The Dark Knight Marathon
When it was announced on Yahoo that tickets were on sale for the midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises a little over a month and a half ago I quickly directed my browser to Fandango and bought a ticket to the theatre closest to me. $11.75 later, and not $10.75 because Fandango charges a $1 service fee, I had my midnight ticket to the 12:01 showing. During the checkout process I saw an ad for The Dark Knight marathon and told Fandango to let me know when tickets for it would be on sale for it in my area. While going to the marathon had not been the original plan, if the price seemed reasonable and time permitted I would go to the marathon and I therefore kept it on the proverbial backburner of my mind. I had applied for that Friday off as soon as I bought the ticket, since I expected not to get home until after 3am. The time off was approved.
A few weeks later I saw The Avengers again with my mother and two brothers at a theater about 20 minutes away in Roseville. As we left the theater I saw a poster for the marathon and inquired as to the cost. It would be $30. The next day, which happened to be a week away from opening night (Thursday), I called the theater where I purchased my ticket. The young woman on the phone assured me that I could bring my Fandango ticket in and upgrade it. I went directly over to the theater after work and upgraded by ticket for $20. Since the marathon would be starting at 6:15 on Thursday I wanted to get a jump on things and decided put in to leave at 3 that day and was thus approved for it. Every installment of Nolans Batman movies seems to gain an extra 15 minutes of playing time, not that I am complaining about it.
The week passed by quickly. Two days before I was to go see the marathon, Fandango finally sent me an email saying that the marathons in my area were sold out and provided me with locations in other states where I could see it. What happened to the email letting me know it was available in my area? Yeah, it never went out. Thanks for the heads up Fandango. If I hadn’t pursued it of my own accord I would have missed the event.
7/19/2012
Soon the day I had been anticipating for months came. I decided I would take my Zelda backpack with me since my Hellsing bag needed to be cleaned.I loaded all my theater snacks into my lunch bag: peanut butter M & M’s, BBQ pork jerky, two apples, three hard boiled eggs with a bag of salt, cookies n cream goldfish, and two bottles filled with water. I wore my black 20 eye Docs, black slacks, and a nice Hawaiian shirt to work that day. At three I changed my shirt to my “Why So Serious” Dark Knight shirt, donned my black studded bracelet and my bat bracelet. Yes I know, it was just black this and black that. ;-) I moved the snacks from the work fridge into my backpack and was out of the work lot by 3:05pm.
I walked in to the theatre about 3:30, handed my ticket and was directed to the line on the left which already had about 30 people in it. The line on the right on the other side of the theatre had two people in it and was for the midnight showing of the movie. 8 hours before it starts? Now that’s enthusiasm folks! It was mentioned on the theatre web site for the marathon that they would be giving out lanyards and as soon as I took my place in line I looked over everyone for said lanyards and found they had not been handed out. I stayed at that spot standing while those in front of me were either sitting and leaning against the wall or sitting on chairs borrowed from the theatre.
About 15 minutes into my wait a man in his forties, mostly bald with graying hair and his four kids stood behind me. The boys had made themselves a black cape and a tan bat had been sown on the backs of the cape. Each bat looked like it had been cut out by the capes owner so each one was slightly different, with the youngest boys’ cape having a vague look of a bat and the oldest boys insignia looking well more batlike. The youngest had to be at least 7 or 8, the next boy was about 11 and the oldest was in his early teens. The oldest and youngest boy wore a Robin style eye mask. The middle boy had used a metallic colored Zorro mask for his outfit. Their sister wore a blue shirt with the yellow & black Batman symbol on it, she looked be younger than the oldest and older than the middle boy. The boys were sent off a few minutes later to the snack bar with their fathers’ money and each returned with a frappuccino for themselves and their father. I had a vague feeling my wait was going to feel longer than it should have.
I spent the next hour and a half in that same spot conversing with the father and the boys on a sugar high. At some point the father and oldest boy started talking with the people behind him while I got stuck with the three youngest, the two boys which were more or less bouncing off the walls from all the sugar and excitement of the event. I was bombarded with questions and the boys acted out their favourite movie parts, lines included. “Have you seen Ghostbusters? Did you like this part? Have you seen this? Have you seen that?” My responses were limited to “Yes..I was your age when I saw it…yes..no….yes…ok that was amusing..no I didn’t like that. That was ok but..” The movies they started mentioning started getting older and older and I in turn was forced to reflect on my age. I had almost forgotten what it was like hanging around kids on a sugar high. The last half hour of my wait was spent trying to keep up with their questions and I started checking my clock every ten minutes hoping they would let us in soon while saying to myself “just smile and nod or give a shake of your head” The sister had said little to me while we waited and kind of stood a little back from the boys and their craziness. I didn’t blame her.
At some point the theater employees took down the Amazing Spiderman poster outside the theater room we were to enter and put up one for our movie. A couple of them went down the line and started counting people which gave me hope that they were going to be giving out the lanyards at some point. The online ad for the marathon had mentioned that the first 100 attendees would get one which was reason number 2 why I was glad I got there early.
At about 5:30 they started letting people into the theater and handing out the lanyards after we had shown our ticket. I found a spot center of the theater and made myself comfortable. I looked for the boys and their dad and saw them a couple of rows down and on the left. Queue inner sigh of relief. I did not want to be next to them for all three movies. The dad was fine but the boys were a little much. I spent the next 45 minutes reading, listening to music and some of the chatter around me. It should be noted here that I had only seen the first two movie trailers for it so as to avoid anything being spoiled.
Batman Begins started, no trailers, just a warning to turn off our phones. It ran and was over before I knew it, with the audience laughing at all the appropriate parts. The intermission was a half hour and the two gentlemen to my right were kind enough to watch my bag while I made a trip to the loo both before and after the movie. Teri had texted me during one of the intermissions to see how things were going and to see if all the seats had been filled. They had not and there were still about 20 or 30 seats that could be filled and I thought of this especially when I saw the lines and lines of people waiting to see Rises outside our theater room, down the halls and around the lobby. I made sure to also stand up and stretch a bit for a couple minutes before The Dark Knight started. Now I admit I’ve never been a huge fan of The Dark Knight. Ledgers Joker was ok. I’m still partial to Nicholson’s Joker. I still prefer Batman Begins to The Dark Knight. The lights dimmed and The Dark Knight started and again it was over before I knew it as we were immersed in Nolans Batman universe again. A lot of the audience cheered and clapped with the Joker made his first appearance in the movie.
After another half hour break it was time for the movie trailers, of which there was a brief one for the new Superman movie (meh) and The Hobbit (WOOHOO!) Of all the movies I wanted to see this year, TDKRises was number one, The Hobbit is number 2 and The Avengers was number three. So I, like some of the audience, cheered at the start of The Hobbit trailer. Then once more we were plunged into Nolan’s world and I cheered along with everyone else at Rises’ start.
7/20/2012 Spoilers
I was immediately taken aback by how high and reedy Bane’s voice was. I expected a deeper voice but after I got used to that I was okay with it. The rookie cop, Blake, played of Gordon-Levitt also took a little getting used to and I wanted to know more about how he figured out Bruce Wayne was Batman. The way it was presented was kind of sudden and made it seem like Gordon knew too. It was only later in the movie that I learned Gordon didn’t know but Blake did. Another thing that got me was the chemistry between Bruce and Miranda and between Bruce and Selina. The movie didn’t take time to flesh out the chemistry so when Selina got with Bruce at the end it was a surprise. And I figured out who Miranda was as soon as she slept with Bruce. The good one liners and some of the humour absent from The Dark Knight made its return in Rises and it was good to have it back and brought a welcome break from the tension as the problems started piling up. The scene where Bane breaks the Bat as was done in the comics was fantastic! I also enjoyed how Bane wasn’t just a musle headed buffoon. He was intelligent and formidable and disposed of Wayne as though he were taking a stroll in the park. One other thing I really enjoyed about it is seeing how the first two movies really laid the foundation and tied into this one. It was a pleasant surprise to see Raz Al Ghul and Scarecrow in their brief appearances. I mean Scarecrow as a judge is hilarious! In the end everything was wrapped up in a neat little package and I didn’t mind it much at all. At this point I’m making plans to see the movie again within the next couple weeks.
End of spoilers
Our movie ended about 3:15am and I waited an extra 15 minutes for the throng of people to die down. When I left our viewing room, I found the throng hadn’t ended and it was still going. The theater lot was packed with people trying to leave so I played the spectator and watched people dressed as Nolan’s Batman take and others dressed as Joker take photos with other theater patrons. It all died down about 4. The manager on site started kicking people out and after inquiring about getting the one sheet when they were done with it, to which I got a ‘no’ because they gave them to their employees, I made it to my car, and then home hitting no traffic. Traveling home at 4am must be akin to visiting an alien planet because it’s quiet and signs of life are few. I had finished my apples, eggs, and had my fill of the M & M’s during the movies so it was another hour before I wound down and got to bed. I spent that time on Facebook where I gleaned that something had happened in Colorado but not exactly what and I didn’t go out of my way to find out. It was 5am and time for bed.
Was I glad to go to the marathon? Hell yeah! Would I do it again? In a heartbeat! I am even contemplating holding my own at the house once it's released to DVD
A few weeks later I saw The Avengers again with my mother and two brothers at a theater about 20 minutes away in Roseville. As we left the theater I saw a poster for the marathon and inquired as to the cost. It would be $30. The next day, which happened to be a week away from opening night (Thursday), I called the theater where I purchased my ticket. The young woman on the phone assured me that I could bring my Fandango ticket in and upgrade it. I went directly over to the theater after work and upgraded by ticket for $20. Since the marathon would be starting at 6:15 on Thursday I wanted to get a jump on things and decided put in to leave at 3 that day and was thus approved for it. Every installment of Nolans Batman movies seems to gain an extra 15 minutes of playing time, not that I am complaining about it.
The week passed by quickly. Two days before I was to go see the marathon, Fandango finally sent me an email saying that the marathons in my area were sold out and provided me with locations in other states where I could see it. What happened to the email letting me know it was available in my area? Yeah, it never went out. Thanks for the heads up Fandango. If I hadn’t pursued it of my own accord I would have missed the event.
7/19/2012
Soon the day I had been anticipating for months came. I decided I would take my Zelda backpack with me since my Hellsing bag needed to be cleaned.I loaded all my theater snacks into my lunch bag: peanut butter M & M’s, BBQ pork jerky, two apples, three hard boiled eggs with a bag of salt, cookies n cream goldfish, and two bottles filled with water. I wore my black 20 eye Docs, black slacks, and a nice Hawaiian shirt to work that day. At three I changed my shirt to my “Why So Serious” Dark Knight shirt, donned my black studded bracelet and my bat bracelet. Yes I know, it was just black this and black that. ;-) I moved the snacks from the work fridge into my backpack and was out of the work lot by 3:05pm.
I walked in to the theatre about 3:30, handed my ticket and was directed to the line on the left which already had about 30 people in it. The line on the right on the other side of the theatre had two people in it and was for the midnight showing of the movie. 8 hours before it starts? Now that’s enthusiasm folks! It was mentioned on the theatre web site for the marathon that they would be giving out lanyards and as soon as I took my place in line I looked over everyone for said lanyards and found they had not been handed out. I stayed at that spot standing while those in front of me were either sitting and leaning against the wall or sitting on chairs borrowed from the theatre.
About 15 minutes into my wait a man in his forties, mostly bald with graying hair and his four kids stood behind me. The boys had made themselves a black cape and a tan bat had been sown on the backs of the cape. Each bat looked like it had been cut out by the capes owner so each one was slightly different, with the youngest boys’ cape having a vague look of a bat and the oldest boys insignia looking well more batlike. The youngest had to be at least 7 or 8, the next boy was about 11 and the oldest was in his early teens. The oldest and youngest boy wore a Robin style eye mask. The middle boy had used a metallic colored Zorro mask for his outfit. Their sister wore a blue shirt with the yellow & black Batman symbol on it, she looked be younger than the oldest and older than the middle boy. The boys were sent off a few minutes later to the snack bar with their fathers’ money and each returned with a frappuccino for themselves and their father. I had a vague feeling my wait was going to feel longer than it should have.
I spent the next hour and a half in that same spot conversing with the father and the boys on a sugar high. At some point the father and oldest boy started talking with the people behind him while I got stuck with the three youngest, the two boys which were more or less bouncing off the walls from all the sugar and excitement of the event. I was bombarded with questions and the boys acted out their favourite movie parts, lines included. “Have you seen Ghostbusters? Did you like this part? Have you seen this? Have you seen that?” My responses were limited to “Yes..I was your age when I saw it…yes..no….yes…ok that was amusing..no I didn’t like that. That was ok but..” The movies they started mentioning started getting older and older and I in turn was forced to reflect on my age. I had almost forgotten what it was like hanging around kids on a sugar high. The last half hour of my wait was spent trying to keep up with their questions and I started checking my clock every ten minutes hoping they would let us in soon while saying to myself “just smile and nod or give a shake of your head” The sister had said little to me while we waited and kind of stood a little back from the boys and their craziness. I didn’t blame her.
At some point the theater employees took down the Amazing Spiderman poster outside the theater room we were to enter and put up one for our movie. A couple of them went down the line and started counting people which gave me hope that they were going to be giving out the lanyards at some point. The online ad for the marathon had mentioned that the first 100 attendees would get one which was reason number 2 why I was glad I got there early.
At about 5:30 they started letting people into the theater and handing out the lanyards after we had shown our ticket. I found a spot center of the theater and made myself comfortable. I looked for the boys and their dad and saw them a couple of rows down and on the left. Queue inner sigh of relief. I did not want to be next to them for all three movies. The dad was fine but the boys were a little much. I spent the next 45 minutes reading, listening to music and some of the chatter around me. It should be noted here that I had only seen the first two movie trailers for it so as to avoid anything being spoiled.
Batman Begins started, no trailers, just a warning to turn off our phones. It ran and was over before I knew it, with the audience laughing at all the appropriate parts. The intermission was a half hour and the two gentlemen to my right were kind enough to watch my bag while I made a trip to the loo both before and after the movie. Teri had texted me during one of the intermissions to see how things were going and to see if all the seats had been filled. They had not and there were still about 20 or 30 seats that could be filled and I thought of this especially when I saw the lines and lines of people waiting to see Rises outside our theater room, down the halls and around the lobby. I made sure to also stand up and stretch a bit for a couple minutes before The Dark Knight started. Now I admit I’ve never been a huge fan of The Dark Knight. Ledgers Joker was ok. I’m still partial to Nicholson’s Joker. I still prefer Batman Begins to The Dark Knight. The lights dimmed and The Dark Knight started and again it was over before I knew it as we were immersed in Nolans Batman universe again. A lot of the audience cheered and clapped with the Joker made his first appearance in the movie.
After another half hour break it was time for the movie trailers, of which there was a brief one for the new Superman movie (meh) and The Hobbit (WOOHOO!) Of all the movies I wanted to see this year, TDKRises was number one, The Hobbit is number 2 and The Avengers was number three. So I, like some of the audience, cheered at the start of The Hobbit trailer. Then once more we were plunged into Nolan’s world and I cheered along with everyone else at Rises’ start.
7/20/2012 Spoilers
I was immediately taken aback by how high and reedy Bane’s voice was. I expected a deeper voice but after I got used to that I was okay with it. The rookie cop, Blake, played of Gordon-Levitt also took a little getting used to and I wanted to know more about how he figured out Bruce Wayne was Batman. The way it was presented was kind of sudden and made it seem like Gordon knew too. It was only later in the movie that I learned Gordon didn’t know but Blake did. Another thing that got me was the chemistry between Bruce and Miranda and between Bruce and Selina. The movie didn’t take time to flesh out the chemistry so when Selina got with Bruce at the end it was a surprise. And I figured out who Miranda was as soon as she slept with Bruce. The good one liners and some of the humour absent from The Dark Knight made its return in Rises and it was good to have it back and brought a welcome break from the tension as the problems started piling up. The scene where Bane breaks the Bat as was done in the comics was fantastic! I also enjoyed how Bane wasn’t just a musle headed buffoon. He was intelligent and formidable and disposed of Wayne as though he were taking a stroll in the park. One other thing I really enjoyed about it is seeing how the first two movies really laid the foundation and tied into this one. It was a pleasant surprise to see Raz Al Ghul and Scarecrow in their brief appearances. I mean Scarecrow as a judge is hilarious! In the end everything was wrapped up in a neat little package and I didn’t mind it much at all. At this point I’m making plans to see the movie again within the next couple weeks.
End of spoilers
Our movie ended about 3:15am and I waited an extra 15 minutes for the throng of people to die down. When I left our viewing room, I found the throng hadn’t ended and it was still going. The theater lot was packed with people trying to leave so I played the spectator and watched people dressed as Nolan’s Batman take and others dressed as Joker take photos with other theater patrons. It all died down about 4. The manager on site started kicking people out and after inquiring about getting the one sheet when they were done with it, to which I got a ‘no’ because they gave them to their employees, I made it to my car, and then home hitting no traffic. Traveling home at 4am must be akin to visiting an alien planet because it’s quiet and signs of life are few. I had finished my apples, eggs, and had my fill of the M & M’s during the movies so it was another hour before I wound down and got to bed. I spent that time on Facebook where I gleaned that something had happened in Colorado but not exactly what and I didn’t go out of my way to find out. It was 5am and time for bed.
Was I glad to go to the marathon? Hell yeah! Would I do it again? In a heartbeat! I am even contemplating holding my own at the house once it's released to DVD