Death Proof: Take Two

After last night's stellar screening of Death Proof, I decided that I wanted to go again tonight. I wanted to make sure my experience wasn't a one-time thing, that the pure movie-going joy I experienced wasn't just a single shot.

I arrived about fifteen minutes to showtime. They would be playing Death Proof first tonight, so I could get right to the meat of it. A few more people filed in, and the movie started. One big worry going in was that my experience would be somehow diminished, due mostly to the fact that I had just finished watching the same movie less than twenty-four hours ago.

But then a peculiar thing happened; I enjoyed the movie more. Ever scene, every performance, every line was pitch-perfect. Every joke hit just the right spot, and I found myself laughing even harder. I was along for the ride. I began to pick up on every nuance, every subtlety I may have missed in my first go-through. The camera work is so amazingly subtle, that you don't even notice that the scene you have been watching for ten minutes has been a single take, the frame making the slightest, barely noticeable adjustments to accommodate every need of the scene. And most of all, was the chase scene. I was every bit as exhiliarated and on the edge of my seat as I was last night, transfixed on the screen.

And then, at the end, I was so caught up in the moment, that despite my knowing when and where every hit was coming from, when the credits began to roll, I cheered along with everyone else. It was such a visceral screening experience, that I couldn't help but think back to a year ago, when I went to see Snakes on a Plane, a movie that tried so hard to create that visceral, exciting experience, seeking to fabricate a sense of energy that this movie executes flawlessly. Imagine my surprise when the lights came up, and I looked behind me to see a packed house, with a smile on every face. Nobody was disappointed, no-one felt that they had wasted their Saturday night (homecoming night, nonetheless) at some bad attempt at a b-movie.

And then I, along with about one-fourth of the people I saw it with, some of whom were there last night as well, left. After such a well-executed moviegoing experience, there was no way I would be able to sit through Planet Terror again.