currently 10:44pm Monday 5th January, 2009 (NYC, New York)
|
pirates of the carribean
Tuesday 15 July, 2003 at 11:51PM (Nereus) :: permalink :: comments (29)
Ok so we saw Pirates of the Carribean starring Johnny Depp, Keira Knightly and Orlando Bloom (Orlando played Legolas in Lord of the Rings). It's a thumbs up. The movie was a little shallow in the sense that the characters could've been developed a little deeper, but the overall effect was a light and enjoyable 'dark' fairytale (which maybe was the intention) that I'd be happy to see again. The storyline was good, the acting top notch, and the effects were really well done. The cursed pirates of the Black Pearl (ship) appear in skeletal-like form when in direct moonlight, and in their swashbuckling human form when not. There are scenes where they are moving in and out of direct moonlight while fighting, and the back and forth between human flesh and skeleton is almost seamless. Really impressive, and not those superimposed fake-looking skeletons that you sometimes come across in movies walking around like they're spastic. You know the ones I mean? They just don't blend like they were actually on the set while filming. In Pirates, there is none of that crap, they look like they were actually there. If you're stuck for something to do, I recommend you go check it out. On the Saturday evening we headed to IceQueen's parents apartment and then headed out for dinner at the Indian Passage. We don't even have to order there now, they know exactly what we want - salad, rice, chicken tandoori and naan with this yummy sauce to dip into. They make an excellent chicken tandoori, in fact all of the food is always good there. Afterwards we went back to their apartment where IceQueen's Dad (The Lemur) proceeded to thrash both of us at a game of monopoly (he did say beforehand he was going to hammer us as revenge for last time we were there, and he certainly was true to his word). The Cat (IceQueen's Mum) brought us delicious plates of fresh fruit and made sure we were too stuffed full to do much more than waddle out to the car service by the time we left at about 3 or 4am. A good evening. A good weekend actually. comments (29)
PuttyGirl There really is nothing like hanging out with family. Our family game is Trivial Pursuit... my mother has thrashed anyone I have ever brought over (I have never won) save one. N-Man and I just laugh at the questions we get... stuff like, "Who played the leading role in the silent film of 1902, The Runaway Train?" We just look at each other, laugh, and make up hilariously stupid answers. Michael Hi I was wondering does anyone have any photo's of the beautiful Crystal Palace Theatre in Mt Eden, it is a very ornate theatre inside and I think it's still showing movies? Please let me know at michaelday2005@yahoo.co.nz Nereus hmm.. found some of the Civic Theatre in Auckland, but none of the Crystal Palace unfortunately. It's closed now from what I can gather. Paul The Crystal Palace has been closed for some time , last showings were Hindi Movies , the cinema will open again after some remodelling and upgrading of seating and projection equipement to be an upmarket quality Theatre with all the ambience of a By Gone Era ..... will be worth the wait . Paul I will be going to the Cinema to take photos b4 any changes take place .... also the old Ball Room downstairs is currently a recording studio , there are x2 flats above the x2 shops either side of the Main Entrance ..... so will let you know when the photos are available to be posted to a site . Paul Well I've been out and got some Pics of the cinema and plced then on a MSN Site: Michael Thanks paul for the great photo's of the theatre. I have sent for some information from the New Zealand Historic Places Trust and they are going to or I think they have placed a preservation order on the theatre so it can be around forever. I hope the theatre is large enough to accomodate a small orchestra. When my grandmother was alive she told me that the Gilbert and Sullivan society used as a an opera house. That was back in the 1930's. Anyway thank you for the photo's. Please send me some updates when they come available. Cheers Michael. Paul We had a good look around the Stage area and found and Old changing room under the Stage and an old Orchestra Pit , but the stage has been modified at some point ( seems to have been raised ) so the changing room stairs lead no where , My friend is the Owner of the cinema and the ajoining vacant site , we have been trying for some time to start restoring the theatre to it's former glory , but with interference from others and no real viable Business income from the cinema to justify the expense it has been closed for some time , the income from the Flats and shop and Studio in the Ballroom ,there has been no need to operate the theatre , it was to be Leased out as a cinema , but the owner will look again at opening himself after doing some tidying up ..... I used to be the last projectionist working there and the owner ( of Indian decent ) is not in too good health so I will help as much to get something done to preserve the theatre as one of the only huge Suburban Picture Palaces of Auckland Left, current seating is around 700 although at it's height it was configured to seat over 1000 (very tight fit intead ) A Theatre Trust maybe a good way of getting this done ????? Michael Hi Paul, I got in touch with the Historic Places Trust and they have put a protection order on this theatre and it is Classification Grade 2 listing since November 1982. I have some helpful suggestions to help raise money for this theatre. 1. Screen some old classic Marx Brothers Films in there or other classic films like Lawerence of Arabia or Dr Zhivago that is sure to bring patrons into the theatre. 2. Ask some members of the Auckland Philharmonia or any suburbian orchestra around the area to see if they can use this theatre to hold concerts of classical music. The Auckland Philharmonia own the old Princess Theatre just down the road from the Crystal Palace Theatre. Maybe I could email the Philharmonia and ask them? I used to have a couple of friends in the orchestra. Or I could ask some of my aquantices in the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra to see if they could hold a concert in there to raise money? Living in Paraparaumu, Kapiti Coast is so far away from Auckland. I used to live in Auckland and I used to go to this theatre alot. The St James and the Embassy Theatre's in Wellington are owned by a trust and I think setting up a Crystal Palace Theatre Trust is an excellent idea how could we set one up?? My email address is michaelday2007[at]yahoo.co.nz if you want to contact me. Cheers Michael Michael I forgot to ask you, do you know any background information about the Crystal Palace Theatre? Who the architect was? Date of construction? date it opened? I was surprised to know that it seats over 700 hundred people? It is almost as big as Wellington's Embassy Theatre. Anyway I hope you find my last comment helpful about suggestions for this theatre. Kind regards Michael Day Paul A number of people have over the many years have attempted to get a restoration underway for this Theatre but have come across many obstacles , namely that this theatre is owned by a Family each having their own ideas on what should happen ..... so it has been very frustrating getting something underway and many have given up, the general condition of the theatre requires alot of work for it to be presentable for the paying public to once again use , the roof has been replaced and this solved some water leak problems that damged some of the plaster work on the walls , the Owner has the original plans and it does show that there was meant to be a Dome on the centre of the facade on the Top but this was not done , also on the walls covering the pillars there are recesses that seem to indicate that there was to be other plaster work done there but was covered over by soft board .... maybe they run out of money ???? Live shows were held in the Theatre in it's early days and the back Stage is quite huge . Michael Thank you Paul, for that information. I hope one day the family restore this elegant theatre back to it's original condition. I was wondering how big is the Orchestra pit? Can it hold up to 50 or 70 musicians? Could the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra or the Auckland Philharmonia fit onto the stage? I wonder if the Arhitect for this lovely theatre was Henry Eli White? He designed the elegant St James Theatre In Wellington and he designed the St James Theatre in Auckland and he designed the Mercury Theatre in Mercury Lane at the top of Queen Street in Auckland. I was also wondering does anyone have any photo's of the Capitol Theatre in Balmoral which is not far from the Crystal Palace Theatre? and the Amabassador Theatre in Point Chevalier? I would be very interested to see what the inside of those theatres look like. Anyway I was wondering could the Crystal Palace Theatre be used once again for live shows and orchestral concerts if and when it is properly restored back to it's original condition as it was when it first opened? I really like the photo's of this lovely theatre, please keep adding more. Cheers Michael Michael The Crystal Palace Theatre Ballroom Thank you Nereus for stopping spammers from getting my email address. I was thinking maybe the Ballroom would make a wonderful rehersal space for an orchestra or a small chamber music group to practice in and record albums? I know that this lovely theatre has excellnt aqcoustics and I am sure there are plenty of plasterers who would love to restore and add more decoration into this lovely theatre. Cheers Michael Paul The "Capitol" is still in use showing Hindi movies , the stalls are being used as a Wall Climbing Venue , with only the Circle 0r upstairs part as a Cinema , holds about 200 , the Pt Chev is owned by an Artist who does his work there , he has had a Live Show there in the Past but looks like he has given up on that , the Foyer is now a Cafe Bar . Michael Thanks for that information. When did the Crystal Palace Theatre close? When will the refurbishment of this lovely theatre take place? I was wondering are the Princess Theatre, Capitol Theatre in Balmoral, and the Ambassador Theatre's are they ornate inside like the Crystal Palace Theatre? The New Zealand Historic Places Trust told me that the Capitol Theatre is Classification 1, I don't know about the Princess Theatre. Anyway I hope to visit the Crystal Palace Theatre one day when I go to Auckland for a holiday. Cheers Michael Michael Hi Paul I was wondering did you get any photo's of the Ballroom underneith the stage of the Crystal Palace Theatre? I would love to see the photo's? I havent been in the theatres ballroom before just the beautiful auditorium. I wish there was a theatre like this one down here in Wellington? Cheers Michael Paul Photos of the Ball Room will come soon , Part of the Ballroom is taken up by the recording studio , but the flooring is really nice and it still has the Cubicals for seating still in place . Michael Day Hi I was wondering does anyone have any photo's of the Capitol Theatre in Balmoral in Auckland? It is near the Crystal Palace Theatre and I have never been inside the Capitol, I have only been past it in the car. I hope it's a fancy theatre like the lovely Crystal Palace is. I hope the photo's of the Ballroom of the Crystal Palace come soon. Kind regards Michael Day Michael Day I was wondering could someone please send me some photo's of the old 1902 His Majesty's Theatre that used to be in Auckland? It was demolished in 1988 and just before it was razed some photo's were taken of it. I was wondering if someone had access to those photo's or ones similar to that? Please let me know? Kind regards Michael Day Michael Day Yes that is the Civic Theatre is on the corner of Queen and Wellesley Sts. The Civic is a wonderful theatre with a twinkling star ceiling. Do you have any photo's of the old His Majesty's Theatre before it was demolished in 1988? Michael If I were still living in Auckland and I won Lotto or were really rich my goal would be to form a small orchestra and base it in the Crystal Palace Theatre in Mt Eden. I would call it the Crystal Palace Theatre Concert Orchestra, and I would make the orchestra a big variety in music from Classical, Ballet, Opera, Film Music, Jazz, Pop, Orchestral Hip-Hop, Rock, etc, My aim would be to create New Zealands answer to the Boston Pops Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, but with a lush string sound similar to Readers Digests London Promenade Orchestra. I know this is only wishful thinking, it'a pity it can't come true. I think that would put that beautiful theatre on the Classical Music Map as being a venue suitable for classical music. Regards Michael Michael Day Hi I was wondering does anyone know if the State Picture Theatre in Petone still stands? Is it still being used as a cinema? I have seen some old photo's of it on the Timeframes National Library of New Zealand Website and it looks like it has a very similar layout as the Crystal Palace Theatre in Mt Eden in Auckland. Kind regards Michael leave a comment
 
|
  current weblog entries weblog archives syndication (atom/rss) weather forecasts related utilities online games psychic mind reader the bad day cure internet security webmaster resources password generator gisborne surf, nz goat island bay session las vegas 2005 bbc world headlines cnn world headlines michelle malkin usgs earthquakes daily rotten news national geographic time world headlines time photoessays urban scrawl site info urban scrawl site map contact the author linkage list  random quote: When I was born I was so surprised I didn't talk for a year and a half. -Gracie Allen     |
|
| |
Ice and I decided to go to the movies last Sunday evening, and found a small privately owned theater complex about 30 minutes walk away on Coney Island Ave where 'Pirates' was screening. I'll tell you about the theater first. It's a triplex (three theaters in one building) with each theater being fairly small. The tickets are sold from a little booth actually outside the doors on the street. When we walked in, the girl serving behind the refreshments counter also doubled as ticket-taker and usher. We both liked the place immediately. It reminded me of a theater in Mt Eden, Auckland NZ (Crystal Palace I think it's called) that showed a lot of alternative and Cannes Film Festival type movies, as well as surfing movies. At that theater, you could buy a coffee and you actually got a real cup and saucer to take into the theater. Classy. The other good thing about this Coney Island Ave theater is that it's cheaper than the major theater complexes in NYC, as well as having a half-price night every Wednesday. Bonus.
ice
July 16, 2003 6:51 PM [link]
Speaking of Wednesdays. Today is one.