Self Watched “Unknown” Yesterday and Lived to Tell the Tale — Er, to Deliver This Capsule Review

Self is quite bemused at Liam Neeson’s turning into the new Harrison Ford.  Whatever.  Even at his age, he is very easy on the eyes.

The plot of this movie hinges on Liam Neeson absent-mindedly leaving behind his briefcase (with the all-important identifications, i.e., a passport)  at the Berlin Airport.  He doesn’t discover the loss until he arrives at his hotel, and then has to catch a cab to take him back to the airport.  Since this is movieland, the cab Neeson hails turns out to be driven by a woman.  And not just any woman:   Diane Kruger. What are the odds, dear blog readers?

Diane Kruger turns out to be a refugee from Bosnia:  her whole family was murdered, etc etc.  And, more important, she turns out to be conveniently un-attached.  There does happen to be a male friend, but he has a wife and children back in Senegal.

Now, aside from being a wicked/good cab driver, Diane Kruger apparently knows all the best underground clubs in Berlin.  And in addition possesses enough arm strength to man-handle (or at least do creditable damage to) two of the meanest-looking thugs you ever saw wearing dark coats.

The theater at the first screening yesterday was absolutely full.  Full of middle-aged people.  Wow!  Our generation has finally found its new poster boy!  Liam Neeson!

The only boring part of “Unknown” was the car chase scene.  Everything moved at a fairly predictable clip (Self forgot to check if Mr. Neeson’s car was a stick shift):  self knew that some cars would turn turtle and crash, and that some other cars would blow up, and that some would hit Liam Neeson’s car broadside, and that no one would be able to catch up to Liam Neeson and Diane Kruger.

In the movie, Berlin looked very very cold.  Self has been there in October, and it was actually quite pleasant.  A very important scene takes place at a photography exhibition.  The exhibit consisted of blow-ups of people’s faces in extreme close-up.  Self couldn’t help but think:  Stella Kalaw is way better than this!  Stella needs to get herself an exhibit in Berlin, on the double!

So, yesterday, self saw a couple of fab previews.  One was of that Matt Damon/Emily Blunt Matrix/Bourne clone whose title self cannot remember; another preview was for Battle:  Los Angeles; yet another had Ryan Reynolds taking off his shirt for only the xxxxth time (for The Green Lantern of course); and, most thrilling of all, James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender!  Together in an X-Men movie!  Oh happy happy joy joy!  Self loves that James McAvoy is so versatile.  She certainly likes him in action mode.  The other day, she was able to catch “Wanted” on TV.  That was a truly enjoyable movie, one of her favorites the year it came out.

Of additional interest:  self decided she was hungry enough to spring for the Black Angus beef hot dog sold at the movie concession stand.  She must admit:  she’s been itching to try it ever since it got added to the food offerings, perhaps a year ago.  Imagine her shock at being told the price:  $5.  And it didn’t taste noticeably different from the regular hot dog, which is Nathan’s.  Since self thought it would be too embarrassing to tell the check-out girl that she had changed her mind, she actually did fork over her $5.  And afterwards thought:  How unbelievable!  You have just paid $5 for a length of hot dog that’s about six inches (not, of course, including the bread, which would make the over-all item longer)

Stay tuned, dear blog readers.  Stay tuned.