Having reached the three month marker, it’s slowly hitting me that I will be home in an English speaking country in the blink of an eye. Any time I am in my room alone mindlessly stalking old friends on facebook, I panic just little: there are so many other things I could be doing right now! So, for the next month I am going to live the most ‘German’ I can.
So what is the German-ist thing to do on a Monday night (besides drink Beer and argue)? See an English speaking blockbuster. Yes—a few friends and I spent 7.50 euros to see “Skyfall.”
Like everything German, the movie experience was efficient from start to finish. We bought our tickets ahead of time (naturlich), but not off of Fandango or Moviefone—in person. At the movies in Germany, you buy your seat ahead of time (like going to a show on broadway). The seats in the back are an extra 1.50, while the seats in the front as the most undesirable At first I thought this was stupid—assigned seats defeats the point of rushing to get to the movie theatre and fighting people for the seat in the center eight rows back. It’s the little things in life that make me feel accomplished—and winning a seat is one of them. But the more I thought on it, I recognized the competence of this system. It really would make the “Harry Potter” midnight premieres in Albany much less stressful.
The Cinemax might as well have been the Lowes on 42nd street. It is massive, commercialized, and full of bad, overpriced food (hell yea, slushies). Except there is one noticeable difference: there is a huge four story metal slide in the Freiburg movie theatre. Overly giddy, we raced up the stairs. One by one six twenty year olds climbed into a thin twisty tube. Screams, bumps, and yelps transcended the four floors. What a rush.
We settled in at our assigned seats and dug into the sour gummies, chocolate, and chips we had previously purchased at our local supermarket (some things will never change). For about twenty minutes the loud speakers bumped some American tunes. At 7:15 (the scheduled movie time) the ads began to stream. For FOURTY FIVE minutes, I sat watching (but not understanding) ads for cars, makeup, clothes, etc in German. Eventually, there were a few previews for American movies dubbed in German. I think “Breaking Dawn” may actually be more enjoyable dubbed in German than in English.
“Skyfall” was magnificent. And I’m not one to rave about glory, oversexified, violent films. Go see it if only for Daniel Craig’s abs.
On a side note, before we got to the threatre, a few friends warned us that there was an awkward intermission halfway through the film—but to my let down our showing didn’t have one. Guess I’ll have to see “Perks of Being A Wallflower” next monday.
Write more soon. Bus leaves for ROME in ten.