At The Movies Challenge
Katy over at Oh So Geeky had the wonderful idea to use this time in quarantine to reflect on our most memorable trips to the movie theater. Her rules are simple, write about at least five memories you have of going to the movies, no matter the theater size. I wanted to focus on positive memories and not all the times I wanted to scream at someone to shut up during a show. I realized when compiling everything that a lot of my positive memories are from blockbuster films. I suppose because of the large crowd size. But here are a few wonderful memories I have in no particular order.
Titanic -This is the first movie I can recall my parents letting me go to without them. Everyone in my school went to see Titanic multiple times and I got to go with a couple of my friends.
The Matrix Revolutions - I took the greatest nap during this movie and woke up with about 15 minutes left. My friend was shocked that I slept through it all but to do this day, the most memorable thing about this movie was that awesome power nap. I can't do that anymore.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - I love midnight showing for franchises that I'm into, and this one was fun because everyone was batting around a giant beach ball waiting for the movie to start. Then a random woman caught it and stabbed it because she "didn't want to deal with that during the movie" like 300 Potter heads in a theater at midnight on a Thursday would be doing anything but watching the movie once it came on. Chill, Karen.
Atonement - I used to have to drive a few hours if I wanted to see any smaller movies and I saw this one in a theater that I affectionately referred to as "the closet" because it had about 30 seats and you can tell that room originally had another purpose. But The Closet brought me and one other random woman together as we both stayed behind and sobbed openly at the end of this movie.
Avengers: Infinity War - The cool thing about this movie was that I saw it on two different continents during its opening weekend, so I got to contribute to two different box offices. I saw it in England on opening day, then when I came back to the U.S that Sunday I went straight to the theater here and watched it with my family again.
The Lion King - This is the first movie I can remember seeing in theaters and it is still to this day one of my favorite animated films.
The Work of William Kentridge - This wasn't technically in a theater, but I was lucky enough to visit the EYE Film Museum in Amsterdam last summer and watched several of William Kentridge's short films during the exhibit. There's so many cool museums to visit in Amsterdam but if you go, don't miss this one. The ferry ride behind Centraal Station to get there is free, and it's only about 6 euros to enter the featured exhibit (which is where I saw these films) the other part is also free.
Prisoners - There's a case for crowds elevating a film and even though I love Prisoners on its own, I had the funnest time seeing this in a packed theater because everyone was so into it. There was a point where I felt like the entire theater gasped in unison.
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace - I started to really get into Star Wars a few years before the prequels would eventually hit theaters. My dad and I went to all the re-releases of the original trilogy together and when the day came for The Phantom Menace the theater was so packed we couldn't find two seats next to each other so we sat apart. I remember walking down the aisle at the end of the movie to find my dad with the most incredulous expression ever on his face. He was not a fan.
The Dark Knight - Just because the entire theater went insane when Joker made that pencil disappear.
Avengers: Endgame - And finally, what easily has to be the coolest theater experience I ever had. Seeing Avengers: Endgame at the TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles on opening night. I've never been with a crowd that excited before and IMAX treated us very well. We all got Avengers t-shirts and posters for the occasion, and they were doing giveaways, trivia and a costume contest before the film started. Everyone screamed when...well, literally anything cool happened. It was just an unforgettable experience. I loved every second of it.
I have both Endgame and Infinity War in my list (which I'm working on) as I can remember my experiences with those 2 films. My list, I can guarantee you, is quite long as it revolves more on the past 20 years of my life.
ReplyDeleteWhen I started writing I wasn't sure how long I'd go either so I just stopped at 10. I probably should've added a few more.
DeleteThanks for participating! I really appreciate it! These memories are awesome! I share the same one for Titanic. And Karen at Half Blood Prince one is CRAZY. That's so cool that you got to see Infinity War in England - was the reaction well-reserved or crazy like here in the States? If I could go back in time, I would do anything to go to an official premiere for Endgame. The reactions must've been crazy. I'll always be disappointed that Marvel didn't record the audio to release with a theatrical version.
ReplyDeleteFor Infinity War, we wen't to a showing that was at 9:00am so it wasn't a very loud crowd. I kind of wish I would've paid more and went to one of the bigger theaters in London in hindsight, we just went to a local one near the hotel we were staying at.
DeleteI wish Marvel would've done that too, especially at the TCL. People were cheering the trailers before the movie even started lol. At least we have the bootleg Twitter videos
Nice memories.
ReplyDeleteI haven’t seen all these films-the Avengers movies, Phantom Menace, the Dark Knight and this iteration of Matrix are nos for me. Though I had a similar experience to yours with the first Matrix only I slept until the credit roll! I tried a second time and fell asleep again so obviously I’ve never bothered with the rest!
The Kentridge exhibit sounds very cool! When I was in Amsterdam I only got to the Rijksmuseum which was magnificent but that was decades ago and the EYE museum didn’t exist then.
I saw Titanic in the theatre opening night with a whole group of people who were all as excited to see it as I and it was jam packed. The second half of the film was an awe inspiring event, the first so much romantic hogwash that never would have happened in 1912 but overall it was impressive and Kate Winslet, Gloria Stuart and Frances Fisher made up for the weakness of the beginning. I actually had to return to see it a second time (reluctantly) because one of my nieces was ill the first night and I’d promised to see it with her. She wept and I discovered that once was enough for me.
The final two Harry Potters are the only films I saw in the theatre, I was managing a Borders when the entire series came out and while I enjoyed listening to them on audiobook by the time they were movies I’d had quite enough. The releases for the books were crazed, the final two we had police for crowd control (my store sold the most copies on the East Coast that first night and only one store in LA sold more in the nation), so until I knew there would be no more I stayed as far away from the films as possible.
Those tiny theatres can be a great place to see a movie depending on what it is. A film like Atonement would work well there, I had to drive to see it as well but only about half an hour into the city and it was a smaller venue as well though not as small as the one you describe. A very fine film, great performances. I didn’t cry but then I’m not weepy as a rule.
I saw Prisoners on demand and hated it so very much.
Avengers: Endgame's a yes for us.
DeleteThe Rijksmuseum was glorious. I'm not even sure if I saw all of it and I was in there for about 5 hours. 😂
DeleteBorders! That's where I used to get all my HP books. That store and another whose name is escaping me until the town I lived in actually got a Barnes and Nobel. I used to queue up for those books at midnight when they were released.
Oh you list several that would absolutely make my list. Seeing Phantom Menace was indeed a blast. The Dark Knight was unforgettable. Seeing Cap pick up the hammer in Endgame...woooo. I also remember the crowd going crazy when Rey slipped Kylo the lightsaber in Rise of Skywalker. The entire experience of watching Tim Burton's Batman back in 1989 was amazing. And I gotta add this one. It's from a movie that is objectively pretty terrible but my goodness the audience was having a blast - Mortal Kombat (don't judge me).
ReplyDeleteI would never judge you for loving Mortal Kombat, that's a great "bad" movie. I only ever got to see it on VHS.
DeleteI probably should've included The Wolf of Wall Street because that is the closest I've ever been to "laughing so hard I cried."