If you talk to anyone of a certain age, an age old enough to remember the days when the Catholic Church had a strangle hold on the Irish Republic, about what it was like on Good Friday in days gone by they will likely tell you that it was the single worst day of the year. It was a day of depression and repression. Not only was the eating of meat a forbidden thing on Good Friday, you couldn’t turn on the television or turn on the radio. Basically you weren’t allowed to do anything that might cause you to feel the slightest bit of joy about actually being part of the world. You had to suffer because some dude in some book suffered. Makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?
In the slightly-more-sensible here and now, things aren’t quite as backwards as they were. The eating of meat is only slightly frowned upon, commerce continues to carry on for the most part, cinemas are open, the world still spins, and I laugh at the people who still follow the superstitions of the old ages. Oh yeah, the bars are all closed because the selling of alcohol is forbidden by law. It’s the one thing about Good Friday that drives me nuts. Folk are free to believe what they wanna believe, just as folk are free to disagree, Blasphemy Laws not withstanding, but shutting down an entire sector of industry for what is just a religious holiday is ridiculous.
I think that part of the reason that there were so many people out and about yesterday; window shopping, out walking, going to the cinema; is that they remember what it was like years ago to feel bad about feeling happy and that going out to be part of the world was something that they needed to do.
Anyone who’s been paying attention to Republic of Cinema, or has been unfortunate to engage me in conversation, knows that I find more worth in the works of Joss Whedon than I’ve ever found in the teachings of the church and that the cinema is where I go to look for inspiration. The works of Whedon are all about inclusion, celebration of people’s differences and the idea that the best thing about having power is being able to share that power. The cinema can be a place that will bring any and every sort of idea to you in glorious technicolor. And sometimes is just about shit blowing up, but that’s OK too.
Yesterday’s trip to the cinema in Dun Laoghaire was just for fun. The short travel time to and from Dun Laoghaire and the convenience of the screening time all made it too easy to turn down. Plus of course, there was just the fact that I wanted to see G.I. Joe before all the lofty intellectual critics ripped it to shreds and took all of the joy out of it. And while I’ll admit that the movie ain’t The Unbearable Lightness of Being, it’s very enjoyable and a whole load of fun. It was so much fun in fact that I went to see it again today in Coolock. This time though, the screening actually does count as part of Republic of Cinema.
Yesterday, the only trailer that we got before the movie was the most recent trailer for Star Trek: Into Darkness. Today we got Oblivion, Iron Man 3, and the insanely fun looking Fast And Furious 6. All three of which are movies that I’m really looking forward to seeing.
Retaliation was just as entertaining the second time around as it was yesterday. Just like the screening yesterday, the auditorium was slightly less than half full; and just like the screening yesterday, the audience was quiet as a mouse the whole way through the movie. Unlike yesterday though, today’s screening actually brought some progress with it. It was the 146th screening for Republic of Cinema and it was the last movie that I need to see in the Coolock Odeon.
My previous plan for hitting 150 died a quick death but I’ll get there before the end of April.
I still intend to finish Kildare in one day by seeing three movies in one day in the Naas Odeon. Today’s trip to the Coolock Odeon brought my Loyalty Card points over the level I need in order to get a free movie and totally unexpectedly, I was given a 2-for-1 voucher today that I can use in any Odeon which effectively means that I can see three movies in the Naas Odeon sometime towards the end of next month for the price of one movie. Good Friday, better Saturday.
Tomorrow will be all about celebrating someone who has had a profound effect on my life. It’ll be all about celebrating someone who died and was resurrected. Yep, tomorrow will be a Buffy Marathon. Though I have to admit that for all the impact that Whedon and his works have had on my life, he still couldn’t organise a four day weekend for me. Finally, something good to say about religiosity!
Simon Says 