Movie Maration Saturday: The Queen, Children of Men, Dreamgirls, Pan's Labyrinth

I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen two movies at a movie theater in the same day. Well, yesterday was a first. I actually saw four movies in one day. I was thinking about seeing another two or three today, but the wintery precipitation they're calling for today has forced to me to think about staying at home.

This was such a big weekend for limited release, award buzz-worthy movies finally coming out in wide release, that I had a burst of movie-going frenzy. First I saw The Queen at 11:00AM at the new Grand 18 in Winston-Salem. I had just enough time to get gas for my car and finger food from Bojangles to make it to the Palladium 14 in High Point for the 1:40 showing of Children of Men. After Children of Men, I hid out in the bathroom for about 10 or 15 minutes before sneaking into the 4:00 of Dreamgirls, which was in the theater right next to Children of Men. Then, a friend from work had already bought tickets online for us to see the 9:40 of Pan's Labyrinth at the Grand in Greensboro (the only one in the area showing Pan's Labyrinth).

And, I thoroughly enjoyed the entire day.



I was worried I might have gotten tired of movies by the end of the day, but that didn't happen. It didn't hurt that all four films were so good, but my friend made a good point that all four movies were so different, that the variety alone was enough to keep things interesting...

The Queen is a docudrama about the British royal family based in the week of Princess Diana's death in 1997.

Children of Men is a post-apocalyptic drama about a childless society based in the near future of 2027.

Dreamgirls is an epic musical about a fictional African-American singing group spanning much of the 1960s & 1970s.

Pan's Labyrinth is a foreign-language "adult fairy tale" based in the 1944 aftermath of the Spanish civil war.

That was quite a combo!!! I plan on posting complete reviews on all four movies, maybe today, but definitely within the next few days.

Within the next week or two, I also hope to see Freedom Writers, Flags of Our Fathers, and Letters From Iwo Jima. I'm also tempted to see The Last King of Scotland and Babel. I'm playing around with the idea of eventually catching up on We Are Marshall, The Good Shepherd, Rocky Balboa, Apocalypto, and The Departed, but those are at the bottom of my priority list.

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[Updated Sunday 16 September 2007] I did eventually get to see and review Flags of Our Fathers, Letters From Iwo Jima, The Last King of Scotland, Babel, Rocky Balboa, and The Departed. Unfotunately, I never did get around to seeing Freedom Writers, We Are Marshall, The Good Shepherd, or Apocalypto, not even on video. Maybe some day.