I was vaguely aware that North Station was getting renovated, but when I walked in on Saturday I was taken aback to find that it had become
really fucking swanky.
The Hub Express has a bar, but no vegetarian hot sandwiches. (They do have a couple vegetarian cold sandwiches.) The McDonald's and Dunkin' Donuts are still there, so I got an egg and cheese sandwich and a strawberry banana smoothie at Dunkin's. The smoothie tasted less sticky sweet processed than the strawberry smoothie I got at ABP once, but still not as good as the real fruit smoothies one can get at Harvard T.
As I sat on a bench and ate, a woman with a shaved head, probably in her twenties, was sitting on a nearby bench talking on a cell phone.
Overheard: "My grandfather punched me when I was 11 for wearing lipstick. I'll never make
that mistake again."
The train ride out to Beverly was uneventful. There's a restaurant right at the station, but it's all meat (incl. lots of seafood). Leaving aside drinks and dessert, my options were literally 2-3 Appetizers (Tomato and Mozzarella, French Onion Soup Gratinee, Soup of the Season), and 3 "A La Carte Accompaniments" (Roasted garlic smashed potatoes, Vegetable of the day, Fresh sauteed mushrooms) I could have eaten. It's apparently only open for dinner anyway, so I called Beverly City Taxi and they picked us up promptly. The theatre's literally in the woods -- though not terribly deep in the woods.
We got the "cheap" seats (Upper Circle is K-P, and we were L, seats 3 and 4) but dude, they were great seats. The actors played to our side most of the time. It's a small enough theatre that there aren't really "bad" seats.
The performance was solid, though I wasn't blown away.
I own the
Les Mis Original Broadway Cast Recording soundtrack but have only watched the show twice -- a video of a production in 9th grade, and a video of NHS's production near the end of my time in college. Watching it this time, I was reminded that though I love
parts of it, there are a lot of parts I'm not really into.
( spoilers )+
At 5:03pm I called for a taxi and was told 15 minutes. A couple taxis showed up for other people. 5:32 I called, and the woman said she was under the understanding that I had already been picked up, so she'd send someone right over. 5:46, she said he should be there "any second." 5:57, "Sweet Jesus, I'll call them" -- she gets back to me and says they driver's "on Dunham Road, which is the road the theatre's on." I was willing to give them another 5 minutes before I called back, and they just barely made that.
The trains back to North Station were at 5:45 and 6:16 (and 8:05). We got to the Depot at 6:12; the train ended up not arriving until 6:25.
+
We went to Uno's in Harvard Square for dinner. I got Farmer's Market deep dish pizza and a Chocolate Monkey -- and a sip of Cate's pomegranate margarita.
+
I asked for a student ticket and showed my Harvard ID, like I do. She asked if I was a student or staff ('cause my ID just says "Harvard University"). Harvard students get in free, while staff pay $6. I considered lying, but I just wasn't feeling it. Besides, do I really wanna say that I'm a Harvard student? (Present company excluded from withering remarks about Harvard students, of course.)
Much like after
Donnie Darko, I was left thinking "... and the point of that was?"
I did enjoy watching The Rock on my screen, though :) I was surprised at how many actors I recognized -- a slew of SNL cast members as well as John Larroquette, Bai Ling, and plenty of big names I recognized on IMDb but didn't recognize onscreen.
I decided to lj-cut all my commentary on this, even though it doesn't really spoil plot points beyond what you get in the trailer, because apparently various flisters are planning to see the film, and I don't know what all your spoiler policies are. (
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fake_smile has a link to download an mp3 of "Teen Horniness is not a Crime.")
( We saw the shadows of the morning light / The shadows of the evening sun / 'Til the shadows and the light were one. -Perry Farrell )IMDb says:
In addition to the feature film, an expanded version of Southland Tales will be presented as a six-part interactive experience with the prequel saga to be published as three separate 90-130 page graphic novels, each written by Kelly. The graphic novels will be released over a six month period early in 2007 leading up to the film's release with the feature film comprised of the story's final three chapters. In addition, the film's official website will be one of the largest and most elaborate ever designed for a feature film. Richard Kelly describes the graphic novels as a "work in tandem with the website, creating a more epic multimedia experience for those interested in taking the plunge."
The first one is up on the website, but you have to squint to read it. Yeah, not bothering. My brother and I read the "book" that was an extra feature on the
Donnie Darko DVD, and that was hard to read and unhelpful, so I'm not feeling especially motivated here. (Though apparently MLN has Book 1, so I did put in a request for that. Supposedly it's about how amnesiac-Boxer first meets Krysta, which is actually a story I'm really interested in. At one point in the movie she says, "He's not who you think he is," and I'm never clear just what she knows -- though I do believe that she loves him.)
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