Return of the King at Heron City
Jun. 11th, 2004 09:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kribbanHereby Follows the Account of the Last Screening:
(Just kidding! Please, put away the delete button...)
We went to the "Entertainment Centre" Heron City via a commuter train & bus.
http://www.heroncity.se/stockholm_eng/index.html
Neither of us had even been there before but were treated to the sight of a gigantic IKEA complex and an equally gigantic glass structure situated, well, in the middle of nowhere. The location is called The King's Bend because the old king (not the current one) ran off the road with his car there in the forties. (He didn't die.)
It turned out Heron City is the largest cinema in the Nordic Countries. It wasn't very crowded since it was only two o'clock in the afternoon, but the place was far from dead. (No wonder!) When we purchased our tickets the ticket lady told me that if I bought a Bonus card (which gives you 50% off on four shows Mon-Thu) I could use it on the ROTK ticket as well, meaning that for only five SEK extra I could see three movies for half the price. Stupid me had not thought that far. So I bought it, naturally. (I've bought a few of those nifty little things over the years. Poor student, and all.)
We bought candy and went to the bath room (boring details, blah) and the candy store owner complained to us that you were not allowed to make noise with your eating in the cinema! He talked to the right two people! Snort.
I really can't explain how HUGE the place was. You had to take three escalators up to the theatres. There were some people in the line but thankfully all those were lining up for Prisoner of Azkaban and not our little movie. :-)
ROTK was playing in one of the tiniest theatres, you know those shitty little ones a film gets stuck in when it's at the end of its run? Well, as we entered we saw that the 'tiny' theatre had a bigger screen than the biggest one in Södertälje does!
Furthermore, the very room was lovely, very vertically steep towards the screen (not two rows were on the same level) and up front there was metal railing so that people on the first row (us) could put up their feet. Malin, who is tall, said that it was the first time she didn't ache afterwards! The chairs were also very comfortable and there was adequate distance between us and the screen (unlike many other theatres where they don't expect to actually sell any tickets for the front row!)
There were six other people in the theatre and they were dead quiet for most of the film. (I think I heard one laugh and one whispered comment.)
So we were both in a good mood and my nervousness soon left me. The tedious and/or not likable parts were not very long and were made quite tolerable by the exciting bits. I had forgotten there were so many exciting parts! I was not tired at all (O hail, thee paid time off from work) and I was able to get emotionally involved in the film for probably the first time. Malin was also in a good mood which helped quite a lot and made whispering comments to each other very enjoyable.
Things I Had Not Noticed Before:
Sam saying to Frodo he isn't hungry, "at least not for Lembas bread." Cough! Cough! The innuendo! ;-) Much like Gandalf's "My precious" at the fire place in Bag End and Aragorn checking Frodo out at the Inn of the Prancing Pony.
Gimli taking Frodo's place at the coronation! Harrumpfh!
Aragorn sighing dejectedly before turning to face the crowd. Not a public speaker, is he? I like that.
When Elrond says: "Put aside the Ranger" I exclaimed "No!" because we all know that Strider loses 99% of his appeal when he becomes Elessar... :-(
Most of all I noticed the pumpkin-scene at The Green Dragon. It's very poignant and important (and should have been made a bigger deal of.) The other hobbit is bragging about his pumpkin and caressing it, saying "Watch the pumpkin!" like it's the most important thing on earth. The four hero hobbits, however, cannot join in on the celebration and awe of the pumpkin. They have suffered great danger and seen great things and learnt that there are more important things in life than pumpkins and bragging and the simple life of hobbits. They look at each other in dismay because they realise they can never again become immersed in the hobbit way of life again. Very nice.
Things That Still Annoy Me:
Malin said today it would be a lot more plausible if Arwen was dying because she feared she would never see Aragorn again, since a broken heart is something elves can, and do, die from. Sauron had nothing to do with it. (It would still have been as sad.) Annoying!
When Frodo's ship fades into the sunset and the beautiful music plays, the credits roll in my heart. Someone needs to use a big scissor and cut the anticlimax!scene out.
That Frodo's and Sam's exchange about how Frodo doesn't remember anything anymore, which in the book is melancholic and poignant, is turned into over-acted melodrama with sappy flute music on top. >_<
Denethor's death scene. Do I even need to say anything?
When the film was over we watched the credits (with one of the other visitors) and marvelled over the wonderful new place we'd found and what a wonderful viewing we had just had. Malin said "This is the best cinema experience I have ever had," and I must say I agree.
We only had to wait about thirty minutes before our direct bus to Södertälje (they have one of those, certain times of the day) came and took us away from the giant glass complex. The ride back took about twenty minutes and then there was another fifteen before we were back at our apartment. We bought pizza and I baked an apple pie and we saw four episodes of Buffy.
It was a good "Goodbye" to the film(s), though it sure feels strange that we'll only see it on the small screen from now on! We decided to get one copy of the DVD ASAP since we were now emotionally ready to do so (drama queens!) So after work today I went to the grocery store (sacrilege!) and bought my region II Widescreen DVD (Malin will get herself a full screen one, and we'll buy a Region I EE.) We've popped it in and seen a few scenes though we're waiting to see more until we have time to see the whole thing, in silence, with the curtains drawn. Anything less would be heart break! It's so different, from seeing it on the big screen. Not just the size difference, but the intensity of it, since you're away from home and can't leave or tear your attention away for a second.
I don't want to violate that for a second. At least not until we've seen it a few times.
(Just kidding! Please, put away the delete button...)
We went to the "Entertainment Centre" Heron City via a commuter train & bus.
http://www.heroncity.se/stockholm_eng/index.html
Neither of us had even been there before but were treated to the sight of a gigantic IKEA complex and an equally gigantic glass structure situated, well, in the middle of nowhere. The location is called The King's Bend because the old king (not the current one) ran off the road with his car there in the forties. (He didn't die.)
It turned out Heron City is the largest cinema in the Nordic Countries. It wasn't very crowded since it was only two o'clock in the afternoon, but the place was far from dead. (No wonder!) When we purchased our tickets the ticket lady told me that if I bought a Bonus card (which gives you 50% off on four shows Mon-Thu) I could use it on the ROTK ticket as well, meaning that for only five SEK extra I could see three movies for half the price. Stupid me had not thought that far. So I bought it, naturally. (I've bought a few of those nifty little things over the years. Poor student, and all.)
We bought candy and went to the bath room (boring details, blah) and the candy store owner complained to us that you were not allowed to make noise with your eating in the cinema! He talked to the right two people! Snort.
I really can't explain how HUGE the place was. You had to take three escalators up to the theatres. There were some people in the line but thankfully all those were lining up for Prisoner of Azkaban and not our little movie. :-)
ROTK was playing in one of the tiniest theatres, you know those shitty little ones a film gets stuck in when it's at the end of its run? Well, as we entered we saw that the 'tiny' theatre had a bigger screen than the biggest one in Södertälje does!
Furthermore, the very room was lovely, very vertically steep towards the screen (not two rows were on the same level) and up front there was metal railing so that people on the first row (us) could put up their feet. Malin, who is tall, said that it was the first time she didn't ache afterwards! The chairs were also very comfortable and there was adequate distance between us and the screen (unlike many other theatres where they don't expect to actually sell any tickets for the front row!)
There were six other people in the theatre and they were dead quiet for most of the film. (I think I heard one laugh and one whispered comment.)
So we were both in a good mood and my nervousness soon left me. The tedious and/or not likable parts were not very long and were made quite tolerable by the exciting bits. I had forgotten there were so many exciting parts! I was not tired at all (O hail, thee paid time off from work) and I was able to get emotionally involved in the film for probably the first time. Malin was also in a good mood which helped quite a lot and made whispering comments to each other very enjoyable.
Things I Had Not Noticed Before:
Sam saying to Frodo he isn't hungry, "at least not for Lembas bread." Cough! Cough! The innuendo! ;-) Much like Gandalf's "My precious" at the fire place in Bag End and Aragorn checking Frodo out at the Inn of the Prancing Pony.
Gimli taking Frodo's place at the coronation! Harrumpfh!
Aragorn sighing dejectedly before turning to face the crowd. Not a public speaker, is he? I like that.
When Elrond says: "Put aside the Ranger" I exclaimed "No!" because we all know that Strider loses 99% of his appeal when he becomes Elessar... :-(
Most of all I noticed the pumpkin-scene at The Green Dragon. It's very poignant and important (and should have been made a bigger deal of.) The other hobbit is bragging about his pumpkin and caressing it, saying "Watch the pumpkin!" like it's the most important thing on earth. The four hero hobbits, however, cannot join in on the celebration and awe of the pumpkin. They have suffered great danger and seen great things and learnt that there are more important things in life than pumpkins and bragging and the simple life of hobbits. They look at each other in dismay because they realise they can never again become immersed in the hobbit way of life again. Very nice.
Things That Still Annoy Me:
Malin said today it would be a lot more plausible if Arwen was dying because she feared she would never see Aragorn again, since a broken heart is something elves can, and do, die from. Sauron had nothing to do with it. (It would still have been as sad.) Annoying!
When Frodo's ship fades into the sunset and the beautiful music plays, the credits roll in my heart. Someone needs to use a big scissor and cut the anticlimax!scene out.
That Frodo's and Sam's exchange about how Frodo doesn't remember anything anymore, which in the book is melancholic and poignant, is turned into over-acted melodrama with sappy flute music on top. >_<
Denethor's death scene. Do I even need to say anything?
When the film was over we watched the credits (with one of the other visitors) and marvelled over the wonderful new place we'd found and what a wonderful viewing we had just had. Malin said "This is the best cinema experience I have ever had," and I must say I agree.
We only had to wait about thirty minutes before our direct bus to Södertälje (they have one of those, certain times of the day) came and took us away from the giant glass complex. The ride back took about twenty minutes and then there was another fifteen before we were back at our apartment. We bought pizza and I baked an apple pie and we saw four episodes of Buffy.
It was a good "Goodbye" to the film(s), though it sure feels strange that we'll only see it on the small screen from now on! We decided to get one copy of the DVD ASAP since we were now emotionally ready to do so (drama queens!) So after work today I went to the grocery store (sacrilege!) and bought my region II Widescreen DVD (Malin will get herself a full screen one, and we'll buy a Region I EE.) We've popped it in and seen a few scenes though we're waiting to see more until we have time to see the whole thing, in silence, with the curtains drawn. Anything less would be heart break! It's so different, from seeing it on the big screen. Not just the size difference, but the intensity of it, since you're away from home and can't leave or tear your attention away for a second.
I don't want to violate that for a second. At least not until we've seen it a few times.
