Jump on a plane, take in a movie or two

Headed out this three-day weekend to Taiwan, a fairly close location that China believes to be Chinese but Taiwan does not. I entered on my blue passport and hope there are no issues returning. I did get the “You’re going to Taipei? Diplomat?” from the immigration guy leaving China (done on dip passport, which is what I have to do) which is not normal, but that’s what we’re supposed to do. There IS a direct flight, so it’s not disallowed; I think it just raises eyebrows.

But I’m only here as a tourist, even though I am a lousy tourist. I did see some of the historical sites – a museum here, a memorial there – but have so far spent most of my time at the movies.

I met up with a friend who works here – there’s an NGO here I know about and I’d met this person before; we do kind of the same stuff – and she mentioned that she was going to go to a movie on Saturday. As my movie-going options are limited, I said I’d love to join her.

Well, her top choice – a Meryl Streep Disney movie – wasn’t here like she thought it was, so her second choice was Liam Neeson’s “Taken 3,” which should have never happened. I mean, at its worst, it’s Liam Neeson on a big screen, so how bad can it be, right? Well, it was at its worst.

But it was better than that. The regular movie was sold out, so we plunked down the equivalent of $15 US to see it in “4D.” I’d never heard of it before. (I don’t even know what “3G,” is, so this is not a surprise.)

Apparently, it means “moving chair.” It’s the equivalent of a lesser Disney ride. In some kind of weird choreography with the movie, your chair alternately – and sometimes concurrently – vibrates, pops up, down and/or side to side, shoots bursts of air by your ears (this is in time with the gunfire), puffs smoke up (when cars blow up), etc. At the same time, you also get wind and scents.

It’s really bizarre. For example, you’re being jolted from side to side in a car chase, and then the on-screen action shifts to a helicopter. Suddenly, you’re sort of drifting, then you go back to the ground and something punches you from the back of the chair.

And, even though this is a tense time in the movie, I would just laugh and laugh. Pretty much like I do on Space Mountain. I thought the whole thing was completely, hysterically and maniacally funny. The movie was awful (but completely poised for “Taken 4”) but the chair was totally worth the price of admission.

After that movie was over, I went back to the hostel, then realized I had nothing else planned for the evening and turned around and went back to the theater and saw “American Sniper.”

Completely different Experience. And, for those who have never watched a patriotic film in another country, it’s very odd. I, for example, was pretty much crying in remembrance or relation when the movie got to the part where they watched news coverage. I mean, I remember what I was doing on 9/11 and even though the embassy attacks on were in, what, 1998, I WORK in a consulate and have seen that footage in training many, many times.

So my reaction to those scenes – as well as the “inside” jokes, like what the “I’m going to tell her I got it at Zale’s” means – were completely different than that of my fellow audience members. It’s just a very odd thing to be the only American watching an American movie.


I also saw “The Butler” in Hong Kong, but this was way more intense.

At the end of the movie, the rest of the audience just got up and walked out, but I just sat there. I’m sure the film has been glamorized to some degree for Hollywood, but to me, it’s not a work of fiction. I’m not sure the rest of the audience is capable of grasping that.