Rock of Ages

Please stop! Catherine Zeta-Jones and company drive a nail into the coffin of 80′s rock and roll in “Rock of Ages.”

I have seen the death of rock and roll and it is “Rock of Ages.”   I could see this story perhaps working as a Broadway musical, upon which it is based.  Today Broadway musicals have to be bland enough to attract a wide audience.  “Rock of Ages” certainly fits the bill.  However, as a movie, “Rock of Ages” is trite, corny, unbearably predictable and way too long. 

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol

Tom Cruise in "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol"

This morning I attended the 11:20 am screening of “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” at the AMC Empire multiplex at 42^nd Street and 8th Avenue in Manhattan.  Now, I give a lot of my movie going dollars to the AMC movie theatre chain because all shows before noon are six dollars at all AMC theatres.  So, since 11:20 am is a full 40 minutes before noon my ticket should have been six dollars, right?  Well, not according to AMC.  You see the 11:20 showing of “Mission: Impossible” was presented in something called ETX, which stands for “Enhanced Theatre Experience” for which AMC charges ten dollars for the pre-noon show.  I asked the ticket seller what kind of “enhanced” experience I was going to get for this 67% mark up.  He explained that the theatre in which “Mission: Impossible” was playing had a very big screen and 150 speakers.