MC Wednesday Inventory #11: Most Memorable Theatrical Experience

[dreamdead]

So this should get us back on track in terms of logical film experiences. Most memorable--not necessarily your best or or your favorite, but most memorable.

Mine was my first theatrical viewing of The New World. There was an old couple two or three rows in front of me who audibly kept trying to keep track of the plot (is the scruffy guy Ferrell or Bale? Are they meant to be the same person? Where was this shot? It's so pretty!). I raged silently at that couple amidst my wonderment at Malick's film.

[Irish]

"There's Something About Mary" on opening night. Theater was packed. Not one seat left empty. My friends and I went in blind. Crowd was raucous and I've never laughed that hard in my life.

Not a movie, but: A live performance of "The Marriage of Figaro" by a metropolitan company. I don't think I experienced, or ever will experience again, something so beautiful. You know that feeling you get after great sex (scratch that, incredible sex)? When every muscle in your body is completely relaxed and you've got a kind of restful energy? I felt like that after the show. Like my bones had been struck by a tuning fork and everything just hummed. For hours afterwards, the world was a little bit brighter and a little bit better.

[Dukefrukem]

Couple of Memorable moments...

1. The Opening Scene to Jurassic Park. I was terrified.

2. Independence Day - like Irish's experience, theater was packed, I'd been dying to see this movie for months and it didn't disappoint. It still represents the movie I saw in theaters the most. 5 times.

3. Snake on a Plane - More recently and like 8, I went on opening night and it was craziest theater experience I've ever encountered.

4. Also the Burly Brawl in Matrix Reloaded was jaw dropping.

[ciaoelor]

For my mom - not that you asked - I think it's Home Alone. She and I went to a theater that showed 2 movies for the price of 1. I think the movie we saw first (i.e. intended to see) was either Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 or Problem Child 2 (all released in 1991). Anyway, when one of those movies ended we were prepared to leave, until a woman told us that there was a second movie, Home Alone, which she had never heard of I think. Long story short, she laughed her ass off, and thanked the woman for not allowing her to miss it.

As for me, I think it's Pineapple Express. I literally laughed until it hurt and my body felt like a sleeping foot.

[Russ]

1. Monty Python's Life of Brian - Lots and lots of Jesus people carrying their little protest signs. Had to cross a picket line. Good times.

2. Carpenter's The Thing - Sold out showing, and just like that guy in the film who saw the head grow spider legs and scurry away, the audience was going "You gotta be fucking kidding me" pretty much during the whole film. I think the entire audience was holding their breath during the blood testing scene; you could hear a fucking pin drop. And then the screams. Good times.

3. John Water's Polyester - Midnight showing, with the original scratch 'n sniff Odorama cards. Eeeeww. Good times.

Also, was at opening day for Alien and Star Wars when I lived in San Antonio. HUGE crowd for Star Wars, it was pretty amazing. Event film before there was such a thing. Alien blew my fragile little mind right out of my skull.

[Ezee E]

House of Flying Daggers (Telluride) - outside screening. Rain was actually pouring, but the movie was so exciting to me that it was a wonderful experience. It was probably my second movie at the festival.

Into the Wild (Telluride) - again, outside screening, and pouring rain again. This time, it just felt right in the spirit of the movie. It made me like it 10x more then when I would later watch it.

Batman (with Dad) - first midnight movie I ever attended, and I had been a fan of Batman my whole life. The fact that this was happening, including the idea of, "GOING TO A MOVIE AT MIDNIGHT" was incredibly fun.

[Yxklyx]

Old man here so...

Star Wars - actually it might be The Empire Strikes Back that I'm thinking of but both were very memorable experiences - the latter probably moreso.

Aguirre, Wrath of God - Ebert said this was good so i got my best friend to go see this with me and we were both spellbound.

Walkabout - Oh my - naked breasts!

2001: A Space Odyssey- this played across the street at a High School - it's haunted me for ever.

Brand Upon the Brain - Maddin in attendance and live sound effects with a Eunuch in attendance.

Flesh Gordon - I had no idea what I was getting myself into in '74. How did they even allow us in?

Jaws - ......

[Pop Trash]

A few...

My Life as a Dog: my parents took me to this when I was about 7 or 8. It was my first experience both with foreign films and subtitles (I had only been reading for a few years) and also my first experience with an 'Art House' single screen theater. It probably shaped my viewing habits enormously. I still love the film to this day.

Rocky Horror Picture Show: my way cool new wave babysitters took me to see this when I was a kid in the 80s and it was my first midnight movie/interactive screening/counterculture jam. I would say it was my first experience with 'gay culture' but it was the 80s so most dudes were wearing make-up and fruity clothes so I didn't think much about it.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: the film wasn't very memorable but some kids kept throwing popcorn at my head during the screening and I nearly got into a fight with them. Probably my first experience with douchenozzle audience members.

Pulp Fiction: just an awesome experience. I begged my dad to take me and we went the first Friday it opened up in my town. The theater was packed with lots of punk rock looking dudes in the audience. Needless to say, it didn't disappoint.

Star Wars: Episode I: say what you want about the movie now, but this was the theatrical experience of 1999. The multiplex had been sold out for months, but somehow one of my friends managed to wrangle two tickets from one of his friends that couldn't go. We ended up waiting in a line that had to have been a quarter mile long complete with musicians playing and jugglers to entertain us while we waited forever to get in.

[MadMan]

1. Raiders of the Lost Ark: My local cheap theater showed this, and I went with friends. Man when the opening scene hit in that packed theater you could hear a pin drop. There was cheering, there was laughter, the crowd was full of diehard fans who love the movie as much as I do...man I'm glad I got to see it on the big screen as a rerelease.

2. The Dark Knight. Midnight show, packed house, and I went with 8 or 10 people. We took up an entire row. When The Joker did his magic trick everyone laughed and clapped in approval. I'll never forget leaving the theater thinking "Hell yes that was fucking awesome."

3. Jurassic Park. Another re-release. I dragged my best friend to it the night it was aired again in theaters this year, and I was grinning like an idiot while quoting lines under my breather. I love that movie so much.

4. Young Frankenstein: Yes a re-release, but can you blame me for putting them on here? The cheap theater was packed, I went with friends, the crowed laughed at all of the jokes. I can die happy knowing I have seen a Mel Brooks movie on the big screen.

5. Three Kings: First R rated movie I ever went to-my dad took me. I left the theater dwelling on that film, and realizing that I had hit the age where I was allowed to view such movies (although I had already previously seen Clint Eastwood R rated westerns on TV anyways, but those were different in my mind for some reason). Its a reason why this movie is one of my all time favorites.

Oh and there are a bunch more. I could do a Top 20, really. Most of them would be populated with midnight shows, one or two more re-release viewings, and getting to finally see movies from directors I love on the big screen.

[baby doll]

Pickpocket (Robert Bresson, 1959) at Cinémathèque Ontario, Summer 2004. Seeing it on the big screen completely reversed my opinion on Bresson, since I hadn't much liked this film or Mouchette when I first encountered them on VHS.

Liverpool (Lisandro Alonso, 2008) at the Busan International Film Festival, Fall 2008. I was one of maybe three people who applauded at the end, and when I was getting into the elevator afterwards, the woman who had been sitting next to me demanded to know why I liked the film. My lame-ass answer was that it was very beautiful and different from most movies, which seemed to satisfy her.

Goodbye, Dragon Inn (Tsai Ming-liang, 2003) at Cinémathèque Busan, Winter 2009. It's necessary to see this in a movie theatre to get the full impact, given that the whole film takes place inside a theatre. During the same month, I also got to see Edward Yang's Taipei Story and The Terrorizers, and Hou Hsiao-hsien's City of Sadness.

It Happened One Night (Frank Capra, 1934) at Cinémathèque Busan, Spring 2009. This has never been my favorite Frank Capra movie, but it was especially odd to see this with a room full of Koreans laughing their heads off at things that didn't even seem like they were supposed to be funny.

Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks, 1959) at Hong Kong Film Archives, Spring 2013 (digital projection). I always knew this film was funny, but I didn't realize how funny it was until seeing it with an audience.

[Skitch]

Oh man, where to begin...

Swingers: The film caught fire and no one got to see the ending.

Jurassic Park: Went in knowing nothing about it, didn't even see a trailer. Came out upset, because clearly Hollywood will never make anything as amazing as that ever again. Ah the folly of youth...

Sinister: Two guys came in with full army bags and sat down, but made me less nervous than the older woman with swishy pants who sat behind me talking to herself and the screen, and then began pacing back and forth and hovering over my shoulder during the climax.

The Rescuers: The first film I remember seeing in theater as a young boy.

[Lucky]

I've got to echo Jurassic Park. My parents and I saw it three times, first time being on vacation because I remember my grandma being there. I think it's the only time I've been to a movie theater with my grandma. This was also the only time in my life that I had to cover my eyes at the movies because I was terrified. The raptor kitchen sequence.

The only other one that immediately pops into my head is The Ring. Saw it late night opening weekend in a busy theater. The audience was genuinely scared and was vocally responsive. Really heightened the whole experience and made it equally more fun and frightening. This great viewing dulled my future theater horror movie experiences for years. Paranormal Activity opening weekend was as close as I've ever gotten.

[ledfloyd]

Adaptation. Everytime Nic Cage masturbated three or four more old people left, by the end there were very few of us having our minds blown.

Pulp Fiction Seeing this with an audience really helps you appreciate the thrill ride that it is. It completely renewed my appreciation for Tarantino, and then he crushed it with Django Unchained.

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia These three old ladies in front of me were apparently expecting some kind of third act twist. They kept saying "the doctor knows something!" "oh yeah, he's hiding something!" and when it ended they turned to me and said "did you understand that movie?" with confused looks on their faces.

Spring Breakers Because it was.

Citizen Kane Came at the right moment in my life. Also, the first time I made the trip down to Pittsburgh to see a film in an arthouse. Which was kind of revelatory for a burgeoning cinephile restricted to multiplexes and wide release movies.

[EyesWideOpen]

If given the option I would 100% of the time watch a film by myself without other's around so I don't have any positive film experiences that weren't related to it just being a great film. Some negative ones:

From Dusk Till Dawn (during THE scene multiple people threw up including a lady behind me causing me to jump up to avoid her barf. )

A Clockwork Orange (my favorite movie and my theater viewing was ruined by the audience laughing throughout the whole movie like we were watching Airplane or something)

[Kurosawa Fan]

Pulp Fiction - Changed me as a viewer. Truly revelatory experience. Got a chance to take my sister to see it on the big screen last year and it brought back a flood of memories.

The Blair Witch Project - Midnight showing. So much hype going in. There was a fistfight between about eight people in the theater right before the film was about to start. Police were called. Very chaotic, and pushed the level of uneasiness up about 15 notches. I'll never forget the flood of immediate positive and negative reactions as soon as it concluded. Applauding coupled with people yelling profane criticisms at the screen.

Terminator 2 - First R movie my dad took me to see. My younger brother wasn't allowed to come. It was just me and my dad. It has always stuck with me just for that.

Mystery Men - I went with three really good friends. Oddest experience of my life. If one didn't know better, they would have thought all four of us were super high. We laughed our asses off from start to finish. Might be the hardest I've laughed at a film in the theater in my life. Each of us have seen it since then, and didn't find it very funny at all. We were just in the perfect mood that night, and fed off each other. Completely bizarre.

The Island of Dr. Moreau - First film I ever walked out on. I wasn't old enough to drive (months away), and a couple friends wanted to finish it out, so me and another guy walked over to Wal-Mart and goofed around until it was time to be picked up.

[Skitch]

Leprechaun - First R rated film in theater.

The Devil's Advocate - Went to see this lawyer movie to kill some time, came out of a the NOT lawyer movie with mind blown.

[Pop Trash]

The Blair Witch Project - Midnight showing. So much hype going in. There was a fistfight between about eight people in the theater right before the film was about to start. Police were called. Very chaotic, and pushed the level of uneasiness up about 15 notches. I'll never forget the flood of immediate positive and negative reactions as soon as it concluded. Applauding coupled with people yelling profane criticisms at the screen.


I thought about putting this one in as well. Packed house and the only time the theater had trash cans out in the aisle in case anyone threw up from the shakey cams. Lots of complaints it wasn't a "real" movie but I had seen enough avant garde/indie films by that time to get annoyed at that reaction.

[Winston*]

Thought I was going to a normal movie at Disneyland one time, but it turned out they actually shrunk the audience!

[Bosco B Thug]

Signs. Weird, but that shit was scary back then. Theater was screaming.

[ciaoelor]

From Dusk Till Dawn (during THE scene multiple people threw up including a lady behind me causing me to jump up to avoid her barf. )

what scene?

[EyesWideOpen]

what scene?


The first vampire scene where they're in the bar and shit starts going off. Blood and body parts flying everywhere.

[Watashi]

So many.

Whisper of the Heart - How often do you get to see your favorite movie on the big screen? I saw in a packed theater with a bunch of Miyazaki nerds who smiled all the way through. Absolute bliss.

Lawrence of Arabia - Seeing it in 70mm for the first time is definitely the way to go. I don't think I could watch the movie in any other format again.

Star Wars Episode III - Yeah, I was one of those crazy people who lined up 8 hours before to witness the finale of Lucas's epic trainwreck. However what made this so memorable was that the projector burned out 5 minutes before the end. There was a huge riot and I distinctively remember this one guy yell out the Darth Vader "Nooooooooo!" when it happened and I couldn't stop laughing.

A Goofy Movie - You may roll your eyes, but I saw this movie with my mom when it was released when I was going through some tough times (parents just got divorced). It immediately became my favorite movie.

[Watashi]

I can't believe I forgot to mention seeing Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair in theaters on my birthday sitting next to Derek. Good times.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I was working at a theater when Signs came out. Someone was supposed to screen incoming prints as a way of quality-checking. "Someone" quickly became "all the employees," as this was at the height of Shyamalan fever, and the owners went the extra step of turning out every light in the theater. No aisle lights, no wall lights, not even exit lights. It was awesome. Maybe the most intense experience I've had in a theater.

A good recent one was The Cabin in the Woods, because I went with a friend of mine who doesn't cotton to scary movies. I knew a little more about the film than him, but not that much, and I can't tell you how satisfying it was to (a) watch a film so utterly confound my expectations and (b) see my friend completely fall for the movie. In fact, he liked it so much that he later bought the film and invited me over with some other friends to watch it high.

[amberlita]

I saw Eyes Wide Shut while on a first date in college. I don't know what the hell we were thinking. Jesus that was so stupid.

[Gizmo]

I'll echo the sentiments of Jurassic Park. It was the first film that I saved up my own money to go see, and I "took" (he drove, I was too young) my uncle who was on leave from the Navy at just the right time. Everything about that experience was special.

The Addams Family was the first PG-13 film I saw without any parental guidance at a theater, and I felt like such a rebel since I was only 12! I went with my 14 year old cousin while my aunt ran some errands in the area.

More recently, I saw all 3 of the Star Wars prequels at midnight showings, including Attack of the Clones on my wedding night, best man in tow.
In fact the early 2000's were kind of an era of my wife and I going to midnight films: Lord of the Rings 2&3, 3 Star Wars, 3 or 4 Harry Potters, I'm sure there were a couple others I'm forgetting.

[B-side]

I can't say I have any particular experiences that stand out all that much. I don't have a theater near me that plays classics in proper format, so that's out of the question. Nothing I've seen in theaters is anywhere near my all-time favorite films. My experiences have been mostly ordinary, with a few exceptions for walk outs, booing and people shouting profanities and leaving about 15 minutes before Spring Breakers ended. I told them to shut the fuck up and moved on.

[baby doll]

Some other memorable experiences:

Shortbus (John Cameron Mitchell, 2006) in Halifax, Fall 2006 and Busan, Spring 2009. When I saw the film for the first time, the only other people in the theatre were straight couples in their 50s and 60s. When I saw a censored version in South Korea, the lights came on abruptly during the final sequence, which made one feel as though the theatre were trying to publicly shame the audience (mostly young couples), as if to say, "Caught ya, perverts!"

The Man From London (Béla Tarr, 2007) at the Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax, Fall 2007. If you haven't seen Tarr's films on the big screen then you haven't really seen them. (Ditto Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, which I saw at the same festival in 2010.)

Routine Holiday (Li Hongqi, 2008) at the Pusan International Film Festival, Fall 2008. I'd had a coffee before the screening so I was able to keep awake, but it still probably wasn't a good idea to program this at ten in the morning on a Sunday. Incidentally, I've never come across one of Li's films in DVD shops in China--not in Hangzhou, not in Shanghai, not in Hong Kong or Taipei--even though Winter Holiday won the Golden Leopard at Lorcano. And it's not like he's some radical dissident filmmaker, but for some reason, it's really difficult to see Chinese art movies in China, much less with English subtitles.

Once Upon a Time in America (Sergio Leone, 1984) at Cinémathèque Busan, Spring 2009, and Che (Steven Soderbergh, 2008) in Toronto, Spring 2009. I don't think either of these are particularly great movies, but it's not everyday that you see a four hour movie. The Leone was particularly memorable as a screening since every single seat was filled, there was no intermission, and there weren't any walk-outs. (Incidentally, as a general observation, screenings in South Korea are fascistically strict: seating is assigned, no food is allowed in the auditorium at cinémathèque screenings, and when I five minutes late for a festival screening of Christian Petzold's Jerichow, they wouldn't let me in so as not to disturb the people who made it on time.)

Blowjob (Andy Warhol, 1963) and Eating Too Fast (Andy Warhol, 1966) at Cinémathèque Française, Spring 2009. Everything is more memorable if you do it in Paris. Also, I remember there being a steady stream of walk-outs over the course of the screening.

[bac0n]

Return of the Jedi - saw it opening night, May 22nd 1983. I remember the date because it was my brother's 7th birthday, and with me at 11 at the time, we were smack dab in the middle of Lucas' target audience. I remember at the end when the millenium falcon first flew into the tube in the DeathStar, I was like OH MY GAWD!! OH MY GAWD!!!! OH MY GAWWWD!!!

The City of Lost Children - it was the coldest day in MN's recorded history. Work had been canceled, so Spun & I (roommates at the time) decided to trudge through the terrible cold to the local arthouse theatre. It was so cold out, the theatre's heaters couldn't keep up, and I swear, it was no more than 40 degrees inside. Oddly, the cold added to my enjoyment of the film, seemed to fit the cold, drippy atmosphere of Jeunet & Caro's seaside village.

Godzilla vs. The Cosmic Monster (AKA Godzilla vs. Mecha-Godzilla) This is the first movie I remember seeing, and one of my earliest childhood memories. I must have been no older than 4 when I saw it. Needless to say, a lifelong love of daikaiju cinema was born on this day.

LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring I remember precisely when it happened, that I realized I was going to be as captivated and engrossed by this franchise as I was the Star Wars trilogy when I was younger: Right when the Fellowship was approaching Moria.

Those are the four biggies. To that, I would probably have to add The Mask, the day it first came out. Spun & I saw it twice in the same day. Also Godzilla 2000. Sat that in the theatres twice on opening day.

[Bosco B Thug]

I was working at a theater when Signs came out. Someone was supposed to screen incoming prints as a way of quality-checking. "Someone" quickly became "all the employees," as this was at the height of Shyamalan fever, and the owners went the extra step of turning out every light in the theater. No aisle lights, no wall lights, not even exit lights. It was awesome. Maybe the most intense experience I've had in a theater. Ah yes, I remember Shyamalan fever. Quainter times...


I can't say I have any particular experiences that stand out all that much. I don't have a theater near me that plays classics in proper format, so that's out of the question. Nothing I've seen in theaters is anywhere near my all-time favorite films. My experiences have been mostly ordinary, with a few exceptions for walk outs, booing and people shouting profanities and leaving about 15 minutes before Spring Breakers ended. I told them to shut the fuck up and moved on. I haven't even experienced a moderate to massive walkout. My substantial Spring Breakers crowd of gangs of teenagers were surprisingly sedate, outside of one brief mid-film conversation when a girl turned to friend and said, "This movie is weird." Makes me think teens have developed an immunity to any crazy media, what with the internet.

[Pop Trash]

Oh I should mention I saw The Brown Bunny in a theater when it came out. That was the first explicit sex scene I've seen with a crowd. It was kinda awkward. I mostly liked the movie, save for the rather Shyamalan-esque twist at the end.

[Ezee E]

Irreversible is up there for me. I believe the "NR - Adults only" rule being especially talked about for this movie at the theater. I never heard that happening in my life. I bought a ticket, and basically had haunted house warnings set for me. Refunds were not accepted once it gets past ten minutes. Children are absolutely not allowed.

The theater was sold out. This wasn't unheard of at the indie theater on an opening weekend, but there definitely was a nervous energy that could be felt.

The movie started... A few initial walkouts (mostly girls) but it was simply jawdropping. I don't use that word often. I was disturbed, but nothing shook me like that movie. And maybe nothing has shook me like that since either.

[ciaoelor]

I was working at a theater when Signs came out. Someone was supposed to screen incoming prints as a way of quality-checking. "Someone" quickly became "all the employees," as this was at the height of Shyamalan fever, and the owners went the extra step of turning out every light in the theater. No aisle lights, no wall lights, not even exit lights. It was awesome. Maybe the most intense experience I've had in a theater.

the movie theater was made for horror movies

[ciaoelor]

I saw Eyes Wide Shut while on a first date in college. I don't know what the hell we were thinking. Jesus that was so stupid.

Not as dumb as the time I went on a friendly date with a female co-worker to see Jean-Luc Godard's Film Socialism when neither of us knew French.

In fact, before we entered the one-screen indie theater, the owner asked if we knew French. I said, "No but we know Navajo English... yeah

[ciaoelor]

Irreversible is up there for me.

I saw a Saturday afternoon showing of this with... I can only remember an elderly white couple and maybe a few other people. When the film ended I said to the couple, "Well we survived." They laughed.

[MadMan]

And yes all three viewings of the LOTRs trilogy were amazing. My favorite out of the bunch was the third one-when the first fake ending happened, people got up to leave but my friend, dad, and sister sat there because we knew the movie wasn't over yet. That was funny. I almost cried when "Into The West" started playing over the end credits. FOTR was fun because the same friend and I saw it in the morning-when we left afterwards we were blown away and excited about the rest of the trilogy. TTT was viewed with the same friend, my dad, and my sister on opening weekend. We were in a big crowd and were ready to run over the poor usher to get seats. So awesome.

[B-side]

I haven't even experienced a moderate to massive walkout.

Neither have I. Only a few people. Nothing substantial or particularly noticeable save for the aforementioned incident with the young guys shouting expletives before leaving.

[EyesWideOpen]

There was a pretty massive walkout during The Tree of Life. For some reason it was only playing at one of the cheap theaters here and the theater was filled with families, small children,etc. I'm assuming most just saw Brad Pitt on the poster. People started leaving in droves after about the second "creation" scene. It was a full theater and there were probably 20 of us left at the end.

[Thirdmango]

The Bourne Identity: I was the only one in the theater and so I was able to walk around when I wanted, it was very relaxing.

The Insider: My first R rated film in the theaters accompanied by Sven.

[dreamdead]

28 Days Later in an otherwise empty theatre. The surround sound was unnerving as I kept hearing things behind me. That sense of isolation was more powerful than I'd expected, and contributed greatly to the way I think about the film.

Speed Racer was my first date movie with Sarah. I want to rewatch it and assess it better, but I do treasure that viewing a little too much to have my appreciation possibly tempered.

[Pop Trash]

I think the biggest walk-out I've experienced was Fight Club in '99. The theater was half full and I think only about ten people were left by the end. It's so funny to me how popular that movie is now.

[MadMan]

I loved having the theater all to myself when I went to see Drive back in 2011. If there had been any people there talking during the movie or texting I might have gotten thrown out for cussing them out or breaking their phone.

[D_Davis]

1. Return of the Jedi - parents pulled me out of school to go on opening morning.
2. Edward Scissor Hands - first time I ever made out with a chick in the theater.
3. The Fox and the Hound - the last thing I remember doing with my grandpa before he died.

[baby doll]

1. Return of the Jedi - parents pulled me out of school to go on opening morning.I could see pulling the kids out of school for Videodrome (or something else educational), but this just strikes me as lousy parenting.

[Raiders]

United 93 - As soon as it faded to black and I sat contemplating why I didn't care much for the film, a chorus of "thank you" and "we love you" and applause overtook the auditorium and became a pretty overwhelming experience. Removed from politics and even cinematic qualities, it was a very touching display of solidarity... not in the creepy "USA" chanting vibe (though I do imagine if it played today, that would surely dominate the theater in the moments after the film) but of a very tangible chorus of respect and appreciation for what surely was a far more courageous act than I will ever do, and one built upon a level of humanism that made me smile and even cry a little.

Inland Empire - Not because it is the only Lynch film I have seen in theaters first-run, or really even because it was a revelation from a filmmaker I had previously been cold to (and still do not have much warmth towards a few of his films), but rather because it was probably the first (of a very few) showings I have seen in the company of professional critics (most of DC's critic circle was there for this showing). Some lady for a local paper two rows behind me got up about an hour into it, as the rabbits lived out their fishbowl domesticated lives on screen, and audibly whispered, clearly intending to be heard, "fuck this film" and stormed out. A male critic about three seats down from me also audibly whispered before she had left, "have fun with the Cedric the Entertainer film" (a callous comment to be sure) and the entire critical establishment in the theater wiggled as they laughed as quietly as possible.

[Skitch]

I could see pulling the kids out of school for Videodrome (or something else educational), but this just strikes me as lousy parenting.

Are you serious?

[ciaoelor]

Inland Empire - Not because it is the only Lynch film I have seen in theaters first-run, or really even because it was a revelation from a filmmaker I had previously been cold to (and still do not have much warmth towards a few of his films), but rather because it was probably the first (of a very few) showings I have seen in the company of professional critics (most of DC's critic circle was there for this showing). Some lady for a local paper two rows behind me got up about an hour into it, as the rabbits lived out their fishbowl domesticated lives on screen, and audibly whispered, clearly intending to be heard, "fuck this film" and stormed out. A male critic about three seats down from me also audibly whispered before she had left, "have fun with the Cedric the Entertainer film" (a callous comment to be sure) and the entire critical establishment in the theater wiggled as they laughed as quietly as possible.

At my screening, the film burned immediately after Laura Dern's character realized that the conversation she was having with Justin T was somehow in the script. Some thought this was intentional because of how perfectly timed it was, like an homage to that scene in Bergman's Persona. A few people left and never returned. Packed theater otherwise.

[baby doll]

Are you serious?Always.

[D_Davis]

I could see pulling the kids out of school for Videodrome (or something else educational), but this just strikes me as lousy parenting.

I don't think I would have appreciated Videodrome when I was in 3rd grade.

[D_Davis]

United 93 -

Inland Empire - .

Good choices.

I felt completely drained after seeing U93 in the theater. It left me feeling exhausted.

When I saw IE, it was cool because David Lynch was there and I got to talk to him. Also, loved the movie. And it was at a Cinerama.

Another one for me is Saving Private Ryan. I sat next to a WWII vet, and he was crying the entire time. Absolutely moving. After, he told me that the film was closest thing he'd ever seen to approximating the horrors of war.

[Watashi]

I don't think I would have appreciated Videodrome when I was in 3rd grade.

Amateur.

[Spinal]

I don't think I would have appreciated Videodrome when I was in 3rd grade.

I don't know. That's about the level of Cronenberg's social commentary.

[Skitch]

I don't know. That's about the level of Cronenberg's social commentary.

HA!

[D_Davis]

I don't know. That's about the level of Cronenberg's social commentary.

Sick burn.

[Boner M]

Probably The New World, mostly for the same reasons as dreamdead. The only few people in the theatre had either walked out or fallen asleep by the end. I could also hear Date Movie faintly playing in the next theatre, which should've been the biggest distraction ever but somehow added to the experience.

I'm remembered a good quote from Nick Pinkerton's review:


A measure of how good Malick's movie is: a few years from now, when those of us who love it are re-watching it and wrestling with it, we will literally not be able to imagine that it once played on thousands of screens, that it once was writ large simultaneously in Cary, North Carolina, and Middletown, Ohio, and Durango, Colorado.

I had a similar experience with Last Days, which somehow played at my mall's multiplex in Sydney.

[Boner M]

Actually, wait - I'm remembering seeing Distant Voices, Still Lives at the Sydney film fest in '08; the projector broke between reels, and during the wait a group of Liverpudlians in the audience (who presumably lived through the film's depicted era) started singing the songs featured in the film. Beautiful.

[Irish]

I could also hear Date Movie faintly playing in the next theatre, which should've been the biggest distraction ever but somehow added to the experience.

I didn't care for "The New World," but this is a great line, a great little detail of your experience. Love it.

[Sycophant]

My first viewing of The Phantom Menace. It was right after Columbine, and though no one seemed to really expect it, a rumor of a bomb threat on a specific day got strong enough that the administration declared school optional for that day. So eight of us crowded into a five-seat car to go catch a matinee the week after release. Never had done anything like that, and it was a blast.

The five times I saw The Royal Tenenbaums in a dirty second-run theater in early 2002 (mostly at showings where I was one of at most three people in the audience) had a profound impact on my life. I also got to know the trailers before it real well.

Seeing Kung Fu Hustle and Stephen Chow in person at its premier at Sundance in Park City in 2005 with its attendant, like, four hours of waiting with some really good friends, wearing matching Devotees of Chow tee-shirts, was amazing. Awesome. Incredible. Glory. I was giddy to the point of not being able to speak. Pure delight. (Hi, trans.)