Midnighting

As we enter into this third week of the hottest summer month, there's only one thing on the world's mind- not the next trip to the beach, but "The Dark Knight". The movie has been awaited for years, even before the release of its forbearer, speculation was at hand as to when the next installment would arrive. When Batman flipped over a card to reveal the telltale Joker at Part One's conclusion, I vividly remember the audience gasping at the obvious cliffhanger, and the guts it would take director Christopher Nolan to overturn the legendary interpretation by Jack Nicholson in the 1989 incarnation of the superhero franchise. Since that road was first introduced as the intended direction, the hype surrounding the hero has only multiplied after the death of supporting actor Heath Ledger, a perfectly executed viral campaign, the rising career of its leading actor, and the remarkably high quality of  reboot "Batman Begins". Being the pop culture and comic book fanatic that I am, I purchased midnight tickets for this Thursday night almost a month ago today, and laugh and evil chuckle inside whenever I overhear a conversation in which the subject was unable to procure tickets, "like a whole week ahead of time". Filing into my local megaplex in the late hours of the evening is by no means a rare occurrence of mine. Falling a little short of the Z list, it's the closest thing that I have to experience to a movie premiere. Only, I consider it to be a lot more fun. Instead of ten foot dress trains and strangling tuxes, the featured wardrobe is nerd chic, with costumes of related characters both obscure and obvious, and ceaseless chatter about all things in the related universe. I can't accurately remember the amount of "midnighting" that I've done in my lifetime, but more memorable experiences have been at the "Harry Potter" films and book releases, the most recent "Indiana Jones", "Star Wars Episode I" (tragically), "Hellboy 2", "Iron Man", "Snakes on a Plane" and the iphone 3G. While I won't go into the details of all these events, I can write a little regarding the two which stand out for me the most, one for its sheer stupidity, and the other for being something of a life affirming experience.

"Snakes on a Plane"

I can't believe I'm even admitting that I midnighted this one. Truly, it pains me to relate this on a public medium, but on a July night not too long ago, I donned a pair of-get ready- snakeskin boots and a stuffed cobra and set out to view the film that, through its most famous line (all together now)" "That's it! I've had it with this motherf****** snakes on this motherf****** plane!" and its infallibly adorable internet acronym (SOAP). I wasn't really caught up in the entirety of its online hype, only reading about it in publications and hearing about it as something of a watercooler joke among friends. For lack of better things to do, I decided to midnight this odd little movie and see what all the fuss was about. While the movie itself was pathetically stupid, good only for the aforementioned moment and one particularly gruesome reptilian originated homicide in an airplane toilet, the audience had me banging my head at giving my best Herbert Morrison imitation of "Oh the humanity!". Yes, I'm likening the viewers of "Snakes on a Plane" to the Hindenburg. Once the lights went down, the entire theatre filled with hissing mixed with cries of "Whoo! SNAKES!" I'm not done yet. When "the" line was said, the audience actually gave a standing ovation. I only wish this were an exaggeration. Anyway, while I wasn't really expecting that much out of the product itself, it was intriguing enough to see just how powerfully internet hype could affect a movie. But I wasn't thinking about that at the time. I was more concerned with covering my face and hoping that no one from the civilized world recognized me that night. The giant stuffed cobra around my neck would probably be a dead giveaway as to my intentions. On the other hand, last summer, I experienced a midnighter which was a spiritual experience to confirm the purity and goodness of the human soul.

Continued tomorrow!