I've used hammers made out of wood
I have played games with pieces and rules
I've deciphered tricks at the bar
But now you're gone
I haven't figured out why
I've come up with riddles and jokes about war
I've figured out numbers and what they're for
I've understood feelings, and I've understood words
But how could you be taken away?

And wherever you've gone
And wherever we might go
It don't seem fair
Today just disappeared
Your light's reflected now
Reflected from afar
We were but stones
Your light made us stars

Captain Phillips: 3 screens, 13 daily showtimes
Machete Kills: 2 screens, 8 showtimes
Romeo & Juliet: 1 screen, 5 showtimes

Older films on two screens or more are Gravity, Cloudy 2, and Enough Said.

I saw Romeo & Juliet at 3:55; around 20 people in a smaller auditorium. Mostly older (50+) couples. One group of teenage girls. The trailers shown were for About Time, All Is Lost, American Hustle, Great Expectations, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and Pompeii.

Summing up my weekend at the movies:

Captain Phillips
1:15 - Saturday
About 15% full in a 300-seater

Trailers
Grudge Match
Homefront
Out of the Furnace
Saving Mr. Banks
American Hustle
The Monuments Men

Captain Phillips is exactly the kind of thriller I've come to expect from director Paul Greengrass in the wake of United 93 and the Bourne movies: visceral, taut, and very emotionally involving. It's a more focused and more effective effort than his somewhat underrated 2010 film Green Zone, and it does an excellent job of keeping the tension and the stakes high despite the fact that the outcome is known to anyone who heard the news about the real event in 2009. Even though there's relatively little onscreen violence (and most of it happens quickly), the threat of harm hangs in the air throughout the proceedings, giving the audience a sense of the dread its titular hero went through. Speaking of said hero, the film also boasts the best performance from Tom Hanks in quite some time. In a leading capacity, Hanks arguably hasn't been this good since 2000's Cast Away. He does a tremendous job of capturing Phillips' humanity, fear, and ultimate determination to survive and return to his family. Those last ten minutes in particular are gut-wrenching, and probably put an iron-clad lock on his candidacy for a Best Actor nomination at the Oscars. I wasn't as impressed with others at the performance from Barkhad Abdi as the lead pirate, but he does a very solid job of capturing his character's fears and doubts about competency, and something has to be said for the fact that he holds his own when sharing the screen with Hanks. The real story was one that lent itself easily to a good movie, and the product here - while not quite as immensely satisfying as it could be (although it moves quickly, some of the time could have been shaved from it) - is a survival story that delivers quite thoroughly as an intense, involving, and ultimately uplifting experience. A-

Discussion on the way out was generally very positive. I was surprised that half of the crowd appeared to be under 20 years of age. One of the older moviegoers hit nail on the head when she commented that Hollywood has been really infatuated with survival stories as of late.

Don Jon
12:40 - Sunday
6 people in a 150-seater

Trailers
About Time
American Hustle
Escape Plan
Oldboy
Out of the Furnace

Although it's perhaps not as nuanced as it could be, Don Jon makes a strong case for Joseph Gordon-Levitt as not only an actor, but also as a strong force behind the camera. While there are elements about the film worth applauding that don't directly involve Gordon-Levitt, the film works most forcefully as a display of the extent of his creative talents. In front of the screen, he gives a characteristically solid performance in which he gets viewers to like his character despite some of the rougher edges. As a writer, he pens a script that has a lot to say about the ways we can put more stock in fantasy than reality, as well as the ways in which modern men are trained to objectify women; and the script makes its points about both topics with intelligence, sincerity, and bite, even if they could be fleshed out a bit more. And finally, as a director, he certainly doesn't reinvent the wheel from a technical standpoint, but there's energy from scene to scene, and he gets sufficiently human performances from his cast. Scarlett Johansson is good as usual as the love interest, and she thankfully avoids the mistakes of playing the character too sweet or too rough. Tony Danza isn't as good as Robert De Niro in covering territory similar to that of Silver Linings Playbook, but he still has his moments, as do Glenne Headly and the nearly dialogue-free Brie Larson as other family members. The unsung hero, however, is Julianne Moore. Even though her character's "twist" is easily predictable, she brings enough raw humanity to the role that she changes the game for Gordon-Levitt's character and the audience alike. It's definitely an above-average start for Gordon-Levitt behind the camera, and I look forward to seeing what else he can do while filling multiple production roles. B+

I saw We Are What We Are at 4:40; around 15 people in a smaller auditorium. The trailers shown were for Blue Is the Warmest Color, Capital, How I Live Now, Kill Your Darlings, and The Last Days on Mars.

The most watched trailers recently are:

1. I, Frankenstein
2. The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug
3. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
4. Gravity
5. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
6. Robocop
7. American Hustle
8. Ender's Game

That's probably a little worrying that a crap movie from January is the most watched trailer (ahead of the sequel to The Hunger Games which is only a few weeks away from release).

Wow, Webslinger certainly had his portion of Stallone-related trailers in one weekend!