Monday, April 23, 2007

Movie Theater Meme

Okay, one more freaking meme to get out of my system, this one is about movie theaters.

I did a quick blog search for movies and I saw an existing meme about film, and I'm gonna overlap for just a few of the questions. I am deeply sorry for the overlap, but this is a Movie Theater specific set of questions and I gots to ask them.

First movie you saw in a theater?
Last movie you saw in a theater?
Crappiest moviegoing theater experience?
Best moviegoing theater experience?
What's a movie you *have* to see on the big screen?
Have you even seen the same movie more than once in the same day?
Have you ever snuck into a theater to see a movie?
Ever walked out on a movie?
Movie snack of choice?


First movie you saw in a theater?
I remember going to a drive-in double feature with my family, where Jaws was the second film after some crappy thing I don't remember. I freaking fell asleep before Jaws started, so I guess I can't count that. It's probably best that I fell asleep. I was afraid of my own shadow back then.

Star Wars is the first movie that I definitely saw in the theater and didn't fall asleep. Other movies I remember from my green years -- the crappy Roger Moore Bond movie Moonraker, and The Villain (with Kirk Douglas, Ann-Margret and Arnold Schwarzenegger!). Of course I am saying "crappy" in retrospect. They were the absolute coolest things when I first saw them. A wristwatch that shoots darts? A live-action version of the Coyote/Roadrunner saga? Damn!

Last movie you saw in a theater?
Grindhouse. All six and a half hours of it.

Crappiest moviegoing theater experience?
Well, I have seen 5 year old kids chasing each other during a 9:30pm showing of an R-rated movie, I'd had people smoking cigarettes in front of me, but both these things were expected because I was seeing movies in a cheap theater. I would say that the a-hole looking at his extremely bright cell phone during the entire duration of The History of Violence I paid full price for would count as the crappiest experience in recent memory. He was sitting smack-dab in the center of the aisle, and close enough to the screen that I didn't want to move in front of him. And the thing was, I was afraid to ask him to stop messing with his phone because the movie was giving me the heebie-jeebies about some possible violent altercation ensuing.

Best moviegoing theater experience?
It's really great living around a big city sometimes. I really enjoy seeing classic movies I missed when they first came out, and especially movies that prolly would not have been available for me to see even if I was around when they were released. I have seen a lot of great movies at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago -- I was especially excited to see a kind of obscure Roman Polanski movie, Cul De Sac.

What's a movie you *have* to see on the big screen?
When I finally got to see 2001: A Space Odyssey on a big screen, I was really bowled over. If you haven't seen that one sequence in space with "The Blue Danube" music behind it on the big screen, for God's sakes try to. The Road Warrior is also incredible on the big screen, too.

Have you even seen the same movie more than once in the same day?
I'm curious how many people have done this. I have done it twice. Once for Raiders of the Lost Ark, and once for GoodFellas. I was just so excited when I saw these movies for the first time that I had to see them again the same day.

Have you ever snuck into a theater to see a movie?
I think I have snuck in after seeing a dollar movie to catch the last 20 minutes of another, but I don't know if you could technically count that as having snuck in. I'm kind of a wuss.

Ever walked out on a movie?
I did this once, for the movie Apt Pupil by Bryan Singer. It just struck a really negative chord with me. I just found it really offensive.

Movie snack of choice?
Salty - buttered popcorn, preferably in a tub (all food should be available in tubs!). Sweet - plain M&Ms. And Coca-Cola to drink.


So I tag:
lulu
dale
Coaster Punchman
and
beth

I would tag bubs again, but that's plain rude to tag someone twice in a row, right? Consider this a non-tagging tag.

If you s'wanna tag yourself, please do so. I do so love enjoying other people enjoying the cinema.

5 comments:

Joe said...

I remember seeing "You Only Live Twice" at a drive-in with my parents. I think that's the first one. Then I have a few memories of horror films in theaters, again mostly with my folks--the most memorable being "Willard" during a fierce thunderstorm, with the power failing in the theater during the show, and then leaving and returning home to a blacked-out house.

Cup said...

Thanks for the tag! I'll tackle this in the next couple of days ...

Cup said...

BTW, I'm an old chick ... so I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey at the drive-ins with my parent. What scared me the most? The shot of the fetus.

Splotchy said...

yeesh, bubs. I thought losing power was bad, but you took it to another level. I have never seen Willard (I saw Ben, though!). Are there are any thunderstorms in it during which the rats go on attack?

beth, let's face it. fetuses are scary. particularly when they are floating in space above the earth.

Dale said...

I'll get to work on this shortly Splotchy. I'll try to do you proud.