Salt
Carmel Regatta

Movies are a wonderful past time, an intermission to life that offers an escape from reality. I love watching movies in the movie theater. Although sometimes there are interruptions and annoyances by other guests, the movie theater’s intimate setting is hard to reproduce in a home environment.

The dim theater lighting, the huge surround sound speaker system with the oversize two-story silver screen makes movies so much more realistic and enjoyable. Sitting in a posh reclining seat with the huge screen partially wrapped around the spectator makes you feel like you are right in the action. Home theaters are nice and less expensive after the initial investment of the equipment but they’ll never replicate the intimacy or ambience of the local movie theater.

Currently, my favourite movie is “Salt,” a spy-thriller, of sorts. Columbia Pictures released this movie on 23 July 2010. It stars some of my favorite actors, Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, August Diehl and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

In “Salt,” a Jolie portrays Evelyn Salt, a CIA agent that is highly respected by everyone including her boss, Ted Winter (Liev Schreiber). Suddenly, out of nowhere, a Russian spy informs the CIA that during a visit to the USA, Salt will try to assassinate the Russian President.

Doubts appear, quickly. Is Salt a double agent? Is she planning to assassinate the Russian President? When Salt cannot reach her husband, by phone, she tries to find him, but finds trouble at every turn. Throughout her journey, to find her husband Salt has continual flashbacks of her childhood combat training as an orphan in a Russian boarding school.

My all-time favourite actor is Angelina Jolie. I’ve loved her after seeing her early films. The first film I saw her in was a 1995 film titled “Hackers.” She was Kate “Acid Burn” Libby; she was as good as any hacker, in the move, maybe better. Of course, most will recognize and remember her as Lara Croft in “Tomb Raider” (2001). I absolutely love her acting in most of her roles. She’s a kick-butt kind of girl that can do anything a person can do and more. She doesn’t take any guff off anyone and stands her ground in every role.

My favorite Angelina movie is “Salt” but a very close second is her more recent movie “The Tourist,” for which she received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. Her on-screen persona is a tough woman, with a sweet side. She is as sharp as she is witty and an easy character to appreciate. Many times, I wish I had a tough friend like her at my side.

I love action movies on the big screen. I’ve tried to watch them at home and they just don’t have the same impact. Kicking back in a posh theater chair with a tub of popcorn and a quart of diet coke watching Angelina Jolie in action is my idea of a great time. I’ve seen “Salt” in the movie theater on three separate occasions and every time I watch it, I see clips I never noticed before. I could watch that movie 100 times and never get tired of it. “Salt” is my favorite movie, probably because Angelina Jolie stars.