On Tuesday, the hubs and I attended a special screening of The Spectacular Now complete with a question and answer session with Athens hometown hero, director James Ponsoldt. It was a fabulous evening to say the least! Hubs and I enjoyed our weeknight date immensely.
The movie poster for The Spectacular Now.
We started our night by having dinner at The National in downtown Athens, Georgia. This was the first time either of us had been there and it was wonderful! The National is a little fancier than we normally go for (meaning pricey) BUT it was VERY much worth it! Perfect for our pre-Prom dinner!
AND...The National is right next door to this place...
Cinè hosted the night's event. We'd never been here either but I was impressed. Cinè is an "art house theater" which means they play educational and festival films. It is a great venue. They hosted this event not only to support The Spectacular Now, which was was filmed in Athens and James Ponsoldt, the director, who is from Athens; but they are also raising fund to get digital projectors to use in conjunction with film. (It is a worthy cause if you are interested check the Cinè website for more info!)
Tickets!
Me and the Mister at the Prom Party!
Cheers! Best cream soda ever.
After the movie Q & A with James Ponsoldt (director) on the left.
Me with James Ponsoldt who was kind enough to speak with me after what I'm sure was a LONG day for him. You could tell he was passionate about making GOOD movies and that he was passionate about Athens!
Me & Mister. One of the best date nights ever!
Alli's Thoughts on The Spectacular Now movie:
I'd listened to all but the every end of the audio book. I always love when good books are made into movies; sometimes I am disappointed and sometimes I am truly surprised. I was very pleased by what I saw. The movie stayed true to the feel of the book and I recognized some of the dialogue as coming straight from the novel. Some things were a little different but there was mad respect paid to the original written work by author Tim Tharp.
In fact, when I got the chance, I told Mr. Ponsoldt I thought he did a good job of representing the book. He told me that Tim Tharp had been on set and was pleased with the movie. (Which makes me happy, I often wonder what authors think once their words become movies.)
Like I mentioned before, the movie was filmed in Athens which is practically my own hometown. So I was super excited to see sights I easily recognized. It wasn't over done with our "major landmarks" but if you are familiar with the area, you'll know it's Athens in the movie! (Hometown love!)
The movie itself is a magnificent coming of age story. It is rated R and appropriately so. There is some nudity in a tasteful sex scene, lots of cussing and underage drinking. All these things were pulled directly from the book. The movie is based of a Young Adult novel that deals with some very real issues some teens face. The movie did a great job of portraying the teen experience.
Miles Teller plays the main character, Sutter. I was amazed. Teller always reminds me of a young Vince Vaughn, fast-talking and funny. He WAS Sutter.
I was really surprised by was Shailene Woodley, who played Aimee. I've seen her in Secret Life before so I just didn't know what to expect from her. But she really sold me and I'm excited to see her in her upcoming roles in Divergent and The Fault in Our Stars (also based on YA novels!).
I really enjoyed our whole experience. I totally want to see The Spectacular Now again and I can't wait to add it to our own movie collection.
The Spectacular Now opens in more cities today. If you check it out let know what you thought about it!
