Fresh off MovieScene:
http://www.moviescene.nl/p/146189/imagine_2013:_jurassic_park_3d_-_recensie
Needless to say this was the best moviegoing experience I had in twenty tears time. I have never felt both so old and so young at the same time. All the good experiences I had as a kid (and there have been many!) I relived, while simultaneously it dawned on me just what an impact this film has made on my life for two decades, most vigorously in the last eight years since I became a true die-hard JP collector. Despite having undergone a digital makeover, it is clear
Jurassic Park has aged more gracefully than I could ever hope to do myself.
This anniversary celebration (though to be strict, for the Netherlands the exact mark would be September 30 of this year) also marks another milestone (possibly and quite probably) in my cinematic life, my first visit to EYE in Amsterdam. Much to anybody's surprise if they ask me what I think of the new Filmmuseum, I never actually went there until two nights ago. It took my all-time favourite film to persuade me the time was now, and I do not regret it. It's a wonderful building for sure. It works great as both a museum, which it strikingly appears to be in every conceivable facet - grotesque overly futuristic visual look, overuse of bare white walls, big dining facility, funky gift shop selling books, umbrellas and postcards (all overpriced), etc. - and as a genuine movie theater, housing several large theater rooms where one can sit in the dark and enjoy good cinema endlessly. It was kinda fun to see the actual theater looked in no way like the rest of the building on the inside, but more like any decent 'bioscope' theater. It was a pretty big theater at that, with a capacity of some 300 spectators I reckon. The show wasn't fully sold out (for shame!), but with at least 200 to 250 people still rather crowded. Thankfully all of them were pros when it came to watching films, so they behaved properly and sat quietly, undoubtedly as awestruck as I was myself. The 3D glasses were not my favorite model, being those pesky electronic, battery run devices, that are placed tightly around your head (cutting off some of the blood flow around the ears after a while) and are overly cumbersome in terms of weight: but they did their job adequately, and considering the nostalgia extravaganza I was undergoing I couldn't be bothered noticing them all that much, except of course where it concerned good use of 3D effects in the movie itself, which could be found surprisingly often. But for that I'll just let you read the review above. Here I'm just informing you of my first visit to EYE, which beyond the shadow of a doubt won't be limited to this single experience (though I doubt there will be any trips that can surpass or even equal it in quality).
The funniest thing about EYE I consider to be the restaurant, which completely lacks the feel of the rest of the building, except for that huge screen forever showing the movie that is the life and times of Amsterdam (I'm referring to the giant panoramic window over the IJ, for those of you who did not get the gist). Basically the restaurant is a separate entity inside EYE, a parasitic organism thriving on those audience members who feel the need to whet more than just their visual appetite. It's devoid of the stylistic touch of the rest of the building and has a menu to match, which one can use to order all kinds of stupendously fancy food, among them quails' egg pastries and other exotic dishes containing dead animals. The whole menu had an 'elite' feeling to it. Heck, even the butter for the free bread sidedish was some classy brand with a label that mentioned some ancient Duchess used its secret family recipe (now clearly open to all) only for royal occasions. Say what you will, it did have a sort of theatrical touch to it, as if you were in a movie yourself. Or maybe I just don't go out to restaurants enough. Sorry, I'm too busy going to the movies, and I did exactly that after finishing my plate of French Fries (they did have those too, but not on the menu, you had to ask for them specifically). After all, I came here to watch a film, my detour to the restaurant was only meant to satiate my appetite and to have a nice place to sit down and talk to my friend. I didn't go alone as you might have thought.
Jurassic Park after all is far too good a film to watch alone, especially if you can watch it with someone else who thorougly appreciates its supreme quality. EYE sure delivered in that regard, as we both had the time of our lives. Again, after so many years.
It's ridiculous really: EYE's been open for over a year, yet I never bothered to cross the water and go there so far, despite the many classic movies they have exhibited there. Of course, none of those classics could ever be as classic for
me on a personal level, but in hindsight I really should have made time for sweeping epics like
Lawrence of Arabia or marvelous adventure flicks like
Raiders of the Lost Ark. Oh well,
JP 3D turned out such a great experience the ice has definitely been broken. Now if only they had more vacancies available so I might get the chance to get to know EYE on a truly professional level. And I don't mean serving quails' egg pastries...
