Describe your favourite movie-going experience of your life

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sammington
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Re: Describe your favourite movie-going experience of your l

Post by sammington »

My favourite so far is a fairly recent one. I lived in a pretty small city, and the cinema was nothing special. It was never a surprise for there to be graffiti and who knows what else on the back walls, for moths to be stuck up in the projector, the aspect ratio to be wrong, the sound to be off for the first 10 minutes or the lights to be left on. You certainly didn't go there for a movie-going experience.
Then my partner and I decided that for The Avengers we would travel for over an hour to go to an IMAX cinema. And wow, that was one of the best and most memorable experiences. I was in complete awe at how beautiful and crisp the image was, how flawless the sound was, how nice the cinema was. It was enhanced by how excited we were about the film, having watched all the others (Iron Man, Thor, etc) in a lead-up to it. The film was fantastic, the 3D was amazing, and the whole experience rekindled my desire to go to the cinema to watch films.

That's not to say I haven't had many other great experiences, but at the moment, that would be the one I'd call my favourite.

ShogunRua
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Re: Describe your favourite movie-going experience of your l

Post by ShogunRua »

There are a couple for me.

Crank 2-

I watched this at a large, trendy, downtown AMC in Pasadena on a random Friday night. I went alone; I didn't imagine any of my friends would like the picture, and besides, my expectations were middling. I had seen the original Crank, and it was simply a forgettable, enjoyable action picture, nothing more.

Instead, what I watched was one of the most brilliant comedies ever made, with action merely used to set up the gags. It was so awesome that I was still laughing at the previous joke by the time a new hilarious event took place. The fact that certain people left the screening, evidently disliking the film's bad taste, made it even better.

When I walked home that night, I felt absolutely exhilarated and awesome, a feeling that would last for eight hours. I felt like I had as a small kid when watching a cool movie, only even better.

Escape from LA-

Went to watch this with my parents when I was 9 years old in theaters. Damn this movie oozed style, especially at that age; Snake Plissken was one hell of a badass hero, and the film was consistently exciting, funny, and well-paced throughout.

As with Crank 2, I was overwhelmed by the film's awesomeness for a long while after I exited the theater.

astrakhan
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Re: Describe your favourite movie-going experience of your l

Post by astrakhan »

There have been a few:

I was about 19 when Apocalypse Now Redux came out. I went to see it one late summer afternoon, it played in the tiny back room of the local cinema and I think there were only 1 or 2 other people in there with me. I found the 3-hour movie captivating, and walked out buzzing when it finished. I still think of that moment as my true awakening as a cinephile.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I saw it in late 2000 at a special avant-premiere screening. Spur-of-the-moment decision, thinking I was pretty clever. It was a full house and the audience gave a standing ovation at the end, the first time I had seen that happen. The film opened nationally a couple of months later and I felt so smug.

Earlier still, I was mid-teens and went to a surprise preview with a bunch of pals on a school night. It was packed. The movie turned out to be There's Something About Mary. Being about 16 we laughed so hard we cried. The film isn't even that funny to me now but I can't ever remember laughing so much.

I still enjoy the cinema but I don't think anything compares to being young and having your first experiences of it.

JooJoo
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Re: Describe your favourite movie-going experience of your l

Post by JooJoo »

Star Wars: Phantom Menace (1999)

I'd list this under favorite movie-going experiences because of the sheer pain and confusion I saw on everyone's face as I left the theater as a lad of 15 or so. Basically the exact opposite of the idiocy of chanting/cosplay that I had to deal with before, and as the movie was even starting, which even at that young age and a less developed sense of respect for film, really annoyed me.

Species (1995)

Not really a 'favorite', but certainly memorable. Saw this one even younger, and with my parents sitting right next to me - for a movie with huge sexual overtones and a naked chick running around for basically half the movie. And with that, the tone for my sexual development over the next decade or so was set.

There Will be Blood (2007)

Deserves mention for being the only film I've paid to see twice in theaters. Nothing particularly memorable about the theater experience other than the level of fascination and wonder it evoked. One of the very few times that expectations were actually met in my film-going life.

Hausu (1977) [saw it in 2009]

I had little-to-no idea of what I was getting into (I think there was like 3 reviews on here at the time, and I don't think I even skimmed it previously). Sheer insanity, perfectly rendered on film, perfectly paced, and just a delightfully bizarre sense of humor. What began as trepidation in the theater grew to mild laughter, and by the end everyone was completely losing it. One of my most organic and natural theater moments.

Spanks
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Re: Describe your favourite movie-going experience of your l

Post by Spanks »

The Cabin in the Woods

I went to this with fellow criticker member CMonster and his sheer joy/booming laugh was so obviously pissing off some of the other audience members that it turn an already hilarious movie into nothing short of a one of a kind laugh riot.

Also, Titanic - because I was 7-years old and that was the first time I ever saw tits.

TheDenizen
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Re: Describe your favourite movie-going experience of your l

Post by TheDenizen »

Hausu is a fantastic flick, would've been great to see on the big screen.

edkrak
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Re: Describe your favourite movie-going experience of your l

Post by edkrak »

Hard to choose a single one, I had quite a few that I remember fondly.

"Martyrs" screening was a great experience. Not because of a film which I found quite mediocre, but people reactions were amazing. With every brutal scene some people were leaving cinema, some literally running out of it. And I loved how nervous giggling from the crowd slowly started to change into gagging sounds near the end of the film. :lol: I think that 2-3 persons stayed till the end with me. I had loads of fun.

"Nekromantik" + "Night of the Living Dead" double screening was also quite fun. It was the first official screening of "Nekromantik" in Poland with Buttgereit present. Needless to say half of the crowd left during first film and director made fun of them after the screening. He was a pretty cool guy to talk, too. I loved it when people started asking him about meaning of some scenes and he was answering like "there's no meaning at all, main actress didn't show up that day and we had to shoot something". :D

Yeah, I guess I'm a weirdo but I just love to go screenings of disturbing films and have a laugh at people who can't stomach them (it's not the only reason ofc, I love such films). Seriously what's the point of going to cinema to watch a controversial film if you're such a pussy that you can't even sit through it.

TheSaberfool
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Re: Describe your favourite movie-going experience of your l

Post by TheSaberfool »

The midnight premeire of "Borat" in my college town. The theater was absolutely terrible: poor projection, small screens, cramped seating. Sold out showing with at least half of the crowd a couple beers deep. The atmosphere was really fun.

Dunder74
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Re: Describe your favourite movie-going experience of your l

Post by Dunder74 »

I got to second base with my girlfriend for the first time in a screening of Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. I had never seen any of the films in theater as a kid, so that experience overall was fantastic.

And I always cry at the end of that movie when [spoiler]Boromir dies; who hasn't seen LotR?[/spoiler] so the entire movie experience was an emotional maelstrom. It is certainly my favorite.

djross
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Re: Describe your favourite movie-going experience of your l

Post by djross »

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Last edited by djross on Thu Jul 20, 2023 8:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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