Dazzled and disappointed by "the darkest of angels"

After weeks of reflection, here's the state of my relationship with Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.

[Image from the Warner Bros. Pictures trailer #2.]

I must begin with high praise for the restored SIFF Cinema Downtown — ye olde Cinerama, where I've seen so much of the world’s greatest widescreen cinema over the years. 2001: A Space Odyssey, Apocalypse Now Redux, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Blade Runner (the original and the director’s cut), a special screening of Punch-drunk Love with special guests Paul Thomas Anderson and Adam Sandler (who sat behind me), every Lord of the Rings movie on their opening weekends, and now… Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.

This theater, with its massive, panoramic big-screen experience, is sacred ground for Seattle moviegoers. It felt like a heart attack to the Seattle arts community when it closed. How could we let this happen? This was supposed to be the platonic ideal of a movie theater, and its reputation was so great that filmmakers would go out of their way to see their movie projected on this screen, in this context!

Today, thanks to the Seattle International Film Festival’s bold investment in the future of Seattle’s moviegoing community, the place looks great. The chocolate popcorn is still amazing. And big movies like this one are just awesome to behold here. The surround-sound is so sharp that when someone in Furiosa spoke from offscreen far to the right, moviegoers’ heads across the auditorium swiveled as if someone in the back of the theater was shouting at the screen.

I am so, so glad it’s back. For now. But it will only remain if moviegoers seize the opportunity. I hope they will.

So, whatever complaints I may have about Furiosa, please keep in mind that I had a fantastic time at the movies, and I wouldn’t hesitate to go back for more.

Okay, let’s begin…