So I went and saw the new James Bond movie this week, the night after it opened here in Serbia. It was in a huge room and the place was packed.
The movie was quite excellent overall, although still no match for the Bourne series if you ask me... And in fact there were quite a number of quasi-blatant ripoffs from the Matt Damon movies that my sharp eye caught, but that's not really the point... Daniel Craig is pimp, I've liked him since Layer Cake, but then again I thought that everything he did in this movie could have been done just as well if not better by Clive Owen. Owen was my personal choice to be the next Bond, but they didn't pick him allegedly because he would be "too rough" and rugged as the next Bond... And yet now we have the new movie and all Bond does is be rugged and kick ass. I digress, however...
Although the movie was fun in and of itself, watching it with an audience of Serbs made things a little more educational. The scene where Bond arrives in Montenegro in particular was the highlight... He arrives, in true Bond fasion, into Montenegro on a luxury high speed train, or TGV as they call it in France. Needless to say, this scene was met with some loud, um, appreciation from the audience. And by appreciation I mean uncontrollable howls of laughter. Fun times. It is now my goal in life to find this mythical high speed train in Montenegro and ride it like Bond.
The Bond movie was filled with other little-known factoids about Montenegro. The streets are spotlessly clean, clear, the weather is stunning, and the architecture is all in pristine condition. Czech Republic ain't got SHIT on Montenegro, yo. The Policija zip around in glistening Mercedes and Audis that are of course spotlessly clean and unscathed (and even have the same set of all four tires on each one.... Take THAT, Belgrade!). Said cops themselves all have immaculate uniforms worthy of a Marine Corps parade. I don't think hardass Belgrade cops can compete with that shit.
At least they got the cyrillic signs everywhere correct, as far as I can tell. They threw in a few "kafanas" into some scenes and exits doors are correctly labeled "Izlaz" instead of plain old EXIT, so I guess that's at least a little bit of detail they could have just as easily skipped without your average dumb American audience-goer knowing any difference.
Later in the week I was taken to a bar with some friends. The place was called KST, which is the acronym for some university faculty section or something related that I can't recall right at this moment. It was deep in the bowels of the basement of the academic building it's named after, which was prety cool in and of itself. Hey, I woulda gone to class more often in the US if I'd known there were bitching clubs hidden away just a few floors down. Actually, no I wouldn't have, who am I kidding...
Anyways, the place itself wasn't anything to write home about, basically your standard dive bar formula. Loud music, cheap drinks, cramped dirty quarters, mix and shake and voila. That was upon first impression...
What made the experience a tad more unique was the music and the crowd there. It was apparently oldies night at this place. They played one classic after another of American rock music from the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, the Stones, the Doors, Prestley, the Beach Boys, Creedence, Crosby Stills Nash Young, Jefferson Airplane, Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Fleetwood Mac, etc etc etc etc etc etc. Absolutely great music selection, as far as I was concerned...
However where it got a little funky with me was seeing pretty much every young Serb person in the place LOSE THEIR SHIT over the music. They were busting moves like there was no tomorow... I enjoy classic rock and oldies more than most, but it has never even OCCURRED to me to try to dance to any of it. Not knocking it or anything, it's just honestly an idea that's never entered my mind. I mean how do you dance to Hendrix?!
Imagine, if you will, a prom night video from the 1950s, with all the kiddies bee-bopping and doing the twist and all that other silly shit (sorry Baby Boomers, but it was just silly.). Now put them crazy dancing kids in a smoky night club, dress them all up in the latest Euro-sexy-bitch look with tight pants, halter tops and high heel boots and some aviator glasses just for good measure(if you've seen pics of Belgrade girls you know the style I'm talking about)... Or even better, bearded/grungy, rough-looking Serb guys in leather outfits who look like they just came back from a Metallica or Slayer concert. Of course, ubiquitous cigarettes everywhere. ALL OF THEM doing "the twist" and other crazy shit that I didn't even really believe my parents ACTUALLY did back in the day. Set that to the Beach Boys "Surfing USA" , take a picture and put in next to "incongruous" in the dictionary.
Who needs drugs when reality can be this nuts, eh?
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2 comments:
We're down with that scene, La Vie Etrangere. However, it seems that you are doing the same things, "over there", that you would be doing at home...to us. Movies, the bar scene, oh humm. Now tell us about the really exciting stuff you do? The one on ones with the people...and we don't mean just chicks here. You know, old men sitting on the banks of rivers spouting great truths learned from tortuous lives lived in that mysterious, to us anyway, country. What about the food...we just have to know about the food?! It is a staple with us, you see. And please don't tell us what they think of Americans. We are so sick of hearing what people from countries we never heard of think of us. What do you think of them would be more like it. Then again, we are not quite sure yet, what we think of you. Please keep writing and we will keep reading. Ta dumm...you have an audience. Bring up the curtain on act II please. Even if we can't spell very good. :) Thanks observer.
Two girls in the desert,
Thelma & Louise
Dear La Vie Etrangere....What the heck has happened to you? Did you break you wrist or something like that? Did your computer go...kaput? Did you get married?...say it isn't so. Surely life has not gotten so exciting that you no longer take time to write. OR was it something that we said. Hummmm? Well if you don't post something soon we are going to report you missing in inaction..send out a search team...hunt you down like a dirty dog for deserting your postings. You are doing just like all the rest....strut your stuff...write something interesting....get our attention and then play coy. Bottom line...how about another posting. Something interesting has bound to have happened by now. Maybe you are off on another adventure....or maybe you have just found a pub with pretty girls where you can play darts. You do play darts don't you? Don't thank us...we always like to encourage up and comers.
Your readers if you would write,
Thelma & Louise
of the desert
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