comment #1

dp4m says ...

Jeff - that's exactly how I ended up seeing TDK. I was meeting friends for beer boots over on the Upper East Side, I had just finished up an online conference call and found msyelf with some time and raced into Manhattan from Brooklyn to the shitty UES Sony/Loews/AMC/whatever theater showing it. The crowd was pretty engrossed in the movie, to the point of them telling the mother of the screaming baby in the carriage to "get that kid out of here" (generally unheard of for any theater above 81st street). But I made it to the movie on time, saw the film, had many issues with it but was glad I did it.

comment #2

Carl LaFong says ...

I tried something like that last Sunday, Jeff. Drove an hour to the nearest IMAX screen (Metreon in San Francsico) waited in line 40 min. before the show, and the person in front of me bought the last tix for the day. The two subsequent shows were also sold out.

I've never heard of IMAX screenings still selling out a month after release. Pretty impressive.

By the way, went to see HELLBOY II instead and LOVED it way more than I expected. My only quibble was that Selma Blair's character was kinda underutilized, otherwise it was my favorite tent-pole comic flick of the summer...

comment #3

Kristopher Tapley says ...

I did this very same thing earlier this week. Splendid. And I still want to see it a fourth time.

comment #4

actionman says ...

I need to see TDK on the IMAX before its run is over. Will be my third time seeing it. Very much looking forward.

comment #5

btwnproductions says ...

Twice was enough--once in IMAX, and once at the multipex--and the second time was to oblige a friend.

comment #6

Scott Mendelson says ...

Random thought...

For most of my younger life (at least since I was old enough to drive), I was all about buying the tickets early, getting a big group of friends, and making a big production number in regards to seeing whatever mega movie was coming out.

During November 2003, I was trying to make arrangements to see The Matrix Revolutions on opening weekend. Alas my best friend had already seen it twice at a press screening and then on Wednesday when I was house sitting as a favor for a relative. By Friday night, all of my friends who were in town (I was a year ahead of many of them and thus they were still away at college) had either already seen the film or didn't want to. So, on Friday night, after work, I get home around 8:00pm. Then, I decided 'to hell with it', I just drove to my local theater twenty minutes prior to the show, arrived at the theater with ten minutes to spare, bought a ticket for my self for the 9:15, and just enjoyed the movie.

Point being, it felt so unusual to just see a major movie purely on impulse, without any groups, without buying tickets early, just as casual as can be. After all those years of making every major movie an event, I had forgotten the simple pleasure of just taking in a movie, even a tentpoler, even on opening night, just like a casual moviegoer. Frankly, that's probably part of why I liked the movie more than most people. It just felt so relaxing. And it's one of the little things I've missed in the last year as I became a father just under a year ago today. Now of course nearly every movie becomes at least a minor production.

So, yes, Jeff, do take in the movie just for the hell of it. It's something every film geek should do now and then.

comment #7

MathewM says ...

What's the big deal of seeing Batman this way? You have expectations and you have already seen it.

It's probably impossible for Jeff Wells to do this but the best way to see a good movie is without any expectations. Before it became well known, even on this site, my wife persuaded us to see 'Once'. To me, from the preview, it looked like a typical Indie film. We saw it in a mostly empty theater and came out both thinking it was best film we had seen in years.

comment #8

C-PhreekII says ...

I live 5mins by car or 8mins by bike (which with parking is usually faster in the end) from a nice all stadium Pacific Theater (I always chuckle when their pre-show promo announces "Thank you for making Pacific Theaters your first choice..." because, well, it actually is).

As a film geek, there is something immensely satisfying about being able to see that film is about to start, shrug with a "fuck it, let's go" and being in the seat 10mins later. Having mixed feelings about trailers, I can leave as little as 5mins before showtime. With a little extra time, I can swing by the Trader Joe's halfway there and grab some snacks, especially if I'm going for a double feature.

It's nice to know that even with so many films these days wallowing in varying degrees of suckage, just the ritual of going like this keeps it enjoyable nevertheless.

comment #9

Richardson says ...

"I've never heard of IMAX screenings still selling out a month after release. Pretty impressive."

I can't speak for LA, but in NYC, there's one IMAX theater, and it's on one screen.

That seems pretty stupid to me, but it has the upswing that they can say, "Oh my god, it's still selling out weekend shows a month after release!"

I wanted to see it in IMAX, but it's on one screen and it's two and a half hours long. So the times during the week are 5:00, 8:30, and 12:00. Guess which one of those sells out before the week has started? And on weekends, everything but the 9:30AM and the 12AM sell out. Wasn't worth waiting.

Naturally, the action was terrible in non-IMAX, but it's not like it was any worse than Christian Bale's performance as Batman.

comment #10

btwnproductions says ...

The Hong Kong sequence and the truck flip are the two things that really "pop" in IMAX. Otherwise you're not missing much, though the whole film looked sort of smudged at the multiplex, like the glassy dark-toned textures had been dirtied.

comment #11

Carl LaFong says ...

Richardson, you're right about the limited number of screenings per weekend (9 showings at Metreon), but the reality is that most summer tent-polers loose wind after the second week and the initial buzz wears down, especially the way Warners markets crap. And IMAX is upscale enough in price to keep alot of the mallrats away, so the runs tend to run dry sooner.

I'll give ya an example, last summer I got around to fitting in a HARRY POTTER 5 screening the first week in Augutst, four weeks after release. According to BoxOffice Mojo, the movie had cumed $258mil and should have still been open wide. Nope, 1 screen left at a multiplex in my area that I refused to attend (it's a dump). So, I skipped Potter and waited for the DVD. Also, the IMAX release on that film had already stopped playing, so that option was out, too.

What I was getting at in my previous post was that major studio Summer flix don't really have legs anymore and DARK KNIGHT is an aberration. Four weeks in a top Summer spot is unusual. If Jeff waits until 15 minutes before showtime, he may very well be turned away.

Lastly, Richardson, why does NYC only have ONE IMAX screen!?!? That's krazynutzyinsane. I mean, here in the Bay Area, our population is a fraction of NYC, so it kinda makes sense, but you guys really can support more, donchathink? I'm sorry for ya.

comment #12

frankbooth says ...

The nearest theater to me is fifteen minutes on foot and five by streetcar/bus (depending on how many damn tourists are clogging up the line) and I'll occasionally just decide to go. Get online, check the showtimes, out the door. But you'd have to be crazy to try this for DK in IMAX, even now, unless you want to sit in the first row.

The film does benefit hugely from the format. I saw it in 35mm, and it seemed murky, grainy, even blurry.

This is just a hunch, but I have a feeling that the only way they're going to lure Nolan back for 3 is to let him shoot the entire thing in IMAX. And considering the box-office of DK, they will.

comment #13

Josh Massey says ...

"It's important to be able to see a film on a whimsical spur of the moment basis."

And yet you (and others) routinely spoil movies that have been out for only a week because, hey, we should have seen it by now.

comment #14

C-PhreekII says ...

Excellent point, Josh, excellent point.

comment #15

Richard_Stone says ...

If I'm not mistaken, the next movie to be released in Imax is Madagascar in November. Dark Knight should be widely playing in Imax theaters until then. I would not be surprised they try to boost a little re-release around Oscar season if the movie gets any attention there, although the movie will be out in DVD by then.

comment #16

EOTW says ...

As great as the big money set pieces in IMAX are, I preferred all the quieter moments, particularly the Joker shuffle out of the hospital. I gotta be honest: I saw the film for the 3rd time today. It is getting better and better and it was great to start with. Something in HL's energy is addictive and infects the whole picture. "I'm like a dog chasing a car. If I got ahold of one I wouldn't know what to do with it!"

comment #17

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