A double feature

I love the movies. Yesterday, we went to a double feature at the Sunshine Cinema. The location of this theater is great. It is located right in the heart of 3 neighborhoods undergoing major transformation. North of the cinema is the East Village. We lived in the East Village in the mid-80’s and have always loved that area. The neighbood hood to the West is Nolita where a new funky store opens daily, and to the East is the lower East Side which is experiencing a new resurgence.

We first saw Maria Full of Grace which is one of the best indie films I have seen in awhile. It is a story of a young woman living in Columbia who is entering adulthood. She is 17. She sees what her life will be like living in Columbia and isn’t too happy about it. She is a few months pregnant and has no interest in her boyfriend. She choose to become a mule for drug runners. She swallows about 1/2 kilo of heroin to bring into NY. Her journey, her thoughts, her relationships are thought provoking and make a powerful statement about life outside our supposed “perfect” existence. Another drug runner describes America as “perfect”. The photography is really good. You really feel as u are right there. It is very real. It is a movie absolutely worth going to see.

The other film we went to see is Napoleon Dynamite. It is ok. I can see why people like it. It is about a total geek and his world. Napoleon lives in Idaho with his grandmother and wacky brother. They are all looking for love in some of the right places. Jon Heder, the main character, is a really good actor. He’s very funny. I am more interested in seeing what he does next.

In between the movies, we went to a small outdoor cafe on 1st street, near 1st Avenue. It was wonderful. I felt like we were in Paris at an outdoor cafe. If you are seeing a movie at the Sunshine Cinema, I recommend sitting outdoors afterwards or before at this cafe. It gives you a good outlook of the neighborhood.