We had bought tickets for the 5:00 hour, so we made our journey to Franklin early enough to get there in time. But . . . when we got there, the ticket seller said that there was no 5:00 showing--it had been cancelled. We had heard nothing of that, though I had noticed the button to buy tickets for that time had disappeared a day or two ago. I thought that the tickets had merely been sold out. The lady said we could get our tickets switched to the 8:00 time, or that she'd give us a pass to go to that showing. So, we really got a night showing for the afternoon rate. But we had several hours to kill.
First we ate at Chick-Fil-A, though we had eaten a sandwich or something light before coming. Our appetites had revived sufficiently to eat again. ;)
After that, we spotted a chocolate shop (called Paul's Chocolate Gallery) and we went in, curious. Chocolate is never a bad idea, right? The little shop had chocolate sculptures and a baby grand piano on one side, a glass case full of chocolate candies on the other. We looked them over, noting flavors from orange cream to maple to peanut-butter. The prices were more than I would usually pay for an inch-and-a-half square of chocolate: around $2.49 each. Matthew or Andrew said jokingly, "She should get a discount for playing the piano."
"Actually, you do get a free piece of chocolate for playing a song," the young lady behind the counter said.
Ah! Oh! :) I sat down at the piano (whose autographs were on the piano? didn't even read them), and played my Chopin waltz. I messed up in the middle, but skipped by the parts I couldn't remember there, and finished.
The young lady liked it, and asked how long I'd been playing.
I picked for my free piece of chocolate the same as Andrew's--something with raspberry. Mmm, it was quite good! Matthew asked the young lady her favorite flavor, and she said the Balsamic one. He tried this, and liked it. Not as sickening sweet as some, but it didn't taste like balsamic vinegar, he said.
Annie played Greensleeves and got a free piece of chocolate. Not sure of the flavor.
The lady said we could have a second piece for free, too! I thought I was supposed to play another song, so I made up an arrangement of Amazing Grace, and nabbed a second chocolate, this time pomegranate, which had a drizzle of reddish stripes on top.
Matthew plunked a few random notes on the piano and asked if he could have a free chocolate, too.
"No, that doesn't count," the young lady said with a smile.
She stepped out from behind the counter and talked with us more personally, about our family, piano playing, and even church. Perhaps she was a Christian, as Annie thought. We asked a little about the lady's work and the owner of the shop, too.
Eventually we headed out. Andrew and Matthew wanted to do some shopping; Matthew wanted to buy clothes at a thrift store, since he was a bit lacking in jeans and shirts. So we remembered the nice thrift store called "Our Thrift Store," found it on the GPS, and went there. The store was closed. But we had noticed a goodwill on the way there, so we headed back to that.
I thought this whole adventure was maybe even better than a movie--free chocolate, spending time with siblings, and impromptu shopping.
Annie and I browsed the clothing, but most of it was a bit pricey--even half off about $4.00 each. So we went back to the books and bought a few of those. Annie also found me a nice white purse for $5.00. I wasn't sure I wanted to buy it for that price, as there were a couple of stains on it, but I'm glad now that I did. The stains are small and hardly noticed. The bag looks quite classy, with silver rivets and rings. Yes, it's cheap and hard faux-leather, but oh well.
Now we hustled back to the theater, as the time was almost upon us.
We sat through dozens of ads and previews (thankfully none bad), plugging our ears often because the sound was so loud.
The sound of the movie wasn't much better--Matthew even stuck in an ear-plug he happened to have in his pocket.
The movie started out quite exciting and intense. And it kept my attention all the way through. Here's my review I submitted to Fandango.com:
"This is a good movie for kids and adults (though some of the violence may be too intense for young children), including lots of action, romance, and a little history. I enjoyed it and thought it was well done for an independent film. The acting was very good, not distracting as in some Christian movies. The script and costuming was quite good. The romance was a little modern and more intimate than I expected for a Christian movie, but overall not too bad. It may have just been the theater, but the sound was so loud we had to plug our ears at times (my brother wore an earplug in one ear). Of course, the graphics were not as good as a Hollywood film, but that's to be expected. I liked the theme of forgiveness not being earned, and it was put in there effortlessly. It kept me riveted; I'd count it a success in the main!"
Yes, the romance was the main thing I didn't like too much. There were some good points about it, such as the lady seeking advice and approval from God, her mother, and her uncle (her father is dead). But she does kiss the man before marriage. And I was disappointed to see that in a conservative Christian movie. They could have faked it, too, not shown their lips, but I think it did (I looked away a bit), and if the actors were indeed not married to each other, that would not be good.
Overall it was fun.
The guys picked apart all the fallacies or cliches on the way home, including not-perfect graphics. But for a low-budget film, who can expect something totally amazing? The guys actually did enjoy it more than they thought they would, so that's a success, too.
2 comments:
Sounds like a good movie! I was out of town on the one day I could find a showing near me, but I'm hoping to have a chance to see this one.
Yes, it's quite good. :) Perhaps I should have written more about the plot, but you can find that on their web-site, linked near the top of the post, along with a trailer and other things.
Do you have a goodreads account? I read some of your reviews on your blog, and liked them, but I keep up better with goodreads. :)
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