Episode III - The Saga Behind The Saga
Sugar Daddy selfishly made plans with his friend Dave to see Revenge of the Sith without me. The nerve! He did tell me they were going to The Pavilions and I could get a ticket on my own and go with them but, by the time I got around to it they were sold out. So, I bought 2 tickets for Steven and me at Esplanade ($10 each!). Then, I emailed my friend Chris to see where she was going and she said the whole group was going to AZ Mills and some of them had been in line since 9:30 AM.
Well, I wanted in on that action so I tried calling Morgan's (one of the line people) cell phone but couldn't get through. I then called the theater and they told me there were plenty of tickets available but I had to go through Moviefone. No problem, I was thinking, until Moviefone (after going through the umpteen steps the automated response system made me do) declared that the show was sold out. I finally called Chris' nephew, Ethan, and he got me two tickets at the box office. At least those were only $6.50 each.
I had book club right after work but headed to the Mills immediately afterwards. As I was walking towards the front of the already long line, I noticed all of the Jedi, Vader, Stormtrooper, etc. costumes. Some people seriously need to get a life. A lot of people had set up mini camps with popup canopies, lawn chairs, TVs, you name it. I went past one group that was projecting the new Star Wars XBox game on a sheet hanging from their popup. I thought, those people are really dedicated.
Walking a bit further...wait, those XBox folks are the friends I'd been looking for. Apparently, they had originally brought the XBox and a TV but then someone else in the line started projecting one of the movies with an 800 lumen projector so Morgan made one of the guys bring over a 3200 lumen projector so they could be better. You gotta love the testosterone.
Around 8ish, they made us break everything down and gathered us up into a close line. The debate began whether to go to a smaller theater where we'd possibly have better shots at great seats or go to a big theater to see it on the big screen. Morgan and Chris debated and Morgan won the coin toss. All for naught because, as they let us into the theaters at 9 PM, we could only go into theaters 7 and 8, both with big screens. Chris was somewhat gracious about it.
We made the semi-mad dash to the theater and starting marking our territory. See, Morgan had like 15 more people coming later so we needed to save a lot of seats. Once we had our spots, Morgan started this whole OCD thing of repeatedly counting and assigning seats out loud. He must have done it at least 6 times and he was mocked greatly.
In the midst of the counting, I have Steven $20 to buy us beverages and snacks. Did I get any change back? Silly me to even think that I would! If you're doing the math, I spent $20 on tickets I didn't use, $13 on tickets I did use and $20 on a soda, hot dog and box of candy. No wonder I can't afford to buy a house.
Right before 12, a guy in the row directly behind us got the attention of everyone in the theater then his buddy proposed to his girlfriend. She tearily accepted. I've got mixed emotions on this one. On the one hand, I thought it was totally geeky because he said something about 'being at a movie in the greatest series of all time' and somehow tied that to the proposal. On the other hand, I'd be totally cool with a proposal on the big screen at a DBacks game. I guess we're just different kinds of geeks.
After a brief stall to get more people through the snack bar, we were off and rolling. The movie started at 12:25 and it was great as I've previously described.
Except for the engaged guy and his buddy who decided to whoop and holler at every little thing on the screen. I'm not talking about just at the beginning but carried on throughout the film. Angela very nicely asked them to keep it down and the response she got was "It's after 12 AM and we're going to make some noise!" I really wanted to say in my outside voice, "Shut the F*#& Up!" but, the guy just got engaged and I didn't want to start a fight with him on that special day...plus, I'm really not confrontational.
The parking lot was a mess as about 3,000 tried to leave at one so I didn't get home until 3:30. The traffic is great that time of day! But, not great enough to get me to come into work in the early AM, ever.
BTW, in Sugar Daddy's theater, the film was out of focus and actually melted in a few places so he missed some crucial moments. I think it was karma for not inviting me to go with him in the first place.
Well, I wanted in on that action so I tried calling Morgan's (one of the line people) cell phone but couldn't get through. I then called the theater and they told me there were plenty of tickets available but I had to go through Moviefone. No problem, I was thinking, until Moviefone (after going through the umpteen steps the automated response system made me do) declared that the show was sold out. I finally called Chris' nephew, Ethan, and he got me two tickets at the box office. At least those were only $6.50 each.
I had book club right after work but headed to the Mills immediately afterwards. As I was walking towards the front of the already long line, I noticed all of the Jedi, Vader, Stormtrooper, etc. costumes. Some people seriously need to get a life. A lot of people had set up mini camps with popup canopies, lawn chairs, TVs, you name it. I went past one group that was projecting the new Star Wars XBox game on a sheet hanging from their popup. I thought, those people are really dedicated.
Walking a bit further...wait, those XBox folks are the friends I'd been looking for. Apparently, they had originally brought the XBox and a TV but then someone else in the line started projecting one of the movies with an 800 lumen projector so Morgan made one of the guys bring over a 3200 lumen projector so they could be better. You gotta love the testosterone.
Around 8ish, they made us break everything down and gathered us up into a close line. The debate began whether to go to a smaller theater where we'd possibly have better shots at great seats or go to a big theater to see it on the big screen. Morgan and Chris debated and Morgan won the coin toss. All for naught because, as they let us into the theaters at 9 PM, we could only go into theaters 7 and 8, both with big screens. Chris was somewhat gracious about it.
We made the semi-mad dash to the theater and starting marking our territory. See, Morgan had like 15 more people coming later so we needed to save a lot of seats. Once we had our spots, Morgan started this whole OCD thing of repeatedly counting and assigning seats out loud. He must have done it at least 6 times and he was mocked greatly.
In the midst of the counting, I have Steven $20 to buy us beverages and snacks. Did I get any change back? Silly me to even think that I would! If you're doing the math, I spent $20 on tickets I didn't use, $13 on tickets I did use and $20 on a soda, hot dog and box of candy. No wonder I can't afford to buy a house.
Right before 12, a guy in the row directly behind us got the attention of everyone in the theater then his buddy proposed to his girlfriend. She tearily accepted. I've got mixed emotions on this one. On the one hand, I thought it was totally geeky because he said something about 'being at a movie in the greatest series of all time' and somehow tied that to the proposal. On the other hand, I'd be totally cool with a proposal on the big screen at a DBacks game. I guess we're just different kinds of geeks.
After a brief stall to get more people through the snack bar, we were off and rolling. The movie started at 12:25 and it was great as I've previously described.
Except for the engaged guy and his buddy who decided to whoop and holler at every little thing on the screen. I'm not talking about just at the beginning but carried on throughout the film. Angela very nicely asked them to keep it down and the response she got was "It's after 12 AM and we're going to make some noise!" I really wanted to say in my outside voice, "Shut the F*#& Up!" but, the guy just got engaged and I didn't want to start a fight with him on that special day...plus, I'm really not confrontational.
The parking lot was a mess as about 3,000 tried to leave at one so I didn't get home until 3:30. The traffic is great that time of day! But, not great enough to get me to come into work in the early AM, ever.
BTW, in Sugar Daddy's theater, the film was out of focus and actually melted in a few places so he missed some crucial moments. I think it was karma for not inviting me to go with him in the first place.
