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apocalypsosSo I'm a movie lover. (Which, DUH.) I always feel a little weird, because I kind of sterilize my movie-going experiences to the point where sometimes the only thing that would make my movie-going experience perfect would be if I could have the entire theater all to myself. And I have before, a couple of times. I distinctly remember going to see 10 Things I Hate About You late on a weekday during the end of its run and having the room to myself. That was awesome.
But, yeah. I *need* to have a soda and a popcorn with LOTS of salt and butter, I *need* to sit low middle center (pretty much the row behind the railing at the Cinemark I go to all the time), I *need* to get there as early as possible so I can get settled, and for the most part I *need* to go alone. In all honesty, ninety-five percent of the time I go alone, four and a half percent of the time I go with my brother, and then there's that rare time I go with my parents or other relatives, which usually reminds me why I usually go alone.
I mean, when I get into a movie, I fucking react. I know I'm not the only one. I've laughed until tears roll down my cheeks, I've screamed during horror movies, and I cry like crazy in movies. I nearly cried twice during Wall-E, I quietly sobbed as the car drove up the mother's driveway in the beginning of Saving Private Ryan , and the only reason I didn't cry through Million Dollar Baby is that I saw Hotel Rwanda literally right beforehand in the next theater over and the scene where the missionaries leave the orphans behind with Don Cheadle pretty much killed my ability to cry for a week and a half. (The only reason I didn't cry during Life Is Beautiful is because I held up until I left the theater, got into my car, turned the key in the ignition, and promptly burst into wracking sobs that didn't stop for the entire half-hour car ride home.)
ANYWAY. The big thing is, a lot of times it's other people that ruin it for me. People who can't speak to each other quietly, people who can't stop kicking the back of the seat in front of them ... I think one thing that screwed up my House of 1000 Corpses viewing (although admittedly I hated the movie anyway) was that some other guy walked into the movie with a five-year-old boy trailing happily behind him. My brother and I spent most of the movie skeeved that we were watching the thing in the same room as a little kid who shouldn't even have been there.
However, did you ever have one of those moments where somebody else in the theater made your entire movie-going experience so much better? Some time when some stranger sitting next to you did or said something during the movie that makes you smile just thinking about it? Not in a mocking way, but in a, "God, people are AWESOME" kind of way? 'Cause I adore those stories. :)
So that's my question to you.
And here's mine:
I went to see Finding Nemo on the first day, first showing at I think it was nine a.m. I do remember that I'd had to work the night shift the day before, and I hadn't gotten out until six a.m., and I'd just said, "Screw it," and went straight to the theater instead and took a nap in the parking lot. I wanted to see the movie THAT much.
I got my favorite seat, and about five minutes later a woman walked into with her little girl and sat two seats away from me. Her little girl was one of the cutest freaking kids I've ever seen in my life. Think Boo with blond hair all pulled up into a wee little ponytail on the top of her head.
The mom and I got to talking, and I can't remember if she said that the kid had never been to the movies before but it makes sense considering what happened later. Anyway, about halfway through our discussion, the little girl -- who never said a word -- made grabbyhands towards Mom's purse. The mom reached in and pulled out a Marlin doll and a Dory doll, which the little girl then proceeded to clutch to her chest for the entire length of the movie.
And when the movie started? Oh, MAN. That little girl stared in absolute wonder at the screen. She made these awed little gasps that were KILLING me. It was like watching someone fall in love with movies for the first time ever.
But, yeah. I *need* to have a soda and a popcorn with LOTS of salt and butter, I *need* to sit low middle center (pretty much the row behind the railing at the Cinemark I go to all the time), I *need* to get there as early as possible so I can get settled, and for the most part I *need* to go alone. In all honesty, ninety-five percent of the time I go alone, four and a half percent of the time I go with my brother, and then there's that rare time I go with my parents or other relatives, which usually reminds me why I usually go alone.
I mean, when I get into a movie, I fucking react. I know I'm not the only one. I've laughed until tears roll down my cheeks, I've screamed during horror movies, and I cry like crazy in movies. I nearly cried twice during Wall-E, I quietly sobbed as the car drove up the mother's driveway in the beginning of Saving Private Ryan , and the only reason I didn't cry through Million Dollar Baby is that I saw Hotel Rwanda literally right beforehand in the next theater over and the scene where the missionaries leave the orphans behind with Don Cheadle pretty much killed my ability to cry for a week and a half. (The only reason I didn't cry during Life Is Beautiful is because I held up until I left the theater, got into my car, turned the key in the ignition, and promptly burst into wracking sobs that didn't stop for the entire half-hour car ride home.)
ANYWAY. The big thing is, a lot of times it's other people that ruin it for me. People who can't speak to each other quietly, people who can't stop kicking the back of the seat in front of them ... I think one thing that screwed up my House of 1000 Corpses viewing (although admittedly I hated the movie anyway) was that some other guy walked into the movie with a five-year-old boy trailing happily behind him. My brother and I spent most of the movie skeeved that we were watching the thing in the same room as a little kid who shouldn't even have been there.
However, did you ever have one of those moments where somebody else in the theater made your entire movie-going experience so much better? Some time when some stranger sitting next to you did or said something during the movie that makes you smile just thinking about it? Not in a mocking way, but in a, "God, people are AWESOME" kind of way? 'Cause I adore those stories. :)
So that's my question to you.
And here's mine:
I went to see Finding Nemo on the first day, first showing at I think it was nine a.m. I do remember that I'd had to work the night shift the day before, and I hadn't gotten out until six a.m., and I'd just said, "Screw it," and went straight to the theater instead and took a nap in the parking lot. I wanted to see the movie THAT much.
I got my favorite seat, and about five minutes later a woman walked into with her little girl and sat two seats away from me. Her little girl was one of the cutest freaking kids I've ever seen in my life. Think Boo with blond hair all pulled up into a wee little ponytail on the top of her head.
The mom and I got to talking, and I can't remember if she said that the kid had never been to the movies before but it makes sense considering what happened later. Anyway, about halfway through our discussion, the little girl -- who never said a word -- made grabbyhands towards Mom's purse. The mom reached in and pulled out a Marlin doll and a Dory doll, which the little girl then proceeded to clutch to her chest for the entire length of the movie.
And when the movie started? Oh, MAN. That little girl stared in absolute wonder at the screen. She made these awed little gasps that were KILLING me. It was like watching someone fall in love with movies for the first time ever.
