I can't imagine seeing The Last Airbender with a crowd, I would've been so heartbroken. I saw it in an empty theater, and I remember it was when I was already into the idea of writing reviews and I got so bored and disappointed that I started writing notes about it on my phone partway through.
All of these stories feel so very on brand for you, although I'm sorry theaters are a hotspot for blackouts for you! I especially love your prom story, I have a similar one. My friends and I went together and after prom we went to the store to get Ben & Jerrys, and did a model walk down the aisles in our gowns. Then we ran home to watch the SNL finale at my friend's cousin's house, also still in our dresses. It was genuinely such a great night!
I, too, saw No Way Home in a packed theatre and nothing will ever top that experience. There's something about seeing a movie like that with a crowd that is just so into everything that's happening - a true collective experience you cannot replicate in your home.
One of my favourite movie viewing experiences in a theatre was seeing one of my favourite movies - Jupiter Ascending - in an almost empty screening, very late at night, with my very best friend. The movie, objectively not very good but really very fun, was secondary to spending two hours sitting next to my friend in the dark hollering with laughter at everything that happened on that screen. I think about that every time I watch JA, which is more often than I likely should.
Outside of a theatre, I have vivid memories of the first time I watched Children of Men at home, alone, while my partner was at work soon after it had released for home viewing. I had put the movie on knowing nothing about it except that Clive Owen was in it. It has since become a movie I revisit at least once a year, and every time I finish it, I come out of the experience briefly shattered by the continuing prescience of the story and the gorgeous filmmaking that combine to make that movie one of the most quietly devastating films I've ever seen.
I love that Jupiter Ascending story. I have a similar story about seeing Cabin in the Woods for the first time with a high school friend. We don't keep in touch much anymore, but I think I'll always remember how it felt to be screaming and cheering and laughing along to that movie with her.
I need to revisit Children of Men, but descriptions like this let me know I need to set aside some time for it to take over my emotions when I do. I watched it once and really liked it, but I think I was too young for it to fully resonate.
I also love how you have strong memories of seeing something with a crowd and all alone. Both ways can be so meaningful! It's a little bit of both, but I really like when I see a movie with a crowd but am able to feel like it reached out and touched me in particular, so I find myself walking out of the theater and looking for a quiet place to process away from everyone. Parasite and A Ghost Story both felt that way for me.
I can't imagine seeing The Last Airbender with a crowd, I would've been so heartbroken. I saw it in an empty theater, and I remember it was when I was already into the idea of writing reviews and I got so bored and disappointed that I started writing notes about it on my phone partway through.
All of these stories feel so very on brand for you, although I'm sorry theaters are a hotspot for blackouts for you! I especially love your prom story, I have a similar one. My friends and I went together and after prom we went to the store to get Ben & Jerrys, and did a model walk down the aisles in our gowns. Then we ran home to watch the SNL finale at my friend's cousin's house, also still in our dresses. It was genuinely such a great night!
I, too, saw No Way Home in a packed theatre and nothing will ever top that experience. There's something about seeing a movie like that with a crowd that is just so into everything that's happening - a true collective experience you cannot replicate in your home.
One of my favourite movie viewing experiences in a theatre was seeing one of my favourite movies - Jupiter Ascending - in an almost empty screening, very late at night, with my very best friend. The movie, objectively not very good but really very fun, was secondary to spending two hours sitting next to my friend in the dark hollering with laughter at everything that happened on that screen. I think about that every time I watch JA, which is more often than I likely should.
Outside of a theatre, I have vivid memories of the first time I watched Children of Men at home, alone, while my partner was at work soon after it had released for home viewing. I had put the movie on knowing nothing about it except that Clive Owen was in it. It has since become a movie I revisit at least once a year, and every time I finish it, I come out of the experience briefly shattered by the continuing prescience of the story and the gorgeous filmmaking that combine to make that movie one of the most quietly devastating films I've ever seen.
I love that Jupiter Ascending story. I have a similar story about seeing Cabin in the Woods for the first time with a high school friend. We don't keep in touch much anymore, but I think I'll always remember how it felt to be screaming and cheering and laughing along to that movie with her.
I need to revisit Children of Men, but descriptions like this let me know I need to set aside some time for it to take over my emotions when I do. I watched it once and really liked it, but I think I was too young for it to fully resonate.
I also love how you have strong memories of seeing something with a crowd and all alone. Both ways can be so meaningful! It's a little bit of both, but I really like when I see a movie with a crowd but am able to feel like it reached out and touched me in particular, so I find myself walking out of the theater and looking for a quiet place to process away from everyone. Parasite and A Ghost Story both felt that way for me.