WTF TFAW?

Saturday night Joe and I ventured over the hill to Universal City Walk to experience the true awesomeness of 300 on an IMAX. While I thoroughly loved the movie, marvelling at the seamless CGI and bluescreen work, and gazing in awe at the wonderfully chiseled warriors, it never really felt like there were 300 Spartans (but rather maybe 30 at best), while the accompanying score (and editing) just couldn't match the dramatic intensity of the original stunning trailer. 300 however truly is a movie that should be seen on the big BIG screen.


City Walk itself was an entirely different matter. My first and only other excursion to the Walk was back in 2004 during an exploratory trip to LA! At that time I hadn't noticed the gaudiness of the place, purchasing my board shorts, souvenirs and paying way too much for way average food like a good little consumer.

One of the fond memories I had from that visit was of Things From Another World (the TFAW in the title). This time around, though still impressed by the wide range of geeky collectibles, I was horrified at the extortionate prices being charged, particularly for Star Wars figures, Wal-Mart exclusive figures to be precise. You know some jackass is plundering the Wal-Mart shelves on shipment day, buying them cheap ($5.99), then jacking up the price ($24.99). This figure scalping is just plain criminal!

So other than the overpriced stores and restaurants, Saturday evening at Citywalk was overrun with tourists from the park; littered with parents who had entirely too many kids; and we were bombarded on all sides by people who had little sense of direction and no spacial awareness.

I don't think we'll be heading back on a Saturday night anytime soon, even for the IMAX (I should note however that exiting the parking structure was a much quicker and easier experience than I've ever had leaving The Grove or the hell that is Arclight).