I had the pleasure of watching a personal interview between Rebecca Murray from About.com and Brendan Fraser. Rebecca writes the Movie site for About.com, and every woman I know has a crush on Brendan Fraser. Here is her video clip from the Los Angeles Film Festival in which Brendan says he loves About.com and talks about the movie far longer than his PR person suggested he yak. Watching Brendan so enthusiastically describe the movie made me want to go see it. Well, that and I think those glasses are a trip. Besides, Brendan Fraser could read the phone book, and I'd still watch it.
However, I have news for movie goers in Sacramento. Not every movie shows Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3D. First, we went to the United Artists theater at Arden Fair. My husband wanted to catch the early matinee. He says movie theaters really love 3D movies because they can charge an extra $5 per couple -- supposedly to rent the glasses.
United Artists Arden Fair 6 Did Not Show 3D
As we were standing at the ticket counter about to buy our tickets, I noticed a sign that said the movie was not in 3D. How can the movie be shown in 2D when 3D is sort of the purpose of the movie? I was there for the experience, the excitement, the blood rushing adrenaline, and that wasn't going to be possible if the movie wasn't shown in 3D.
Sort of bummed, I sat in the lobby and pecked away on my BlackBerry. Aha. The Regal Natomas movie theater was showing Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3D, and we could still catch the matinee if we hustled. We settled into our $10-a-piece seats just as the movie started.
Regal Natomas Stadium 16 Shows Journey 3D
It's the kind of movie you go to see because you want to experience the thrills and be entertained. You don't necessarily believe the dialog,
storyline or characters, but you don't have to. The roller-coaster ride on the mine coal cars kept me on the edge of my seat, but so did those flying fish with the enormous choppers and the thundering dinosaurs.
There's also plenty of humor in the movie. At one point, Trevor (Brendan Fraser), Hannah (Anita Briem), the mountain guide, and Trevor's 13-year-old nephew Sean came upon a cave filled with jewels. Hannah spied a pile of gleaming red stones and sighed, "Oh, rubies." Sean, being the kid that he is and thinking about buying a Maserati, is climbing up the wall and plucking off giant diamonds. Trevor cocks his sideways looking at a cave wall and gushes, "feldspar." Which would have been funnier if the producers knew anything about geology. Feldspar is a very common mineral. And it wouldn't have been found in that part of the world, says my husband. Perhaps Pica would be funnier. But I digress, and it's not really important to the overall movie that it be believable any more than saying the illuminated bluebirds had to be real.
Although, I did learn that magnesium is flammable. The movie may disregard the law of physics and gravity, but as C Tann-Starr says, "Hello! It's a movie about going to the center of the earth."
For pure entertainment value, I give it two thumbs up! Just make sure the movie theater you choose shows it in 3D.
Photos: Elizabeth Weintraub
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