Cars

Yep, went to see it on opening night. When you've got a 10-year old, and when you're personally fascinated by the utter brilliance of Pixar's animation, you go on opening night.

Enjoyed the movie very much. Paul Newman as the Hudson was perfect, of course I'm a fan of the idiotic comic stylings of Larry the Cable Guy, so I enjoyed his character, and Michael Keaton is always great. He even breaks his voice back into the great character he played in the underrated classic "Gung Ho", Hunt Stevenson.

Gung Ho, btw, was directed by Ron Howard, who has gone from "Gung Ho" and "NightShift" (both with Keaton) and "Splash" (with Tom Hanks) to do "Cinderella Man", "A Beautiful Mind", and then back with Hanks in "Apollo 13" and "The Da Vinci Code". Pretty impressive resume for Opie, er, Richie Cunn...,er, Ron Howard. But I digress.

So I go into the movie last night knowing it was going to be full of kids, and knowing there would be the occasional howl of unhappiness and the occasional sprint up the aisle to hit the tinkle room. But even with those expectations, it was the loudest theater I've ever been in, and I'm not talkin' about the movie.

My word, people, this is NOT your family room and this is NOT a DVD we're watching. People have paid money to enjoy this flick on a big screen with comfortable (?) seats and a bag of popcorn in hand. They did not come to hear a normal-voice...not even hushed tones...conversation about whether or not the car doors are locked or "did you leave my purse in there?" or "Aunt Maggie called today." Jeezus. It's a m-o-v-i-e t-h-e-a-t-e-r. You can't shut yourself or your elementary school-aged children up for 95 minutes?

Toddlers talking in a theater? I understand. Whispering your thoughts or quietly telling the 11-year old to hush up a bit? Good. Talking out loud with no concern for the other people in the theater? Do us all a favor and go home. That's not a matter of "free speech", it's a matter of courtesy and the ability to not be rude.

Oh, if you like Pixar, if you like a fun little story, go see the movie, but I'd recommend the 10 o'clock show.