a missed screening

I vote in the British Academy Awards.  This surprises even me.  I worked in television for many years, and someone told me about the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, known as BAFTA.  Because I once helped market TV shows airing on BBCA, I was accepted as a member.  It’s an amazing organization.  In addition to voting, I go to many free screenings throughout the year, often with the actors, directors, and writers present for a Q&A.  During the award season, beginning in late October (through the end of the year), I receive free DVD’s in the mail of current movies the studios believe are award-worthy.  And, I volunteer on the screening committee, working with specific studios.  The films screened by BAFTA are all the big ones.  They just need to play in Great Britain somewhere, and most of the major studio films do.  Being a member has also made me popular among my friends, as I get to take a guest to the screenings.

Tonight I am seeing a screening of a new film called Lola Versus.  It opens this weekend.  Because Alexander (he’s my 19-year old son) is home for the summer, and because the film is a comedy (even though nothing explodes in it), I sign him up as my guest.  His response is a far cry from, “Thanks, mom.  That’ll be great.”  It’s more like my begging.  “C’mon, we don’t do that much together and I really think you’ll like it and it’s not far from where you work so getting there will be easy.”  Reluctantly he agrees.  I’ve given up on trying to convince him of accompanying me to theater.  He views that as punishment.

Alexander calls me this morning from work (he has an analyst position this summer for a fashion company).  “What’s that movie we’re supposed to be seeing tonight?”  I tell him.  He calls me back a few minutes later.  “I checked on IMDB.  Did you know it got a 3.6 rating?  That’s horrible.  I’ve never seen a respectable movie get anything near that low.  PLEASE TRY AND FIND SOMEONE ELSE TO GO WITH!”  Really, you’d think I was making him come with me for my tooth implant (I didn’t bother trying that when I went on Tuesday).

I send out an email to a few friends and no one is available (or interested).  I tell Alexander he has to come because I it doesn’t look good to invite a guest and then have them not show.  But Alexander is unrelenting in his attempts to get out of this screening.  I get three emails from him.

The first:

Read the user's review on the bottom of IMDB.  It gives the movie 1 star and says, "I'm surprised this movie even got made.  It's that bad," and the title is "Waste of Time and Money."

The second:

At 3.6 stars, "Lola Versus" is in very good company on IMDB.  It just barely edged out Steven Seagal's "Against the Dark," a straight-to-DVD movie that is Steven Seagal's first horror flick.  It is kind of a horror movie but the bad guys are vampires instead of zombies.  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1194271/  Here's the link.  This is the company that the movie we're about to see is in.

The third, with subject line in caps:  IMPORTANT

It's not quite as highly acclaimed as "Into the Sun," unfortunately.  That Steven Seagal movie actually got a 4.1/10 on IMDB.  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0358294/

I also get six texts and two phone calls with basically the same message.  He wears me down.  I tell him he doesn’t have to come.

His arguments are convincing.  In the end, I don’t go either.