Thanks, Jeff

Jeff Wells, one of my favorite film columnists, is in town for a month. I know this because he's mentioned it on his site in recent weeks, but Tuesday night at the critics screening of Charlie Wilson's War that I was at, I saw him in person for the first time. It's funny, because you read a blog like Wells' — or David Poland's — and you get an idea of what these guys must be like. And then there he is, and it's sort of cool — like he's some minor, D-level celebrity or something. (And yes, I have read the article in Los Angeles magazine that ran last year.) (And no, I didn't say hello or introduce myself.)

The reason I'm mentioning this is because Wells went on a bit of a rant Wednesday about one of my least favorite movie theaters, the AMC Boston Common. Regular readers of this blog know I had a bad experience there a couple months back when I went to see In the Valley of Elah. And I've long thought the presentation quality there is subpar — especially compared to the Fenway 13, which is my favorite area theater, despite its awful parking garage. At the AMC, the sound is never right. It's either too loud or too soft, and it's never mixed right; instead of coming out of all the speakers the way surround sound is supposed to work, it seems to all be coming out of the front ones. Basically, it's like they just don't care about the movies there. They just want your money, and the ushers can't be bothered to actually ush, or make sure the films are unspooling properly, or get rid of inconsiderate customers. Which, of course, sucks for those of us who hate that kind of crap and just want to enjoy a movie without being distracted. And don't even get me started about the frequency that the fire alarm goes off. Blah blah blah ...

So anyway, I appreciate Wells writing what he did — that the critics' screening of Sweeney Todd was ruined due to shoddy presentation — because he does seem to wield some form of influence in the film world, but I think it's worthless, unfortunately. That theater is a lost cause, and it gets worse every year. When I have a choice, I'm going to keep on going to the Regal Fenway 13, where the sound and the screens are bigger and better. But thanks anyway, Jeff. Nice try.