After a very stressful morning and an only slightly less stressful day at work, last night we went to a pleasantly relaxing preview screening at Potomac Yards of Just Like Heaven, a cute new romantic comedy starring Reese Witherspoon and the endearingly-sexy-in-a-"normal guy"-though-not-classically-handsome-or-pop-idol-model-way, not to mention nicely furred Mark Ruffalo and set--and filmed--in San Francisco. The incredibly gorgeous apartment in which much of the film is set and featuring the most stunningly amazing views is, apparently, a real one in San Francisco in which the co-writer used to live.
Jeff had won free tickets to the screening--the movie doesn't officially open until September 16--from the Washington Post Express; we've lucked out with free tickets to movie screenings on a number of occasions, and we've begun searching out other opportunities to enter and win such.
OK, granted we didn't pay for the movie (which I enjoyed, even though it's a pretty formulaic fluffy film), but I still feel entitled to rant about the concessions, since they'd have cost the same even if we'd had to pay the 8 or 9 bucks each ticket normally would cost. Total: $22 for two small, plain hot dogs (yes, I know, but we had to go straight from work and miss dinner), two sodas and a small, incredibly stale popcorn. The smallest soft drink available costs $4.25, and the smallest popcorn $5.50; at these prices, even DC gasoline at three and a half bucks a gallon begins to look like a bargain.
A plus to the evening, though, was the very responsive audience, one of the better in which I've experienced a movie in some time. In fact, the free screenings I've attended have had a better feel in that regard, overall, than the movies I've paid to see. Interesting, that.
Interesting, indeed. The "buffs" are a little more attentive than the normal "see whatever's playing" crowd. Still, movie crowds seem like extensions of American life: living vicariously from a box, whether it's a car or a TV or a movie. It's rare to feel a connection with the mood of a crowd unless it's something live, like theater or music.
Yes, very annoying about price of snacks. VERY. I stuff something in my pocket, but if I forget, I usualy have to get something. Popcorn is SO good at a movie. I think it's a conspiracy!
Joseph and I got to see it early too... personally the message I like to take away from the movie is that career bitches die but boy crazy girls get woken up from their comas.
Weird you mentioned about the responsive audience because I had been thinking the same think about the audience here in Seattle… maybe there ere plants. Like the chick in my screening who exploded “Oh my gaaaaaad� at one of the not so surprising plot twists at the end.