It’s hard to find anything interesting to watch on TV these days. There are many evenings when I don’t watch TV at all. More often I use the TV as a screen to stream various series. Sometimes I watch films but I believe films are best seen in the comforting darkness of a cinema with a massive digital sound system, accompanied by a large container of popcorn and, at least, one friend to share the experience with.
My interest in films and the cinema is not a new thing. I remember watching a lot of films when I was in my teens and I even kept a journal, which was kind of a scrapbook where I collected ticket stubs and film reviews.
I’m a proud member of a society loosely called “Biogänget”, which consists of four lovely ladies interested in films in general and the mutual experience of watching films in the cinema in particular. There are quite a few films showing in the cinema at the moment that we want to see; The Post, All the Money in the World, Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri and Maze Runner: the death Cure, just to mention a few.
This evening Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri was our first choice but we couldn’t find any good seats (some of the members are very particular about where to sit), so we ended up buying tickets for All the money in the World.
All the money in the world is a film inspired by the true story of the kidnapping of the 16-year old, multi-billionaire J Paul Getty’s grandson. The infamously frugal Getty refuses to pay the ransom, leaving the negotiating to a former CIA-agent (employed by Getty) and the devoted, and increasingly, desperate mother.
I liked the film a lot because it’s not a typical action movie, which I had expected it to be. It is set in 1973, hilariously referred to as another “time era” by one of the club members (oh my! I must be getting old 😱). The film crosscuts between the boy’s captivity, the mother’s increasingly desperate fight to free her son and the Getty residence. The actors portrayed their characters in a good way and it was nicely cut.
What’s even more interesting about this film is the spectacularly late exchange of actor, cast as the old J P Getty, that has caused headlines worldwide. With only six weeks to it’s premiere, the original actor Kevin Spacey was erased from the film, replaced by Christopher Plummer even though the film had already been finished. This because of the allegations of Spacey sexually assaulting a 14-year old boy, which apparently is not “good for business” in the director’s attempt of trying to win an Oscar. (Kevin Spacey scenes reshot in Ridley Scott flick)
All in all we had a great evening, which, by the way, continued for a couple of more hours after the film in a pub having a few “adult beverages” 😉.
Footnote: Christopher Plummer is nominated in the category: best actor in a supporting role, of this year’s Oscars.
Stray Bullet 
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