Thursday, July 09, 2009

Midnight Show

This evening, I plan to go to the midnight premiere of a new film. I've not done this in more than 4 years. I can recall 4 prior times this decade that I've gone to a midnight premie.

The first was in May 2002 for "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones". I got my ticket for it about 5 days in advance. My friend said he would wait a few days before purchasing his. He didn't get around to it until the day the movie screened. Because of this, we had to watch the film in separate screening rooms (the big screen I purchased my ticket for had sold out). This didn't bother me too much as we were still gonna be watching the same movie at the same time.

Around 2,000 geeks showed up for the midnight presentation taking up about 10 screens. While seated, I noticed my cousin talking to his friends. It was good to see him. He said they had been there hours earlier playing hacky-sack in the parking lot and talking Star Wars. His marriage was just a few weeks away. The buzz on the movie was that it was better than Ep I, but I didn't really find this to be the case.

Later that year, I went to another midnight show, "The Two Towers", the second part of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I was let down by this one as well; it didn't have the magic and wonder of the first. No need to fear, though. One year later, I went to the midnight screening of "Return of the King" and was very satisfied.



Well, not at first, though. You see, as the previews were starting, I realized that I'd forgotten my Carmex in the car. There's no way I'd make it through 3 hours of what would turn out to be my favorite movie of the year without applying lip balm, so I hurried outside to obtain it. Ahh, that's better.

There's a number of faux endings in the last half hour of the movie. I noticed a few people around me getting frustrated by this, sighing a bit when they realized that the movie wasn't over yet. They probably had to be at work in the morning and were hoping the film was over. Not me. I would've been fine with a 4-hour film (the extended edition of it comes pretty close).

The last midnight show I attended was in May of 2005 for "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith". There were a number of people dressed in Star Wars garb as was the case for Episode II (including a cute teen dressed as Princess Leia - hair buns included). I was suprised at how downbeat the film was, but it felt good to finally reach the end of the saga.

10 comments:

Jo said...

What show are you seeing?

Thomas said...

"Bruno". I had tears in my eyes the first time I watched "Borat", so am looking forward to more of the same this evening.

http://minnesota-meanderings.blogspot.com/
2006/10/borat.html

Sarah said...

weird that favre would have dirt all over the sleeve of his undershirt in that photo of him in the vikes home jersey, where they play in a dome. heh. kidding. i'm aware of this newfangled thing called photoshop. it just looked odd to me and then i figured out why.

Dave said...

How sad is this? On my recent holiday I took my laptop with me, mostly because the place had wifi and well two weeks with no Internet just couldn't be contemplated! But do you know I had all six episodes of Star Wars saved to the hard drive and I watched them on six consecutive nights.

I had never seen them in order before and it was one of the highlights of the holiday!

Like I said... SAD!!!

Thomas said...

Sarah, I pulled the pic off a recent Pioneer Press article. Since it's pretty much a done deal, I thought it'd make a cool addition to my site.

Dave, which order did you watch them in? Chronologically (4-6, then 1-3) or by episode number (1-6)? I'm looking forward to revisiting the "Rings" movies in the near future. It'd also be difficult for me to get by without internet for more than a few days.

Dave said...

I followed the story from beginning to end (1 to 6).

Rocketstar said...

Dude, Lord of the rings at midnight, I don't know how you can stay awake.

Let us know about Bruno

Phil said...

Hello Thomas. After your vitriolic diatribe against me in Sarah's blog comments I had to stop by. If this weird obsession you have with me continues I may have to file for a restraining order, especially since we're both Rochesterians. (yeah, I'm kidding. It's all good. Bruno looks hilarious. Can't wait to see it)

Thomas said...

Dave, I'll have to try that myself sometime.

Rocket, Bruno was magnifique! After catching the midnight show on Thursday, I went to it again yesterday. After one scene, two couples left (I've not seen that kind of a reaction to a movie in a LONG time).

I had a tear in my eye yesterday after the scene where he saw a psychic. I know I wouldn't laugh as much if I was watching it at home, so plan to see it again while it's still on the big screen.

Phil, Vassup!! You sure have a way with words. If you're in the mood for shiggles, you HAVE to check out Bruno. And go to Wehrenberg where the sound and digital presentation are worlds better than Cinemagic and Shiteau.

Sarah said...

Phil & Thomas - I love your new friendship. Too bad you're in different Rochesters. ;)