Okay, So it's Becoming a Thing

Do you remember that night last November or December when we were downtown late one night checking out the scene when we ended up smack in the middle of Manhattan? All of a sudden Burrard St. turned into a New York City sidewalk. Well, I think I saw the movie they were filming then tonight.
After being panned by Robert Elder of the Chicago Tribune (a guy who's obviously making a career out of the fact that his name looks like Roger Ebert if you're not reading closely enough), I wasn't expecting much fromTwo for the Money. I had a choice of watching the film, or going to hear afriend of mine give a free recital over on the west side with that freaky counter-tenor voice of his - that's freaky in a good way. Since I had already withdrawn the cash, I chose the film. Tony's voice wasn't going anywhere, but after what Elder had to say, I wasn't so sure about the film either.
Before going to the movie, I went to this nice little deli on Beatty St. called the Kolachy Shop. They're not entirely kosher, but they do use kosher parchment paper for baking. Who knew? They offer feature kolachys, like the last time I was there it was Scotch Egg. This time it was English Breakfast. Trigger. Although the proprietor hates baked beans, I told him to go see Layer Cake. He would have a whole new appreciation for a real English Breakfast. I told him the movie starred Daniel Craig, the newJames Bond to which he replied "Who?". Am I the only person who's seen Layer Cake?
The theatre - Cinemark Tinseltown 12. I swear they index their prices to the price of gas, but now I know why. I confronted the guy behind the protective glass as to why I had to pay $11.50 two weeks prior to watch The Constant Gardener, but only had to pay $7.50 to watch Al Pacino andMatthew McConaughey have hair nightmares. The kid behind the glass told me,"Matinee Price! You pay less". I don't know why it was such a mystery before, it makes perfect sense. If you watch a film before 18:00, it will cost you less. Surely I could live with shelling out $7.50 for highback recliners and an unobstructed view of the screen.
The trailers - Several trailers were shown, one for Nic Cage's new film which I've detailed before, and two others which really make me want to see them. Maybe it was just one trailer, but its got that guy who starred in Fast and Furious I and II... yes BOTH of them! Oh yeah, Paul Walker - that's his name. The film is called Running Scared, and very much parallels the life stories of at least two people I know. But then again, I am pulling this assumption from the trailer and we probably all know at least 1 person like the people in that film. By the way, Elizabethtown is going to suck. Anybody whose dealt with a cremation knows that human ash is NOT the same as wood ash. Why can't Hollywood get it straight? I guess it's too gory for the censors to show the real thing. Little trigger.
I could list off the Vancouver locations all at once, or put them as they appear in the film. There is even a location used in the film which, at first consideration I was convinced was a luxury brownstone mockup that does exist in Fairview, but for it to be Vancouver, they would have had to truck it down to the shore under the Lions' Gate bridge and then also rebuild the Old Mill and truck that down and drop it right next to the brownstone. The only logical explanation (I always try to be as logical as possible) is to accept that the bridge is not the Lions' Gate bridge (later it is proven not to be the LG bridge), and that the location only rings a bell because I saw it in another film. I'm thinking Hitch -IF Hitch is the one where Wil Smith goes to a cooking class at some waterfront location. All that, and in a real New York street shot, there is a Metro news box. I thought they were local. And since I couldn't fit it in anywhere else, the shot of the ruined client at a call box next to a wharf was done on the shore of the Fraser River down in Surrey next to Skybridge or else further east at the Mission ferry parking lot.
The movie - Before I get started, it might be worth noting that the last two people in the theatre were the first two out. Two Japanese girls, one sported an off-white, perhaps ivory gypsy skirt whereas the second one wore a skirt hemmed above the knee, with black knee-high stockings and ankle boots with the no fur option and carried her purse off the elbow in an L-shaped fashion. What was I talking about? Oh yeah, I was the thirdperson out of the theatre which is the only reason why I remember what they wore.
As I alluded to above, the film stars Al Pacino and Matthew McConaughey and their journey to find a good stylist. I kid you not, the hair in this film was so bad. In the first current day shot of Matt's character, he's got some kind of crazy bandaged mullet. I thought for sure that he had a wig on under that do rag. But at least Matt's hair was consistent. The first shot of Al's hair is a 40 foot high ad for why men should not get hair plugs (if they were plugs - they were so bad I couldn't really see what he had on his head). From the back it wasn't much better. He had some kind of top-only thing on his head which I guess is more believable than an all-over wig. Then, the wife. Rene Russo's hair was so frizzy, it looked like a doll's hair after I -- I mean my sister put curlers in it. So the movie stars Al Pacino (how many football movies can this guy be in??) as the boss, a man very much like my father, a business man blinded by greed who has a NASTY case of angina. Also starring in the film is Matthew McConaughey, as the former athlete who is a whiz at predicting football wins. Rene Russo completes the main cast as the wife of Al Pacino's character, the only person who can understand him and also help McConaughey's character figure out life in the big city. Jeremy Piven is also in a supporting role, playing a betting expert who figures McConaughey won't last, and not to be outdone, Piven is wearing the perfect I'm-not-trying-to-fool-anybody-with-this wig.
The last film I saw Al Pacino in at a theatre was Devil's Advocate with Keanu Reeves. There was nothing particularly memorable about that film including Pacino's acting so I really wanted to see a good film today. Devil's Advocate also reminds me why I have to watch films alone. If I go with someone, we have a habit of talking or my friend and I will laugh at odd moments. After getting over the hair, the film proceeds with McConaughey receiving a call from Pacino offering him a job in New York. McConaughey arrives in New York to the sounds of Curtis Mayfield, but the soundtrack is pretty forgettable after that, and Matt finds himself completely out of his element. Before I realized the film was done in Vancouver, an early scene has Pacino, Russo and McConaughey enjoying a celebratory dinner in a restaurant. It was so nice, I considered giving up my standing reservation at Hy's just to have dinner in this place. Later, I realized that it was Hy's. Boy, did I feel stupid. Pacino and McConaughey make a bet over a woman sitting at another table who, you guessed it, had frizzy hair that was so thick it had to be a wig, but maybe hair grows that way in Nebraska (The actress is from Omaha, Nebraska). McConaughey stops her in the stairwell and tries to pick her up. Little trigger, which really did bring back something I'd forgotten. Incidentally, this actress' character lives in the Wall Centre Hotel, but probably never saw more than the elevator. We only ever see her exit the elevator into the lobby which is all the second unit needed. I started to catch on when I saw Pacino and McConaughey walking around the Marine Building on Burrard St. In a goof shot, you see the two of them walk around the same corner twice, but only people in Vancouver would know that so I guess the second unit decided it wasn't worth re-shooting. There was also a nice little moment where Pacino and McConaughey crash a Gamblers Anonymous meeting attended by none other than Canadian actress Vina Sood. I was too busy trying to figure out how she got into the film that I kinda missed Pacino's speech. As the members started to get strange looks on their faces, I half expected one of them to say "You've got the wrong meeting", but it didn't happen. The two are kicked out of the meeting, and they go back to making millions on the betting circuit. A whale calls up and wants to meet John Anthony, McConaughey's character's alter-ego. Anthony and Pacino fly to Puerto Rico to meet this big better, but really they never leave the Lower Mainland. The airport is of course YVR, and the better's house (we only ever see one interior shot) is really my dad's place. It actually isn't too hard to make Deep Cove look like Puerto Rico when the only shot of the exterior is ocean, and they throw a couple tropical plants around the room. So John Anthony lands the client and because his betting is so good, they instantly make money off the guy. Then the ugly side of money comes in. John starts to feel jealous that Pacino is living large off the money that Anthony made for him while Anthony gets zilch. Anthony, never a better himself, starts to play silly. He figures he could make any pick, and at least half would be right. Statistically speaking, a randomly selected variable with two possible outcomes always has a a fifty percent chance of resulting in a positive outcome. But realistically speaking, everybody wants better than 50%, especially when its millions at stake. So John gets sloppy to teach Pacino a lesson, and messes a bit with Rene as well which doesn't help. He manages to upset Mr. Whale, played by Armand Assante in Puerto Rico, and while he's cycling in Stanley, I mean Central Park he is assaulted by the body guard of Mr. Whale and ends up getting scared enough that he decides to smarten up. Somewhere in the movie, there is a whole lotof of Matt-running-around-in-a-towel. I remember because at some point a few members of the female audience did that thing that my friend Maureen does whenever a good looking guy walks by. John's magic doesn't come back so easily, and after losing several hundred thousand of his boss' own money, he throws a fit at the glitziest sportsbar I've ever seen. That's because it isn't a sports bar. It is actually Wild Rice Restaurant on Pender at Abbott. I checked that place out with Miko S. from Jakarta and then later took Debbie C. there (names have been redacted to protect innocent parties). I never knew that quail bones could be so nasty. I recommend the Opium, a double vodka with Chambord. They serve food there too, but after the experience with Debbie I haven't been back. There is also a shot allegedly of Nobu in New York, but I think it might have been Lumiere with a different colour attitude and new table lamps. Perhaps because they actually named the restaurant, the second unit actually filmed at Nobu. I don't know, I'm just saying. John gets one more chance to make good and of course, he does but not before he loses his soul, has to disappear from New York and never make a bet again. I don'tknow what happened to Pacino's character, but I assume he dropped dead of a heart attack shortly after winning all his money back, leaving his widow to shoulder the business debt and take care of a six year old daughter. Ithink it would have been better if McConaughey and Russo ran off leaving Pacino with a pile of money all the way back at square 1.