & Leisure
The region's newest cinemas and "Children of Men"
By Rose Safran
When I went to see the film "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakastan," an over-the-top farce by stand-up comedian Sasha Baron Cohen, about a variety of "adjustment" (an understatement!) problems encountered by his character, a fictional telecaster visiting America, the new Regal (Hoyt's) Cinemas in Newington, N.H., were under construction, the parking lot nearby was closed, necessitating parking in the general shopping area of the mall.That has changed.
Four days after the new cinema building was open for business, I went to see the much-acclaimed film by the 45-year old Mexican director, Alfonso Cuaron, "Children of Men." Housing nine theaters with various films showing at the time I went, the new building is adjacent to the former structure, which is now closed. There is no indication of what is going to happen to the older building.
To get to the parking, you can drive past the old building, turn left, drop off the children and other passengers at the entrance to the new cinemas, and continue into the ample parking lot. However, if several of the theaters are showing films at approximately the same time, the driving is rather slow into this area from this direction. Weather permitting and with no mobility problems, it's probably as time efficient to find a parking place in the shopping mall and walk to the cinema entrance.
Inside, the organization is standard, consisting of multiple individual cinemas for a variety of films. Some things have changed; others haven't. The seating is considerably improved: in fact, I found myself in very comfortable auditorium seats. The visibility is excellent, not only due to the wide screen, but also resulting from the intelligently raised levels, assuring no problem in "seeing over" anyone's head - or hairstyle or hat! Alas, the decibel level of the sound was still too loud - at least for me. Since movies cater to a relatively young audience, most supposedly with good hearing, one wonders why this level is maintained. Additionally, the "surround" sound system was very distracting and, at times, I thought I was listening to noise coming from an adjacent theater.
Continuing are the coming attractions - trailers galore - around 20 minutes or so of them. Generally, at least for me, it's a "grit your teeth" and sit through them experience if you like to select your seat before the house fills. Usually, these "attractions" turn into an education on films to avoid - and/or ones perhaps to restrict children from seeing.
Review: "Children of Men"
The film I saw, "Children of Men" - released on Christmas day, and for a reason - has been touted at a "must see" film. Its director, Alfonso Cuaron, appeared on a Charlie Rose show and his comments about his approach to cinema were interesting. He's a director capable of sparks of brilliance; unfortunately, he's also a creative person who can't let go of needless items that do not serve to move the film along - the ubiquitous, extended car chase, for example. It isn't a film one "likes." It's a "what if" film, and it's billed as science fiction/fantasy - yet exudes "today-ness" and even has '60s elements. I came away feeling as though I'd just been to Bagdad - so intense and realistic was the insane destruction, so confusing the distinctions between the good and the bad guys, so swift the sensations (sensory overload, yes, of course), so jarring the visuals of explosives, buildings collapsing, blown-apart people, people in cages, checkpoints (I thought about the Mexican border fence problem) senseless murder.
Yet, amid it all, there's a message - a spiritual Christian one about a baby born to save what's left of the world, momentarily (only momentarily!) stopping the calamitous action - perhaps the finest sequence in the film. Hence, it's release on Dec. 25.
It is 2027. Eighteen-year-old Diego has died. He was the youngest citizen in a world that has shrunk to a devastated England/London (all else is gone) besieged with immigrants and terrorists. Women have been infertile since 2009, when he was born.
"Baby" Diego is universally mourned. Cut.
Theo (Clive Owen), a once-upon-a-time political activist, and now a caved-in minor bureaucrat with connections, is kidnapped by his former lover, Julian (Julianne Moore), who is involved in the Human Project, supposedly a "save-the-future" program somewhere, the where of which is vague - as is much in this film. There's an eight-month embryo in the belly of one of the rebels or "fishes" one Kee (superbly handled by Claire-Hope Ashitey), who has to be saved and, after considerable mishaps, winds up in a hideaway owned by Jasper (Michael Caine at his usual best), a classic '60s granola drop-out who still loves his drugs and music. Julian needs Theo's help. She gets it in spades. He becomes the hero who saves Kee - he even performs midwifery duties - enabling Kee to sail away, baby in hand, in a ship, oh my - yep - called "Tomorrow."
"Children of Men" is also billed as written by the famous crime writer P.D. James. However, clearly other hands have been involved in changing the original text for screen adaptation, although the race-saving premise of a world without a future appears to have been from her pen. Ms. James is quoted as saying, "I thought if there was no future, how would we behave?"
