Most Memorable Movie Theater Experiences!

[Head Mutant]

This is for a new Community Sound-Off article that we're doing — so if you post in this thread, you're giving us permission to use it in the article.

So what we want to hear is: What is your most memorable movie theater experience? Whether it be good, bad, a film that somehow changed your life, stories that you tell at parties about rude patrons, or a simply perfect moment — we want to hear them!

[blinkfan]

I have 5 most memorable movie theater experiences, those being: Rocky Balboa, 300, Ghost Rider, Spiderman 2 and Spiderman 3. Everyone of those (excluding Ghost Rider) were incredible films that I loved from minute 1 to minute 2, and Ghost Rider I walked out of (which I never do) making it a memorable movie theater experience because of that.

[jason]

I work at a movie theater, so I have quite a few stories.

*A woman thought we were playing both Fantastic Four and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer at the same time.

*A man asked me if Harry Potter was playing. This was in December, nearly eight months before the next one.

*I was alone in the box office. It was a weekday in the spring, and no movies were to be playing for 2 hours. I was bored. Suddenly, a woman comes up to my register and buys a ticket (The Nativity Story). Minutes later, the same woman approaches and seems very nervous. Then it becomes awkward.

"Hello Sir, have you accepted Jesus Christ as your lord and Savior?"

Seeing as how I had nothing to do, and I was alone, I went ahead and listened to her for forty-five minutes. "Jesus This" and "Jesus that", I felt awkward, and I was secretly laughing to myself. Eventually, she gives me a bible and leaves. As soon as she does, I laugh at the idea that I could have broken the conversation by saying the truth, that I'm Jewish. Yikes.

*I had to argue with a customer for a half an hour because his fandango tickets wouldn't print out. Then, he told me what movie he bought tickets for and I realized he went to the wrong theater.

*I got a twenty-dollar tip from a random woman on Christmas Day.

*I went to see the Pursuit of Happyness and a guy sat behind me with one of those earpiece phones. He talked quietly for 30 minutes of the movie. Non-stop. Eventually, I asked him if he could stop or step outside. He had the nerve of blaming me for disrupting his movie.

*On my first day, I walked into the movie theater, confused, nervous, and unprepared for anything. Not even 20 seconds after i walk through the door, a man stops me, and at the top of his lungs yells;

"I've Lost my G-D D-MN DAUGHTER!"

Scared, i ran all over the theater looking for her, and thank God i found her pretty soon.

* Our Trash compactor broke on the day "Pirates 2" was released. The next day, I spent 5 hours throwing heavy, smelly bags of trash into the compactor. I was literally SOAKED in soda and other disgusting trash liquids. (Heads-up! Popcorn and Coke mixed together for over a day looks like bean-dip!)

*One of the worst possible things that could ever happen in a movie theater is if someone pulls the fire alarm falsely. Roughly a few days after Christmas last year, the theater was doing better business than ever. All of our shows of Dreamgirls and Night at the Museum had sold out. Everything had started, so it was down time in box office. This is when the majority of the employees take their breaks. It was just me and one other person in box office. For some reason, a little kid pulled the fire alarm. Everyone, including employees had to exit the theater, wait five minutes, and go back in. Then everything went to hell. Hundreds of people went to box office and demanded refunds. It was just us two people, and so, it took ages to process. Usually, when a person complains, a manager has to go into the office and register a readmission pass. Since there were so many people, the manager just had to get out 'The Roll', a giant roll of readmits, thousands of them. The line of people seemed never to end. For nearly an hour, it was non-stop.

*This might not count, but at home, I answer the phone "Thank you for choosing (I legally can't say the name or express any ideas about the chain) ***** Theaters, this is Jason, how can I help you?

I have more, but I have only so much time on my hands...

[StarOpal]

Batman was the first movie I ever saw in a theater. I was so excited and we lived in a middle-of-no-where town, so, one way, was over an hour drive. I remember everything about it, even that there was a Naked Gun poster on the hallway wall leading to our theater.

We went to see Streetfighter with a packed house (if you can believe it) and I don't think I've laughed so hard in a theater. When the movie gets to the point where Raoul Julia is on that computer at the end, you could hear people choking and screaming with laughter. I almost passed out and came out of the movie with a headache. Funniest thing EVER.

While the movie wasn't that great, going to see The Haunting was a great experience. My brother and sister in-law took me for my fourteenth birthday, because my mom had officially lifted the horror movie ban (which I'll be honest, wasn't strictly kept anyway, but it seemed like an important age milestone anyway). There was only one jump in the whole movie, the first time that thing swings out of the fireplace. We were sitting me, brother, sister. My right fist swung out and hit him in the gut and she grabbed his arm so tight he ended up having bruises, along with both of us jumping out of our seats. I'm glad the theater was almost empty 'cause it we couldn't stop laughing for a bit.

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. My brother and I went and the overall night was just wonderful as far as movie experiences go. But there was this woman sitting on my right and by the end she's weeping buckets. Roll Credits. She stands up turns to her husband (?) and yells very loudly, "That's it?!" He's like, "Uh, yeah it's in three parts."

When I went to see X Men: The Last Stand, this woman got up from the row behind us (this time I went with friends) and left during the movie. She came back and sat in our row and, since I was at the end of our group, next to me. Well all of a sudden I'm being grabbed. "What do you think your doing?" I say in a very threatening voice. Her eyes went as big as saucers, horror written out on her face, she couldn't move. Then she slowly turned her head to the row behind us, eyes got even bigger, "Oh God! I'm sorry! Oh God!" She was in the wrong seat! Never seen someone move so fast as when she got in the right place. My friends still bring it up.

Can we post second hand stories? My mother's got some great ones.

[TheOogieBoogieMan]

I saw the Polar Express in IMAX when it first came out with my family. We sit down, and as we're waiting for the previews to start, I hear some guy tell his kids, "It's just like Spongebob!" (the Spongebob Squarepants movie was out at the same time, and I guess this dad didn't want to sit through that junk, much to his kids' dismay). So the movie ends, and the audience starts walking out of the theater, and naturally, a conversation starts up with my family about what we thought of the movie. As a joke, I say in a goofy voice, "It was just like Spongebob!", and I promptly get elbowed by my sis. Apparently, the "Spongebob" guy was standing pretty close to us, although I didn't see him (but to be fair, I don't think I knew what he looked like).

I saw Alien vs. Predator with a friend when it came out. The audience literally consisted of the two of us, in the back row, and one guy sitting alone in the front. This gave us plenty of freedom to laugh and make fun of the movie (quietly to ourselves, of course).

And I know exactly what part of the Haunting you're talking about, Star. I saw the movie in a packed theater, and our collective reaction to that part was like watching people do The Wave in super-fast-motion.

[sarahbot]

I went to see Narnia on opening weekend and was so pumped. I read the books over and over when I was little (and heck, still do). That movie amazed me because it was the only movie I have ever seen where the world looked exactly like I'd pictured it. I was in awe the whole time, like I was a kid reading the books for the first time . . . except when I was distracted by the guy behind me talking to his friends. I don't question why three or four pseudo-gangsters in their mid-twenties would go see Narnia when they clearly weren't interested in it - diff'rent strokes & all that. But when I turned around to ask them to be quiet, one of them loudly told me just what he was planning to do to me after the show if I didn't shut up. Thanks for ruining my movie, a-hole.

When I was younger, my dad and brother would go camping with Beavers and Cubs on some weekends, and it would be just my mom and I. One weekend when I was only 8 or so, we went to go see Matilda, a movie I still love. When it finished, my mom said we weren't going home . . . we were going to go see James & the Giant Peach instead. It was my first ever double feature, and I think it fostered my love for movie marathons and surprises. I only wish I could have comprehended how cool it was that two Roald Dahl movies were playing at the same time.

The midnight screening of Pirates 2 had more energy than any other theatre I've been in. People applauded when the movie started, they waited for the scene after the credits, they sang along to the music. Everyone gasped when Barbossa appeared at the end, and it felt special to know that we were some of the first people to know he was still alive. There's an energy you get between audience and actors in live theatre that's part of what makes them so wonderful, and that was what I felt that night. Just a lot of people really happy to be there.

[StarOpal]

One (sorta) more experience:

They built a mall that had a theater that was closer than the other one (just under an hour one way, huzzah!), but my dad didn't really like going to theaters and my mom hated driving. Imagine our surprise when one Friday, after working a twelve hour day, Mom says, "You guys wanna go see a movie at that new theater?" The three of us get in the car and arrive about 9:00. We watch a movie and us kids are thinking, 'Okay time to go home.' Mom suggests a second movie. We ended up being let out one of the emergency exits because the mall entrance had been closed hours ago. Then we got home after 1:00 am and stayed up and watched another movie on TV. This became a monthly ritual. We'd pick a movie and Mom would pick a movie. Didn't really matter what they were, it was just good time together. Some awesome memories.

[mckyoneal]

First thing that comes to mind is when i was in the 5th grade and saw star wars episode I for my birthday. It was such a happy day; it was the first day of summer, a birthday with good friends, and I was too young to realize how much Episode I blew. On top of all that we saw it in the brand new, humungo stadium seating theaters. Good times...

[sirgallahad2]

For me it was when I went and saw a new movie with my mom. We were killing time in town and wanted to see a movie because we're both movie geeks. Looked through the paper, didn't see anything of interest until I spot a title. "Requiem for a dream" I was a BIG fan of the movie "Pi" and I said, "Hey, that's Darren Aronofsky's new one". Mom replied "I heard Ellen Burstyn gave an incredible performance in that one" we went and saw it... OBLIVIOUS to the film's story or graphic nature. about 2 mind-numbing, soul-destroying, emotionally-taxing hours later, the movie ends. It took us both about 10 minutes to recover from the shell-shock and leave the theater. We're both kind of "death-marching" our way out of the theater, silent, stunned, and thoroughly drained. I look at my mom, throw my arm around her shoulder and I tell her "Mom.... I love you". "Please don't ever take diet pills". My mom still can't even hear the music from that movie without freaking out. I own it now.

[sirgallahad2]

Another good one is when By best friend dan, my sister, and my sister's boyfriend went and saw a movie together when I was about 13. Dan and I sat next to eachother a few rows up while My sister and her fella sat in the back. We were there early so there was only music and talking and the lights hadn't even gone down yet. I hear my sister and her fella giggling and (dear god I hope not) messing around in the back of the theater. I perk up kind of loud and say "Boy.... you gotta wonder what they're DOING back there". My sister replies "Funny... coming from a guy sitting next to another guy in a theater". Right on cue, dan and I look at eachother for a few seconds, stand up, and walk exactly 4 seats a piece away from eachother and sit back down. The audience was roaring with laughter and we had a good time of it.

My favorite thing to do during a scary movie is what I call.... "the scream". At the end of every horror movie, there's one final *JOLT* and then the screen goes black for about 3 seconds, and then the credits. In that 3 seconds there is complete silence. Right when everyone is silent, I let out the most god-awful, butt-clenching, horrible why-god-why scream in human history. I have had an entire theater leap 3 feet out of their seats on a good scream. My friend almost back-handed me, I scared him so bad. I give no warning when I do this.

[deusdragonexx]

Most of my memorable movie theatre experiences take place during midnight movies. Most people, when I say 'midnight movies' think of the premier of a new movie. Well, here in good ol' Omaha, we have a movie theatre that plays cult movies at midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Two really memorable moments happen there.

I went to see Office Space with a group of friends. The theater was packed. The Dundee Theater is the Jerry Springer Show of movie theaters. The have the no talking rule, but no one ever follows it, and this is okay.
So throughout the movie, the audience is shouting quips to the screen in an attempt to make everyone else laugh. So by the middle of the movie, everyone was primed for laughter.
Well, do you remember the scene in Office Space where they destroy the fax machine? The three theater workers ran down the aisle with a fax machine and bats when this part started and proceeded to smash the crap out of it. They got a standing ovation for it.

Another time, I had gone to the Dundee Theater to see The Princess Bride. Before the movie started, the theater had Musak playing over the speakers softly as people were getting situated.
Being the geek that I am, I already had my seats and had somehow managed to find a nice looking girl about ten rows in front of me.
Being the bold geek that I am, I went and started talking to her. Somehow, and the details escape me, we got onto the subject of dancing. Somehow, and I'd rather not give the details, we ended up dragging each other to the front of the theater and dancing to the Musak. The audience gave us a standing ovation amid the laughter.

That's the kind of stuff that happens Midnight at the Dundee.

Honorable Mentions:

At a midnight premier of AVP, during that climactic battle with the queen, when the predator jumps up with his staff and slo-mo rotates in mid air, I yelled "Yo, bitch fist" of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back fame. The audience laughed, but I don't think they were too pleased.

I walked out of a showing of Species 2. I never walk out of movies.

[sarahbot]

sirgallahad2 said:

My favorite thing to do during a scary movie is what I call.... "the scream". At the end of every horror movie, there's one final *JOLT* and then the screen goes black for about 3 seconds, and then the credits. In that 3 seconds there is complete silence. Right when everyone is silent, I let out the most god-awful, butt-clenching, horrible why-god-why scream in human history. I have had an entire theater leap 3 feet out of their seats on a good scream. My friend almost back-handed me, I scared him so bad. I give no warning when I do this.

Somebody did that once at the end of a trailer for (sorry, Lissa) Open Water, and we all freaked. I'm tempted to do this now. ;D

[Ms. Jellybean]

When I have to go see movies, I have to go to Wilmington (which is about 30 minutes away). Well, the first Harry Potter movie had come out and my friend and I absolutely had to go see it. We were standing in an unbelievably long line just to get into the theater and my friend's older sister, who had brought us, spotted Joshua Jackson standing in line behind us. This is when "Dawson's Creek" was still going, so it wasn't uncommon to see the stars around town. My friend and her sister freaked out and started babbling to him. I'd never seen the show myself, so I just shrugged and said hi. Of course, I still like to tell this story to people once in a while, but only to people not from the area. Celebrity sightings have become common for locals, after all, and only those not from this region of North Carolina get at all excited.

Another short memorable movie theater moment was when my grandmother took my siblings and I to see Return of the King. I have a horrible fear of spiders and my sister was unfortunate enough to be the closest thing for me to grab onto when Shelob came on screen. Immediately following the big battle with Shelob, my sister looked at her arm and saw marks where I'd been holding on for dear life.

[mckyoneal]

How in the world could I forget the greatest movie theater experience of all time: Troll 2 at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin. To set the scence: Hundreds of people standing in line for a chance to meet the cast, participate in the documentary "Best Worst Movie Ever", and get a glimpse of one of the funniest movies in existence. The anticipation was greater than a kid waiting around for Christmas morning and the pay off was better than anything jolly old St. Nick could every deliver. Troll 2 has been traveling around the country lately so go check your obscure theater for a chance to go see it, and experience the joy that I have.

[Razzberryfinn]

Reading Sue's Hidalgo review reminded me of when I saw it in the theatre on opening weekend, which was certainly a memorable experience. My mom and I went to see it together, as she was a horse fanatic, and I was pretty fond of Viggo Mortensen myself. We didn't exactly rush, so by the time we got to the theatre the only two seats next to each other were in the second row back from the screen. The subtitles seemed like they were three feet tall, and we had to move our heads 180^o to read them. My chin literally brushed my left and right shoulders (in that order) with each sentence. Also, there is a part where Frank is in the desert race, and we see a close up of his face, and a fly crawls up his nose. I know this because I watched a fly as big as a person walk up a nostril as big as my bedroom. My mom saw it too, and we spent the next couple minutes trying not to giggle too loudly. I liked it, but now I have a permanent crick in my neck from seeing this movie.