Friday, March 5, 2010

The Midnight Culture...

Over the last couple years the city I live in has been a lot better about doing midnight showings of the latest and greatest Hollywood has to offer. I've been going to a lot of them and I've noticed a thing or two about the culture of the midnighters that is different from when you go to the theater any other time.

For the most part we are all making a sacrifice. It will either be a job, school, or early rising kids. Whatever it is... we are going to be losing sleep due to us going out to this movie. Energy drinks and coffee will be drank. Snack food will be consumed in the late hours throwing off peoples eating schedules. Chaos will consume us all.

I usually show up an hour and a half early to make sure there isn't a massive line beginning to form. I like to get good seats and if that means sitting on the floor for extra time so be it. This isn't usually a problem for some of my friends as they show up way later and get to jump right up front with me. That brings up a question of line etiquette but we will get to that later.

Last year I can think of only one movie that had a line. I think it was for G.I. Joe. No... it was for Wolverine. Anyway... the rest of the time it was clear of lines and I would wander over to the local coffee shop with the friends who had tagged along and we would sip coffee and chat about movies, comics, movies, and life. This is one of the reasons I like hitting the midnight showings because there is a lot more chance of hanging out with friends than usual. Most of the times I go to a flick with a friend we show up on time for the movie and then the flick starts and when it's over we go home. There isn't much of a chance for conversation. But with the midnight flick there is time to kill and hanging out to do.

Next we come to the two different types of crowds one sees at these late night viewings. You either have the fans or the masses.

The fans are folks that love the genre or the series of films (if it's part of a series) or just film in general. These people have a good time with the event and will even chat you up in line. These are some good folk who are here to join together in something we all like and have a passion for.

The masses are those people who came to see a movie cause they either had nothing else to do or they saw so many commercials on tv the weeks prior that they flock to the theater in some sort of herd mentality. These folks are usually loud and obnoxious because they don't give a rip about the movie or the people around them. They are there to kill time. I don't like these people. They kill the experience for me and everyone around them.

Oh yeah... the line etiquette...

If you are in line with a couple of your friends and a couple more show up and want in the line with you... let them in. It's not that big a deal. You're going to be saving seats for those folks anyway once you get in the theater so it's not like they are stealing someones seat. But if you are standing in line and a massive group of friends shows up and wants in... nope. Tell them to go to the back.

The same principal is true that you will be saving their seats when you get in anyway but the fact of the matter is that by having this mass squeeze into the line with you... things are going to get a little cramped not only for you but for those around you. Take other folks feeling into consideration.

But I dig the midnight showings. They hurt in the long run as I still have to wake up in the morning but all in all its a good time.

The unfortunate part is that I seem to be seeing a lot more crap at these showings than I used to.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Davein the Quiet Corner said...

I'm a big Joss Whedon fan so I will trust him implicitly with the Avengers movie.

I was hoping for the best with the Green Hornet movie so this is bad news. Someone posted on the web today that "no wonder" Chow quit the picture. Eh, Chow can be difficult too.

Dude, I'm dying to know what you thought of Blackest Night 8!!!

April 15, 2010 at 4:34 PM  

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