Denim and A Movie

I totally meant to write this post like a month ago. Anyways... So we were at the mall (about a month ago) and we decided to buy a Auntie Anne's pretzel and we sat on a near by bench to decimate it. While enjoying my pretzel I turned to read a poster in the window of American Eagle which in huge sans serif font read, "DENIM AND A MOVIE." It took awhile for me to actually register what i read. So my first thought was oh that's cool, they are giving a way movie tickets if you buy a pair of jeans. However as I continued to sit and partake of my delectable pretzel my curiosity grew, not only because of the intriguing headline but also it seemed to be a decently designed poster, and I was enjoying the design aspect of the poster. So I read on, and the poster made the claim of giving away ONE FREE ticket for simply trying on a pair of their jeans. This heavenly claim seemed to good to be true. I then wanted to take in the entire copy of the poster. I wanted to figure out what the catch is. The mere cliche nature of American Eagle, and the "FAD"ness of it's atmosphere always gave me the vibe to stay away from a store like that. The last thing I need is a pair of strategically torn and faded jeans to make me look cool. However to be awarded a FREE movie ticket just to slide a pair on for a brief moment behind a dressing room door seemed too good to be true. Especially with movie like Pineapple Express showing on the big screen. So I told Heather I couldn't miss out on this offer. So I went into the store and sadly I struggled to find a pair of jeans to fit me. It's not like I'm fat, I was looking for a size 36? I finally found a pair and made my way to the dressing room, still expecting some sort of a catch. I tried the jeans on, I even ventured out the door and showed my strategically ripped and faded jeans to Heather, who was REALLY digging them. I took a look at the price tag which read $30.00. Sadly that is more money than I want to spend on a pair of jeans. So I gave them back to the guy and he handed me a crisp white FREE movie pass. The only catch being that I had to use it at an AMC movie theater. Which ended up being about 20-25 minutes away. So I called up Gabe, which was seriously about the only guy I know who I even thought would be interested in going to the movie with me. He took me up on the offer and we headed to see Pineapple Express that very night. The movie started at 10:30 and we didn't get back until almost 1:00 then had to drag ourselves out of bed early in the morning to make it to church.

Pineapple Express was hilarious! I didn't laugh as much as I did in Step Brothers, but it was still funny. Infact I think the best part about the movie was how well they mixed the action and fight sequences with the stupid humor. The movie went places I never expected it to go, but was very pleased when they did. Now of course the movie is rated R, so it is full of poor language, blood and a lot of weed smoking. So if you are able to get passed all of that the movie is well worth your time. I myself have always enjoyed the pot smoking comedies like Friday (I still can quote more scenes from Friday than any other movie) & Half Baked.

*Me wearing my brand spanking new American Eagle jeans!

The very next weekend the Cohen Brothers (My second favorite movie writer/director) latest movie hit theaters, and I had an overwhelming desire to see it. So I found myself once again at the mall headed to American Eagle. Only this time Heather had 30 bucks and really wanted to see my butt in those strategically faded and torn jeans for some reason. Only this time it took me about four pairs of jeans before I found the pair I tried on the previous week. All the others really seemed to fit awkward. The very first pair of jeans I tried on the guy who unlocked the door handed me a free ticket and I slid it in my pocket. The following three times I entered the dressing room he didn't give me anymore. However once I finally found a pair to buy I went to the register and after the purchase was completed and the debit card was swiped and approved she pulled out two more tickets and handed them to me with my new pair of jeans in a dark blue paper bag with a HUGE white silhouette of an eagle on the front. I walked the rest of the time through the mall feeling like a 16 year old ready to be adored by my other high school colleagues. I could sit in class and show off my strategically torn sections of my jeans. I imagined the different stories i could come up with as to how I might have ACTUALLY ripped them in those sections. Ok so maybe none of the daydreaming actually ever happened, in all reality all I was really excited about was the fact that I made it out of the store with not only two tickets for buying a pair of jeans (because the deal was if you try on a pair of jeans you get one FREE ticket, but if you buy a pair of jeans you get TWO FREE tickets). So now in a two week period I came away with FOUR FREE tickets, I was ecstatic, and got home rushed to the computer to see what the show times were for, "Burn After Reading". I realized it was another late movie, and called up Gabe to see if he was interested, and he wasn't quite as excited even when I told him I also had a free ticket for him as well. So then I invited a friend of ours who lives on the third floor. He however also turned me down (I'm not sure how people turn down a FREE movie but they do). So I decided to wait till the next weekend. The tickets were only good until September 21st (which also happened to be my brother Matt's birthday). So the following weekend would be the last opportunity to use the tickets. So that weekend came, and once again I called my friend Gabe up, who was actually on his way to Houston to help out the hurricane victims. So I once again asked my neighbor on the third floor who once again turned me down. So I called up two other people I know and they didn't answer their phones, and I didn't leave them a message and instead decided to fly solo. I really enjoy going to movies by myself anyways, it allows me to have a more unbiased opinion of the movie.

Burn After Reading was brilliant. The best part about it was all of the unexpected things that happened to each and every character. Right from the opening scene where you are in a CIA office and where three people are demoting a CIA employee and he isn't too happy to hear the news. He begins to blow up, and even his reaction in the office seemed to be unexpected, to me atleast, and humorous. After asking why this was happening the guy sitting beside him quietly said, "You have a drinking problem." To which he replied, "You're a MORMON, next to you EVERYONE has a drinking problem." I don't care who you are THAT'S funny! What proceeded was a well acted movie with a brilliant script that perfectly told the story of several different strangers that in the end all linked together to form key rolls in the clumsy story. I don't really want to ruin any of the movie, it's better when you are just apart of what is going on as it is all happening. The shock value is one of the best parts of the movie. Once again this movie is rated R so it has it's fair share of "F" bombs and other colorful language. It is mildly violent but mostly humorous and brilliant. This movie also has THE PERFECT ending to the story, which made the entire movie THAT much better.

If you followed the story, which as I scroll up has become quite lengthy, so I'm not exactly sure how many of my readers I have kept entertained, anyways if you have kept up you are probably wondering what about the last two tickets? Well I'm glad you were so observant, I came up with a brilliant plan to offer the tickets to my brother Matt who was turning 30 on the 21st. So I called him up and told him, and he didn't find my plan to be as brilliant as I did, rather he accused me of being cheap and trying to sneak my way out of actually buying him a gift (the nerve of some people heh?). Anyways Heather and I had already made plans to meet my Mom and brother Ethan in San Marcos at the outlet malls to hang out. So I told Matt I'd be giving the tickets to them, and for him to stop by my moms house later to pick them up. I called him on his birthday to find out if the tickets were used, and sadly the tickets never made it to him, he said he went to my Mom's house and no one gave them to him. Its sad that such a beautiful thing went to waste...