The wife and I did something different last night. We left the kids at home (they were not pleased) and went to the movies. It was the first time in several years that we were able to see something that wasn't by Disney or Pixar. Hell, I can't even remember the last R-rated movie I saw in a theater. Anyway, based on this review by my buddy sammyray over at his blog, we saw the film Children Of Men. It's a great flick. Or as sammyray says:

The film, a devastating look into the near-future collapse and extinction of the human race, is seared onto the screen with unflinching bravura by director Alfonso Cuaron. Endless adjectives could feebly attempt to describe his techniques in this film, and fail utterly; suffice it to say that a better directing job has not been seen in theaters in years, if not decades. Two sequences in particular will be required study by film students from now on. Absolutely stunning.

I'm like the blonde chick in the HDTV commercial. I totally don't know what that means, but I want it. I don't know squat about the mechanics of film-making, but I know what I like. For me, a good theater experience is about sitting in the dark, huge screen in front of me, sound blasting all around and completely immersing myself in the movie. No distractions and no sense of time. Just me and my box of Sno-Caps. It takes a pretty good movie to really pull it off. Children Of Men is better than pretty good. Of course, with all his fancy book-learning, sammyray says this better too:

The world Cuaron creates is totally submersive; you are surrounded on all sides by decay, grime, hatred, and shocking violence. The special effects integrate perfectly into the hand-held shots, and some of the long, long takes in this film are so incredible in both their immediacy and technical complexity that I can scarcely believe that he pulled it off. As simply a technical exercise, “Children of Men” is a landmark achievement.

After seeing the film, I understand some of what he's saying there. My wife and I both felt that it was a disturbingly realistic and believable depiction of the breakdown of modern society. We left the theater feeling a little wrung out. I certainly got my 8 bucks worth. I may double down and see it again. It's that good.