The Weekend Movies

TOMMY LEE JONES AND MERYL STREEP IN "HOPE SPRINGS," A FILM FOR THE OVER-16 SET

It feels like there's hope at my local multi-plex, the Loews Georgetown, and I'm not referring solely to "Hope Springs," the new film with Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones (OMG, actual adults!!). The hope,in this case, springs from the fact there are fewer 3-D or "Imax" films running than at any time this summer, which makes way for more films. The new arrivals are "The Campaign," "The Bourne Legacy," and the aforementioned "Hope Springs." They join "Ruby Sparks," which I saw last weekend and liked a lot.

Earlier this week I had a terrific conversation with film critic Arch Campbell, and you can read it here on washingtonian.com. The interview followed a peculiar weekend of movie-going I experienced last weekend. I noticed in this morning's Washington Post that they like "Bourne," where Arch was cool on it, and they were cool on "The Campaign," which he adored. Everyone seems to be in agreement on "Hope Springs." 

I'm generally happy with the Loews. Do I think it could be a little more mindful of peak times and perhaps at those times have more than one ticket seller on duty? Yes. As I discussed with Arch, I'm not sure what to do when in the same theater, with people trying to watch a movie, are a babbling baby or a man loudly snoring. The movie theater experience has changed so radically over the last couple of decades. But I would never want to see movie theaters go away. 

btw, Arch breaks down what constitutes real Imax. Sorry, Loews.