I would like to consider myself a veteran in the “Midnight Movie” world. The majority of  the Midnight shows happen during the summer. I remember the first Midnight show I attended was for Spider – Man 2. The crowd was amazing! Everybody was wearing some type of Spider-Man apparel. I was completely surprised. I always knew that the hardcore people go to the Midnight Show, but I was just not expecting what I saw.

I  found out that Midnight shows are not for every movie. When I saw the trailer for The Day the Earth Stood Still, I thought it would be pretty good. As soon as I set foot in the theatre, nobody was there. It didn’t help that Keanu “Giant Stiff” Reeves was the star in it. That had to be, besides The Happening, the worst movie I ever saw. Wait… I lied, The Transporter was a complete waste of my time. The sad thing about the movie, it was a advanced screening – I WALKED OUT!

For every good, their is a bad. It is understandable to have a blockbluster start off at Midnight. The company wants to make as much money as possible. Movie Companies also knows people will come out. Which brings me to Spider-Man 3. That movie had a lot of stuff going on and as a result it was not a good movie. This is where the beauty of the moviegoers plays a role. Is it annoying when your neighbor talks in the movie? Yes. When they text? For sure. At Midnight though, anything goes. Fans are yelling out comments, you have lazer pointers at the screen, random yellers etc. I can’t remember the number of slurs people were yelling about Mary Jane Watson. That’s the beauty of it, we tolerate it for a Midnight Show. For a regualr screening at 6pm? People will complain, guaranteed.

To set the record straight, you have to be a truly dedicated/crazy person to go watch a movie at Midnight. It’s hard, it’s early Friday morning and you still have to go to work a few hours after the movie ends. You have to also get to the theatre early enough if you want to save seats. People usually go out drinking/eating before heading to the theatre. Lots of factors come into play, hence dedicated/crazy poeple. Everybody is family in the theatre. We all want to be the first ones to watch it and have something to talk about, six hours later. We go for the sideshow: the people watching, the costumes, people camping out, people sneaking food and alcohol in.

I write this because this go round feels different. The Avengers comes out tonight and I’m excited. I and along with everybody else, has not seen a gathering like this before. Sure we have the X-Men, but this is The Avengers. Each had a solo movie leading up to this. The buzz for this movie has been through the roof. I’m anxious for this becauseI want to see  the different Marvel Apparel people will wear. I want to hear how many times somebody has seen the solo movies looking for Easter Eggs. I want to hear the reaction of the crowd once the team Assebles. The Avengers Midnight Show will have a different feel compared to any other Midnight Show. It wasn’t mandatory to put The Avengers at Midnight, I think The Avengers is the first movie to earn that time slot.

Stephone

5/3/2012