‘Three Stooges’ surprises, and some etiquette

Posted April 23, 2012

I watched a lot of Three Stooges shorts when I was young. As with most people, my favorite stooge was Curly. When I saw they were making the movie The Three Stooges, my initial reaction was that it wasn’t going to be any good. After all, how can you improve on some of the original masters of slapstick?

I went to watch the movie with low expectations, and was agreeably surprised. The movie was much better than I had anticipated. In fact, it managed to showcase some pretty good slapstick humor without breaking into vulgar humor. The movie even had a decent storyline, which was something else I didn’t expect.

The new stooges look remarkably like the original stooges, and were even able to imitate some of the trademark characteristics of the original stooges. I was impressed by Will Sasso as Curly, and Chris Diamontopoulos’ mastering of Moe’s scowl. What is most surprising, in retrospect, is that I did not once recognize that Larry was played by Sean Hayes, probably best known as Jack from Will & Grace.

The Three Stooges was a surprisingly entertaining movie, one that is okay to take older children to, unlike most modern comedies. Some more like that would be appreciated!

rrr

Posted April 24, 2012

Common sense theater etiquette doesn’t seem to be very common any longer, so I thought I would share what I think are some important rules of theater etiquette.

If you bring someone to a movie with you who doesn’t know anything about the plot, please don’t try to explain everything to them as the movie is running. It’s more interesting (and better for the others in the theater) to let them try and figure it out, and then discuss it with them after the movie’s over.

Try to obey the theater rules. These usually include not putting your feet on the seats and turning off your phones. Pretty simple.

Please throw away your garbage. The other theater-goers might not enjoy having to wade over your refuse as they leave.

Do not text during a movie. This is a relatively silent activity, but the screen on your phone lights up the area, and can be rather blinding in a dark theater. And anyone sitting in the same row or anywhere behind you will see it.

If you bring children to a movie, make sure it is appropriate for them. Taking young children to an R-rated movie is not a good idea. Also, please make sure your children stay in their seats, unless they are going to the restroom. A theater is not another type of playground.

Whatever else you do, please, please do not answer your cellphone, should it go off, and have a conversation during a movie. After all, cellphones were created as a convenience, not as a tool to inconvenience everyone in hearing distance.

Feel free to share any rules that you think are important if I didn’t mention them!

Woiwode, of Jamestown, shares her reviews of movies and TV shows at reelquickie.areavoices.com

Tags: diversions, entertainment