At the last hours of the weekend, I went to see Spiderman III with my sons. As young boys born in the US, exposure to comic heroes is inevitable and begins at a very early age. Spiderman has had a presence in our family’s imagination and dialogue for as long as we have known each other! I believe we get to live again through our children and their experiences in life, and I am grateful for the chance to have learned about this part of Americana through them. It felt good to be sitting in the theatre with the two of them, who are “special effects critics," commenting on what was “cool” and what was not. For me, it was pure fun to go to the movies with the two of them, something we haven’t been able to do much recently with our busy schedules. Popcorn in hand and sitting in that cool, dark theatre, I was so grateful for the few hours of peaceful bliss we had after the trials and tribulations of late. I do love going to the movies, and I am reminded again that the best things in life are free or don’t cost very much.
9 comments:
Beautiful post. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Serendip. I have been really lazy recently. I know I have to write about this interesting guy I went to listen to in Berkeley ten days ago, and I also have a cultural favor I need to do for my niece, in the form of writing something in Farsi and in English. I need to clear my slate, because this weekend I will go to see a documentary and I hate it when things pile up. But I think I have managed to fry what little brains I had, and now I just want to look at happy pictures, art, and music, avoidings things too serious! This movie was just what the doctor (Dr. Nazy) ordered! The director is Sam Raimi (also known as Sam Rahimi), but from reading his biography, I don't get any "Iranian-ness," you know, born and raised in the US, etc. Do you know much about him? Anyhow, for those who like them, comics are a great escape from everything, I think. Be good.
Nazi Joonam
I know what you mean by watching a movie American style. Of course I
love it. I mean, who doesn't? Whenever I get a chance to travel to civilized word, I go watch a movie. Two months ago, we travelled to Dubai. I saw two movies in one day. In Dubai, theaters are well air conditioned and have comfortable furniture and modern equipment, but they cut scenes they consider obscene, and cut the audio on every F word.
You know we who live in Iran can't afford the luxury of watching a
movie in a good theatre, unless it is made in Iran. Few American or
European movies are put up for show in theaters here, and those which are, are usually slaughtered. Not only some scenes are cut out, but sometimes story is modified to conform with the ethics of Iranian government. So, I prefer to watch movies on my home theater. In Iran, you can buy a DVD for a little over 1US$!!
If it's not a recent movie, you could hope for good quality and correct subtitles. If it's recent, watching it will turn out to be a nightmare.
Subtitles would be given only when the characters say simple, short, and easy words, like hi, how are you doing. The rest is either left to you to find out, or preposterously wrong. Sometimes even names are subtitled wrongly. But, this is as good as it gets in Iran. As bad as these pirated DVDs are, they are far better and much more amusing than stupid soap operas of national Iranian TV. They're even better than the movies you can watch on MBC2, with a dozen adds to go with them every few minutes. Besides, almost everything MBC2 shows, I have already seen, that is, almost
everything that is fit to my taste.
When dinner is served, and the dishwasher is silently doing the
dishes, my husband and I sit down to watch a movie. He fells asleep
almost immediately.
His head starts to toss back and forth, and he even snores sometimes. I try to be patient. Not let his snoring distract my attention. After a few minutes, he wakes up, makes himself a cup of coffee, and sits to watch the rest of the movie after I have told him what has been going on so far.
Sometimes, he starts eating water melon seeds, to keep himself awake. Then I have to try to ignore the constant trek, trek, trek of hard roasted seeds he would be breaking for the rest of the night.
But I love watching movies all the same. They keep my mind off my worries, and give me something to think about, or dream on.
Love you,
Fariba
How was that? we talked about it last night in one of my classes. My teacher, who is a geegk by the way, hated it, but one of my classmate said it was the best movie ever! I dont think spend money for it. I may get it when it comes to DVD. But we both are waiting for beloved Jack Sparow, as Vahid is totaly in love with him. Go Jonny. Go.
Salam Leva Jan: I loved it as I have loved the other two that Sam Raimi directed. But you know that I have been following my sons' taste in movies for years now, so I may not be a good movie critic for you! (you know, too impressionable!). Yes, Jack Sparrow and Pirates of the Carribeans are movies I am also waiting for this summer. Thanks for the link to Kiosk/Abjees videos. I will watch them all tonight when I get a chance. Thanks for coming to visit and my best to Vahid.
On Sam Raimi from wikipedia:
Samuel Marshall Raimi was born in Royal Oak, Michigan, to a conservative Jewish family of Polish[citation needed] ancestry; his father is Leonard Ronald Raimi and his mother is Celia Barbara (Abrams) Raimi. His family's original surname was Reingewertz, but was shortened to Raimi after his grandfather immigrated to the United States. His father's close cousin was Harry Margolis who played for the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1941 season.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Raimi
Thanks Serendip! Doesn't sound Iranian at all, does he?!! How funny. Well, he is a good director, full of imagination, so what does it matter where he came from? Thanks again for taking the trouble to reply. Be good.
Dear Nazy Khanum Salam:
This is the first comment I put in your page. Well I am not really interested in political issues and all the stuff that's happening in Iran. That's why I don't really read Farsi blogs. But, I read some of your posts (non political ones, of course) and really liked them. Hope you always be fine and keep it up.
Well I'm not a big fan of the movie SP, although I have watched SP1 and SP2 more than once! It's great, being in the USA and of course, CA and again of course, NOR CAL, and have the chance to go to the theaters and watch the new released movies. One of the great ones I loved and went to watch on the first night of it being showed, was MI3! I had watched the first two MIs in Iran back in a time when there was no DVD in Iran, and it was one of my largest dreams going to the U.S. and watching the third one in theater, and thank God, we are here and one of our many dreams became true. I also read Fariba's comment about watching movies in Dubai, and I'm so sorry that even in Dubai, which is being advertised as a great place to live, movies are being censored. Well, I believe that a movie is an art piece, being created by its producer, scenarist, director, and actors/actresses, and it is so unprofessional, unpleasant, and of course against the copyright law to censor a movie and cut some scenes and even dialogues off it. But unfortunately, this is what's happening today in the most Islamic countries and this great art, movie, is being harassed by the people who are blinded by religion. Some might say that it is not appropriate watching some scenes in a movie. The question is how come here in the U.S. the movies are rated and people can go and watch the movie with their children based on its rate! Well, there is only one answer for this, and that is of course nowhere else on the Earth planet is like the U.S. and for that matter GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!
Vahid Jan:
Thanks for coming to visit! I am honored. Yes, the experience of seeing movies in the US is awesome. Actually, isn't it also great to be able to go to a concert here, too? How about all the different lectures on various subjects, where everyone gets to say their piece and not be harrassed for it afterwards? For a country this young, America certainly has a lot of tolerance and accommodation for all cultures of the world. One of the reasons I appreciate my life so much is the many opportunities living here affords me, and I am continually grateful for them. Be good Vahid Jan. Please come again.
Post a Comment