In Which I Go To The Movies

I haven’t done this in years, but today I went off to a local movie theater to see a movie, in English but with Spanish subtitles.

Yes, I admit to being a die-hard Downton Abbey fan. In the summer of 2016, I even went to visit Highclere Castle, 90 miles west of London, where the series was filmed (you can read about that in my blog here). So I’ve been very interested in seeing the new movie, which was released while I was on my Camino walk in September.

I took a taxi to the Yelmo Cines Icaria, a 15-screen establishment in a mall, about half an hour away. Yes, Barcelona does have shopping malls. The ticket price at noon was €6 (about $6.60) and the box office and concession stands were just like those at any American multiplex. Food prices, however, were much more reasonable: a medium popcorn and small drink was just €7.

I was thrown for a moment when I was asked if I wanted “salty or sweet” popcorn. In addition to regular popcorn, it turns out they also sell caramel popcorn (aka Cracker Jack) – I went traditional. However, there was no butter (or even pseudo-butter) topping available. All the other usual items were there, the giant-sized candy bars and boxes, hot dogs, and such, but were not for me.

Theater #14 was my destination and I had it all to myself. Downton has been playing here for a while and is now down to just one showing per day. The smallish house had about 100 standard seats, all very comfortable and new-looking, with a center aisle and an excellent sound system. The show started with 10 minutes of ads and coming attractions, all in Spanish.

The reason I selected this theater is that they show movies with their original English soundtrack and Spanish subtitles. It was nice to hear the King’s English being spoken onscreen and I got a kick out of the occasional funny or inappropriate translation I saw in the subtitles.

I do, of course, have a crush on Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary) as I’m sure most men do. After the Downton series ended, seeing her in the TV series Godless was the topper for me. Her American accent was flawless and wow! – she put it all out there to be seen, in distinctly un-Lady-Mary-like fashion. British actors and actresses are just so good.

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I really enjoyed the Downton movie today and was glad to be able to see the cast together again one last time. I can’t wait to see what Julian Fellowes, the series creator, comes up with next. My inaugural Barcelona movie-going experience was good, but expensive after adding in the taxi (€8 each way).