Star Wars Opening Night Notes
Ok, so we couldn't resist going to one of the midnight shows. The crowds were incredible, showtime was 12:01, and the megaplexes were packed out by 10PM. Our local AMC handles the crowds very well and wisely made lots of exceptions to their normal rules and procedures. Everytime a screen would sell out, they'd add one more. At the time we went in, they were up to 9 screens. Wisely they treated all 9 screens as general admission, which was very cool. Once you're in, you could pick from all of the screens and find the one with the size screen and available seats that met your particular groups' needs. Kudos to AMC!
And yes, there were geeks in costume. Many light saber fights broke out before security would step in and make them stop. All in good fun, but liability suggests no theater manager can tolerate geeks swinging things at each other. They also posed in groups in front of the screen before the film started. Although my immediate reaction to this stuff is always to want to encourage them to move out of their mom's basement and go get a real job, you've gotta be impressed that a movie, or series of movies, can illicit that type of passion.
I have often stated that DVDs and VCRs have ruined the movie going experience because parents use them as babysitters. We now have a full generation of movie-goers who largely do not respect seeing a movie as a special experience, but rather as a way to pass time. And consequently they have a tough time sitting quietly for 2 hours. I must say the Star Wars fans had no such problem. They were very quiet and well behaved, only reacting when they should've. And I dont recall seeing more than one or two people getting up and leaving their seats during the movie. These people came to enjoy a movie.
And despite what Chris might say, I think they did. Time and numbers will tell for sure. You'll all have to forgive our boy Chris for showing his true fan boy colors and being unable to resist overanalyzing the movie and dissecting it like Ebert cutting thru a Michael Bay film.
And yes, there were geeks in costume. Many light saber fights broke out before security would step in and make them stop. All in good fun, but liability suggests no theater manager can tolerate geeks swinging things at each other. They also posed in groups in front of the screen before the film started. Although my immediate reaction to this stuff is always to want to encourage them to move out of their mom's basement and go get a real job, you've gotta be impressed that a movie, or series of movies, can illicit that type of passion.
I have often stated that DVDs and VCRs have ruined the movie going experience because parents use them as babysitters. We now have a full generation of movie-goers who largely do not respect seeing a movie as a special experience, but rather as a way to pass time. And consequently they have a tough time sitting quietly for 2 hours. I must say the Star Wars fans had no such problem. They were very quiet and well behaved, only reacting when they should've. And I dont recall seeing more than one or two people getting up and leaving their seats during the movie. These people came to enjoy a movie.
And despite what Chris might say, I think they did. Time and numbers will tell for sure. You'll all have to forgive our boy Chris for showing his true fan boy colors and being unable to resist overanalyzing the movie and dissecting it like Ebert cutting thru a Michael Bay film.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home