Surry Girls and Despicable Me

I had planned to go into town today to see a movie, either Despicable Me or Inception, but the thought of doing that daily drive again on my day off seemed like such a chore.  Then I remembered that the theater in Waterton just happened to be playing both those movies right now so I decided to head for the mountains instead. I could spend the afternoon in resort mode and then catch one or both of the films I wanted to see in the evening.

As I set out the sky was overcast but I hoped for the best and was happy to find a cloudy but completely windless Waterton.  I must say that if I had my choice I think I would choose a cloudy but calm Waterton over a sunny but mercilessly windy one almost every time.  I really love the way Waterton smells in the summer. Of course it varies depending on where you are but in town, the further from the lake (it smells like water for some reason) and closer to the mountains you are the better it smells. 

One of my favourite strolls in the village is from the falls down the road to the lake and then back to the falls via the back alley.  I find the alley, which is of course the very closest you can get to the mountains without actually entering any hiking trails, to be the most aromatic, cozy and quiet places to walk.

To finally get to my first topic of discussion today, I parked my car across from the theater, to which I would return later, and set out for my walk.  The tennis courts were all in use which was quite a rare sight, at least for me.  I passed Cameron Falls but don't remember if I even turned my head. Probably did just out of habit if nothing else. As always, once past the falls the noise of town and rushing water quickly faded and I entered the most enjoyable part of my route. When I was about midway between the falls and the lake everything was quite quiet then I started hearing voices behind me.  As they got closer I could tell it was two girls talking and at the rate they were gaining on me they must be on bikes I thought.  A few seconds later I recognized my favorite accent in the whole world, English from England. Yeah I know there is more than one kind of English accent and I couldn't tell you exactly which one it is that I like so much but they were speaking in it. You know, proper yet not pompous.  About the last ten seconds before they passed me all was quiet again and I assumed they were pausing their conversation until they were well clear of me for whatever reason.  I would pretend not to have noticed them at all as they passed so they would feel comfortable to resume there intimate discussion as soon as possible.  The moment they passed I saw that they were riding one of those those Surry bikes from Pat's and that they both had long hair. Just as I was thinking that they were probably both quite pretty and that it was a shame I would never find out, both girls turned their heads over their shoulders and in that killer accent of theirs said hello and smiled. Then they were gone... and I couldn't stop grinning until I reached the lake.  I know it's probably pathetic that something so small could have made my day in such a big way but it did and I won't try to deny it.  As I made my way back from the lake to the falls via the back alley the sweet smell of Waterton was especially fine.  I was so glad I didn't go to town today.

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The early show was going to be Despicable Me at 7:00 so I went in for that. I wasn't sure about the quality of the picture or audio in this old theater but was interested to see the inside as I don't recall ever being in there before.  It is nice to visit an old and unrenovated theater now and then.  Waterton's has definitely retained its original character.  It is a little bigger than you might think from looking at it from the outside.  The floors are wooden as are the seat armrests.  Not a cupholder in sight either.  One refreshing change from the ordinary was the lack of any pre movie commercials or even previews. The lights went down and the movie started, awesome!  The movie image had rounded corners for some reason and there was a slight flicker noticeable.  It kind of reminded me of watching old home movies on 8mm film. The sound was OK and the flicker was ignorable so I got down to the business of getting into the movie.

Despicable Me is about an aging super villain named Mr. Gru and three girls named Margo, Edith and Agnes. At one point the three girls conversation goes like this:

Edith: Mr. Gru is nice.

Margo: But scary.

Agnes: Yeah, like Santa.

I think that might be the line that got the most laughs in the whole movie.

I kind of felt like I was watching a mixture of The Incredibles, Toy Story and even a bit of Star Wars.  Although this movie doesn't come close to being as good as any of those.  It almost seemed like the script had been written several years ago as some of the references and phrases have already come and gone. Does anyone still say "that's how I roll" anymore? There were a couple of others I noticed but of course can't remember now. At one point some "minions" (think Pizza Planet Claw game Aliens from Toy Story) were giggling beside a copy machine and I said to myself "please don't let them be laughing because they are making copies of their butts but that is exactly what they were doing." So 1990s.  There were a few laughs here and there but mostly the whole thing felt a bit off.  Thankfully one saving grace was that unlike many movies. DM actually got a bit better as it neared the end.  Overall I'd give this one about a 6/10.  I know most people are rating it higher than that but that's all I can give it.  And believe me it's not because I was in a bad mood going in to it either, 'cause I SO wasn't.

Driving home I soon forgot the movie and remembered the pretty girls on the bike turning their heads to say hello to a stranger. I wonder if they were from Surry.