Best Movie Going Experiences [Archive] - Comic Book Resources Forums

kmeyers

05-14-2007, 06:32 PM

I know everyone hates to be sitting next to the people talking at a theatre, or cell phones ringing, or crying babies, but what are some of your favorite movie going experiences?

I've had a few that I thought were really cool.

When I saw Freddy VS. Jason, right as the movie was starting(as the opening credits are going) a kid in the front row jumps up out of his seat, starts screaming, and runs out of the theatre. I thought that was hilarious.

In X2 when Colossus made his first armored up appearance, almost everyone in the crowd went nuts.

I saw Star Wars Episode III opening day in Hollywood, and right when the Star Wars logo, and music came on, someone screamed, "YA-HOO!!!" and it totally got me(and the crowd) in the mood and pumped up to see the movie. It was electric.

The Foreigner

05-14-2007, 07:26 PM

I've never had more fun than seeing Grindhouse on the big screen. There was only like 12 of us in the theater, but we laughed through the whole thing and it was an absolute blast.

nervmeister

05-14-2007, 07:31 PM

kmeyers

05-14-2007, 07:35 PM

When my girlfriend gave me oral sex in the vacant back row while watching The Passion of The Christ...............................Okay, I'm lying. I have yet to have an unforgettably fond theater-going experience. Bad Santa is as close as I can get to that.

Ha! That reminds me of when I saw Bad Santa. Some woman stumbled in a little late dragging her two young children with her. She must have missed the R rating, and just saw "Santa," and figured it was safe. Within about 2 minutes she was dragging her kids right back out of the theatre.

nervmeister

05-14-2007, 07:43 PM

Ha! That reminds me of when I saw Bad Santa. Some woman stumbled in a little late dragging her two young children with her. She must have missed the R rating, and just saw "Santa," and figured it was safe. Within about 2 minutes she was dragging her kids right back out of the theatre.Yeah. My dad and stepmom had the same impression when my little stepsister came with us to see it. Lucky for her, she got to see the whole thing though.

DWEarhart

05-14-2007, 07:45 PM

Suicide Kings

I worked for a theater, and was good friends with all of the other people at the other theaters. I got in free. Had some Dr. Pepper. Watched the movie by myself because no one knew what the hell this movie was about - AND - got to skip the previews because the previous night no one showed up for the late showing of Suicide Kings, so I got to see it right from the start.

Awesome.

Thorlief

05-14-2007, 08:02 PM

best, no

worst: Oh a whole lot!

kmeyers

05-14-2007, 08:05 PM

best, no

worst: Oh a whole lot!

I guess that's why fewer people are going out to the movies, and just waiting for the DVD instead.

Atom_basher

05-14-2007, 08:06 PM

i gotta go with grindhouse aswell, it was a great movie going experience

kel25

05-14-2007, 08:32 PM

Easily Hellboy!!! The sound started to glich during the no cell phone speach and got deeper and slower. It sounded like Satan was telling us to turn off our phones and was perfect for a movie called Hellboy.

DubipR

05-14-2007, 10:26 PM

Easy one.

Opening night of Pulp Fiction. The needle scene happens and a female audience member faints. Movie had to be stopped, the medics come in to make sure she's ok. And we got to see the film from the begining again because the management thought it would be the proper thing to do. but her fainting could've been planned.

DWEarhart

05-14-2007, 11:15 PM

Screening Super Troopers.

I built up the film, then I got to screen it at night with my other managers. We smoked one on the roof first. Perfect.

Screening Jason X

We MST3K'd that shit all the way through the credits. It was hilarious.

MikeVic

05-15-2007, 01:04 PM

Grindhouse: Was a very fun movie-going experience. At least until the second movie. A couple of people in the audience yelled out some funny things, and it made the movie even more enjoyable.

Ballistic: Ecks vs Sever: Saw it in the cheap theatre with some friends. Found some parts to be so bad they were funny. Once one started laughing, we all laughed, and I was sweating and hurting from laughing. It seemed like everyone in the theatre was so disinterested in the movie too. Front-row people were talking or yelling the whole time. Some other guy would get up to leave and then come back... it was just all so funny.

There are probably a couple others that have had people shout out stuff randomly that I found funny, but I can't remember now.

It seems like more recently (other than Grindhouse), I've been having horrible experiences though. Crying babies, talkers, boring movies, etc.

Shellhead

05-15-2007, 01:39 PM

I've never had more fun than seeing Grindhouse on the big screen. There was only like 12 of us in the theater, but we laughed through the whole thing and it was an absolute blast.

Same here. I saw it on Easter Sunday, and there were maybe 25 people in the theater. It was one of those fancy new places with stadium seating and *perfectly* comfortable chairs.

Some other great experiences:

1. Tentacles. A bad squid rip-off of Jaws, but the previews included a weird-looking flick called The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Two deranged hippies had a wild time running around the theater during that preview and shouting out weird things. It was foreshadowing of the eventual cultlike fanbase that formed around that movie.

2. Dawn of the Dead. Midnight Halloween screening at the Student Union Building at Indiana University. The theater was literally packed, and people kept shouting out funny comments during the movie.

3. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Another midnight showing at the Student Union, only this time on the weekend before Finals week in the spring. I was very drunk, and so were my friends from Purdue who were visiting. We laughed and laughed and yelled rude things and nobody seemed to care.

4. The Children of the Corn. Late in the movie, one of my friends perfectly mimicked Malachai's weird voice and declared, "Malachai has something wrong with his voice." The girls smoking pot in the row behind us laughed hysterically and we joined in, laughing long and helplessly even though the joke wasn't really that funny.

5. Poltergeist. My uncle took my cousins and I to see this movie. My teenage cousins were sitting on either side of him. Late in the movie, the boy looks under his bed for that evil puppet, but doesn't see him. As he pulls himself back up on the bed, the puppet chokes him from behind. At that exact moment, my uncle grabbed both of my cousins on the back of the neck. They screamed and writhed like they were possessed.

6. Poltergeist. Yeah, same movie, second viewing. A couple of weeks later, my friend Eric got back from Marine boot camp, and a group of us went to see Poltergeist. During the same puppet scene, I grabbed the back of his neck. Eric leapt to his feet as his popcorn and drink went flying into to the two rows in front of us. Fortunately, it was a matinee showing, so the place was fairly empty.

The Zapper

05-15-2007, 02:58 PM

I was a manager at a Regal theater for years, and watching movies with just your friends or co-workers is the best movie watching experience you can get. Of all the movies I watched that way though, I'd have to say Super Troopers was the most fun. Watching it after hours the night before it was released was too much fun. I rarely go to the movies any more though. Even though I can usually get in for free, I just don't like the "experience" anymore.

DonC

05-15-2007, 06:26 PM

If you'll excuse me for being sentimental for a second....

The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. My mom walked up to my school (no small feat for her as she had back problems and wound up needing a wheelchair before she died) and we took the bus to the theater so I could see the movies on opening day. No movie-going experience will ever come close to that for me.

More recently, attending midnight showings has been fun. That's when all the diehard fans are there. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers would have been really funny with all the people sitting there near the end, shuffling, needing to pee, except I was one of them.

Also, Fan Force Cleveland helped out a local theater with people in costumes and stuff for the opening weekend of Revenge of the Sith so the theater gave us a private showing a few weeks later. Like DWEarhart with Jason X we MST3Ked the hell out of movie. That was a lot of fun.

Farrar

05-16-2007, 02:33 PM

my best theatre experience happened to me fairly recently while i went to see spiderman 3 with a few mates. The first happened during the jazz club fight. As Mary Jane got knocked to the ground most of the audience gasped in shock and went silent for a couple of seconds.... which was when my mate decided to yell "GET DOWN" at the screen i think everyone in the cinema started laughing... kinda killed a dramatic moment there. And i guess only a bunch of british teenagers can laugh at the line "I loved your father, and i love you." during a supposedly tender scene...

Gavin Higginbotham, BotF

05-16-2007, 03:25 PM

I think my fave experience is either a toss up between seeing HOT FUZZ or TMNT then 300.

Both visits were with my mate Adam. We'd been stupidly excited about HOT FUZZ for ages due to us both loving SHAUN OF THE DEAD. When the movie started, so did our laughter. I haven't laughed as hard at a movie before and we both nearly died on several occasions due to breathing problems. It was such an absolute high to laugh that much that we both loved it. We even spent the entire car journey home afterwards giggling like children.

As for the TMNT/300 evening... we both sat in the theatre waiting for TMNT to start. Our excitement was ridiculous and I think we were looking forward to it more than the kids sitting all around us with their parents. We're both 25 and looked a bit out of place amongst these kids, but you know what? I didn't give a shit. The movie was so much fun that I wasn't fussed.

Then, we went straight back in and watched 300. The pure "manly" nature of the movie was enough to replenish any lingering feelings from being the oldest kids in the theatre for TMNT. We both sat and cheered and laughed and were in awe at 300.

Both times ruled all.

Farrar

05-16-2007, 03:40 PM

Both visits were with my mate Adam. We'd been stupidly excited about HOT FUZZ for ages due to us both loving SHAUN OF THE DEAD. When the movie started, so did our laughter. I haven't laughed as hard at a movie before and we both nearly died on several occasions due to breathing problems. It was such an absolute high to laugh that much that we both loved it. We even spent the entire car journey home afterwards giggling like children.
.

Hot Fuzz was similar experience for me. I think especially due to the build up during the first half of the film, and then when it just explodes into the massively violent scenes. I think I almost died from laughter at the with the old woman getting dropkicked...

adamthered

05-16-2007, 03:42 PM

It would be Lord of the Rings Trilogy Tuesday that New Line put on the day before Return of the King opened. Only 100 theatres around the country had this event (our theatre sold their tickets out in 15 minutes, only 400 or so were available and we waited in line 5 hours to get them :) ) They showed the extended cuts of Fellowship and Two Towers before Return of the King. The audience was great. Cheering and clapping and crying at different parts of the movies.

I made 3 really good friends for life waiting in line for tickets too. You can't beat that.

Dreadstar

05-16-2007, 03:55 PM

...- AND - got to skip the previews because the previous night no one showed up for the late showing of Suicide Kings, so I got to see it right from the start. .

You don't watch previews? Hell, man, I go to the theater early sometimes so I can skip in and out of the other theaters for THEIR previews before my movie starts.

i_mmmchocolate

05-16-2007, 04:26 PM

My best movie going moments have always been at bad movies.

It's like I can't win when it comes to going to the movies. Either the overall experience is great and the movie is a stinker OR the movie is fantastic and I have a miserable time because of the folks around me.

Sean Walsh

05-16-2007, 06:41 PM

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America was my first "crazy people at a very late showing" experience.

The Brady Bunch Movie was a bizarre and silly experience.

Hulk was seen at a theatre.......frequented by lots of black people. And they were yelling at the screen all night. "Come on! Why is this so damn slow?!?" and other creative comments. Man, they were so right.

Dracula 2000 only for the point where they reveal Dracula is Judas Iscariot - our Jewish friend turned to us (me and 2 other friends, and we were HORRIFIED by that revelation) and asked "Who the *** is Judas?"

Rat Race for the whole Jon Lovitz/Hitler scene. First time I ever literally fell out of my seat laughing so hard.

The co-winners, though, are South Park: Bigger Longer and Uncut and Team America: World Police were ABSOLUTELY AWESOME experiences the first time out (saw sneak previews of both) because the place was just pumped. When I saw them both again the 2nd time, the atmosphere was........good, but nowhere near as great as the 1st. That's when I knew I'd have a great movie experience.

i_mmmchocolate

05-16-2007, 07:21 PM

After some thought, I did see three very good movies and had a great time while watching them:

My Big Fat Greek Wedding- most fun I've ever had with my mom and sister at a theater- lots of laughs

Bend it like Beckham- great movie, half-empty, lots of fun

Gladiator- besides being a fantastic film, the theater was absolutely quiet and no one kicked my seat

Serik

05-16-2007, 07:56 PM

Little Miss Sunshine. Before the movie made it big, my friends and I saw it at this great indie theater in Seattle (The Guild at 45th). The seats are huge and comfy and the theater is great, real emphasis on quality. The theater was laughing the entire time. I don't think I've laughed as hard since.

DWEarhart

05-16-2007, 08:01 PM

You don't watch previews? Hell, man, I go to the theater early sometimes so I can skip in and out of the other theaters for THEIR previews before my movie starts.

I worked for a movie theater for six years. Trust me, after that much time building up, and inspecting the same movies weeks upon weeks upon months, there are alot of things that you don't give a crap about when it comes to watching movies.

My stomach still turns at the scent of movie theater popcorn. We invented 67different ways to eat popcorn, and got sick of them all.

Who needs previews when there's internet?

Sijo

05-16-2007, 08:13 PM

Elegance Liberty

05-16-2007, 08:20 PM

'Hellboy', hands down.

My sister and I almost died trying to get across the street to the Lowes Cinema in Baltimore (on her birthday, no less) and we found out that roughly 75% of the theater /w 'Hellboy' was packed with kids who looked to be around 11-12. Not that it was a gory 'R' rated movie or anything -heck, it's pretty tame compared to other movies in that genre-, but we were -at the time- kinda baffled and exhausted. We were frustated, mainly because kids in that age group are pretty horrid when it comes to behaving in a movie theater, if our time down in Florida showed us anything.

Suffice to say we almost walked out, but given that we were almost made paste by cars -in the frigid cold misty rain- we figured we'd soldier up and watch the movie. (Good idea, since by the time I moved back to Nebraska in mid-May, the movie was out of theaters)

NONE of the kids even acted out line, shouted during the movie and everyone laughed at the appropriate moments. Not even the stoners in the way back rows too, though my sister and I sat way far down from where they were, so eh. There wasn't even any cell phones going off at inopportune moments at all either.

But yeah, in terms of quality, 'Hellboy' certainly was the best movie experience I've had... and probably the only one too, sadly enough.

Your Imaginary Pal

05-16-2007, 08:30 PM

going with a big group of friends is usually a good experience, whether the movie is good or not.

House of 1000 corpses was good for that, even though half the audience left in the middle of it.

I had a fun time seeing Meet The Robinsons with my nephew (8)
it was in 3D and seeing him amazed and enjoying himself brought me back to childhood.

DWEarhart

05-16-2007, 08:34 PM

To me, just going to the movies *is* a great experience. I've always loved everything from getting together with my friends and family to talking about the movie on the way home afterwards. Sadly, these days its harder to get people to come along, they'd rather wait for the DVDs (especially with the pirated versions coming out at the same time as the movie!) :mad:

Anyway, the best movie experience I remember has to be going to see the original Star Wars. I remember everyone being excited to go see it, but I had little idea what it was going to be about, except that it was some space movie. Everything in it just amazed me (and I was a comics fan already at the time, so it wasn't just the fantasy aspects, but how well it was done.) Best of all I remember everyone in my family just going "Wow!" all the way home. :)

Ah, but that was before cell phones, wide screen HDTV, Plasmas, home stereo systems; the home viewing experience has caught up and maybe even surpassed today's movie going experience in terms of technology, and for some people in overall enjoyment. But, the theater is tradition, and I won't slight anyone for sticking with it. Enjoy it. It's your money, do what you want.

I don't go for the pirated stuff, but I do like being able to enjoy a movie at my own pace and in a controlled environment. The average American audience is what turned me (and many more) off of theater-going, as well as the quality of most movies made today. That's why if I do go to watch a movie at a theater, I pick the showing most likely to be empty. It's worked out very well for me.

Transformers: The Movie (1986)

This was an exciting piece of work, and being as young as I was when it came out, watching Optimus Prime and Megatron conduct that thunderous battle scene, and then of course, Optimus Prime's demise - I cried. I fucking cried. Loved every minute of watching this in the theater.

Halloween: H20

In an antithesis of my above statement, the crowd made this movie for me. It was like going to a football game. It's annoying when it's a few people talking all the way through the movie, but when the entire audience is united, stomping their feet as Myers was about to slay someone; that was some intense viewership.

stealthwise

05-17-2007, 12:28 AM

I've never had more fun than seeing Grindhouse on the big screen. There was only like 12 of us in the theater, but we laughed through the whole thing and it was an absolute blast.

Same here, just awesome fun.

I also really loved seeing the first Ninja Turtles movie on second-run at the theatre when I was a kid. Then I got home and we saw it again on VHS, to my ecstatic surprise!

lboinyamouf4sho

05-17-2007, 04:53 AM

so many at the drive in theatre as a kid, teen, and as an adult. it was always so much fun to go as a kid and load up the car with pillows and blankets and watch movies out of the back of my dads car while playing with my toys and eating candy. as a teen it was hanging out with friends, getting freaky with a date, meeting girls, getting drunk, an occasional fight or whatever. as an adult going with the family i started and watching my son enjoy something i did as a kid and doing the same things with the blankets pillows, ect.

such a shame they closed it down.:(

Jeff-E

05-17-2007, 08:20 AM

Dracula 2000, a friend of mine and I went on a double date(we had both been seeing these girls for a while) and we were the only 4 people in the theatre. We both ended up getting head during the movie. An usher walked in looked, saw what was going on, just blurted out "Oh my god!" and walked out. When we were all leaving he handed the girls 2 sodas, the staff that was still there were all staring and laughing.

i_mmmchocolate

05-17-2007, 08:24 AM

Jeff-E

05-17-2007, 08:37 AM

At the same time? That's mildly homoerotic.

I guess that depends on how comfortable you are with yourself. Its not like either one of us was touching the other, and there was a couple seats between us. Either way, it was a movie I will never forget.

Kirayoshi

05-17-2007, 10:40 AM

When I was a kid, the first time I saw Star Wars. By the time my family got to the theater, the only good seats were in the front row. When the Star Destroyer was chasing Leia's ship at the beginning of the movie, as it filled the screen(in Dolby Surroundsound, yet!) it felt like the damn thing was going to park on top of me! That's when I realized this was gonna be the coolest movie ever!

Funniest thing that happened to me at a movie: I was in like for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan with my older brother. At the time there was a lot of speculation regarding the fate of Spock. As we were waiting in line on opening night, the show before us got out, and a kid was leaving the theater with his grandfather. Just as they passed us, the kid said, "But grandpa, you're not supposed to clap when Spock dies!" We're silent for five seconds, then my brother starts laughing, and I'm laughing with him. Still a good movie.

Sijo

05-17-2007, 11:35 AM

Ah, but that was before cell phones, wide screen HDTV, Plasmas, home stereo systems; the home viewing experience has caught up and maybe even surpassed today's movie going experience in terms of technology, and for some people in overall enjoyment. But, the theater is tradition, and I won't slight anyone for sticking with it. Even if I had the money for all the cool gadgets, I would still go to the movies; as I said, it's the whole experience of going out that I care about. And in general, people here behave nicely at the movies... must be a local cultural thing. ;)

DWEarhart

05-17-2007, 12:21 PM

Even if I had the money for all the cool gadgets, I would still go to the movies; as I said, it's the whole experience of going out that I care about. And in general, people here behave nicely at the movies... must be a local cultural thing. ;)

It's also just me. I don't own any of those gadgets either, but I don'tlike being around people unless its a concert or sporting event. My friends and I made it a ritual to go every Friday night to see a movie. We kept it up for a bit over a decade, minus the few variables here and there, but I stopped enjoying the theater experience a few years ago, and have never been a people person. I'm enjoying watching films much more now.

LtMarvel

05-17-2007, 05:58 PM

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie

I saw this in Kansas City...it was a packed house. When they made a Branson, MO reference the crowd went wild (missed several lines of dialogue). Laughed so hard throughout the movie that I never finished the popcorn.

In college, we saw the Eastwood cowboy flick in which he was a preacher... the whole college crowd was deep into the shootout climax...when there was a pause, I shouted "Amen!"...the crowd laughed and several cute girls looked at me...

nervmeister

05-17-2007, 06:32 PM

At the same time? That's mildly homoerotic.It would only get "mildly homoerotic" if he and his bud, both leaned over towards one another while getting head, and toungue kissed for a good minute and a half or longer.

GoGo Yubari

05-17-2007, 08:46 PM

Aggie

05-17-2007, 09:46 PM

return of the jedi and superman 2 because i soaw those at the drive in and that was always fun...but most recently, i'm in the group w/ those who have listed grindhouse because i saw it in an actual grindhouse...:D

Wenatchee the Hatchet

05-18-2007, 02:02 AM

Empire Strikes Back. I was six years old and it came out that year so my dad, brother and I watched it in a theater in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I remember Darth Vader vividly and I remember that as we drove home there was a high tornado risk so I remember it for the drive home, too.

Hot Fuzz was a memorable movie experience. Saw that with my brother and a good friend a few weeks ago and it seemed we were in a theater with a quiet audience but the three of us didn't contain our laughter. I thought the first half was great and the second half was incredible. It's rare that I see a movie and as soon as I've seen it I think to myself, "Yeah, I'll own that."

Fish Sauce

05-18-2007, 02:45 AM

My friends and I got to see a sneak preview of Van Helsing. It was, of course, absolutely horrible, but everyone stayed relatively quiet...

... until the very end, at the scene where Kate Beckinsale's character's ghost or whatever showed up in the clouds as Van Helsing was staring up at them. At that very moment, one of the guys sitting behind us jumped up and yelled "SIMBA! COME BAAAACK!"

The entire audience burst out into cheers and applause. It was marvelous.

Wish I could pull stuff like that here. I can't believe the audiences sometimes.

When I saw Snakes on a Plane me and my friends were pissing ourselves the whole time, and I don't think anyone else was laughing except when one of the characters made a lame joke. It's amazing.