i love midnight opening-day showings of geeky movies because it’s one of the few times i’m surrounded by people who happen to be more lame than myself. a timeline of the experience, with zero as the movie start time. (p.s. very very mild spoilers)

1:15 BI (before indy) — we arrive at the theater and the seats are already 3/4 filled. lots and lots of brown hats.
:50 BI — woman gets up in front of the screen and conducts a rousing acappella rendition of the indy jones theme song, sung by audience members. around 20% of theater participates.
:40 BI — bandyk goes to the bathroom.
:33 BI — one of the pop culture trivia slides takes an extra second to load. audience begins to clap in anticipation of beginning of previews/commercials. false alarm! advertisement for DC apartments pops up, and people sigh in disappointment.
:30 BI — on-screen trivia ends (for real), commercials start. woman behind me complains.
:15 BI — previews begin! thunderous applause. first up, eagle eye, starring shia lebeouf. some movie with a cryptic terrorist plot. reception is pretty mild.
:13 BI — “kung fu panda” preview. little/no applause before or after, but i’d definitely see this.
:11 BI — “the curious case of benjamin button” trailer might have actually drawn boos. a movie starring brad pitt as a man who ages backwards? i wonder why ….
:9 BI — nicole kidman and hugh jackman appear on screen. i say to bandyk, “wow, this is a really australian movie.” name of movie = “australia,” by baz luhrman. i swell with pride.
:7 BI — “hellboy 2″ preview draws mild applause, but i’m very impressed. i will def see this opening night. who’s in?
:5 BI — “hancock” trailer is a chuckle-producer, but will smith as an alcoholic superman-like figure? i’ll hold out judgment till reviewers get their grubby hands on it.
:3 BI — cue batman music, followed by another round of thunderous applause. “dark knight” trailer sends crowd into convulsions of joy. by the end of it, people are ready to leap out of the seats. btw, the actual movie hasn’t started.
:1 BI — the “be quiet” message comes on. applause.
0!!!!!! — paramount logo appears. applause
:1 AI (after indy) — logo fades to first frame. applause.
:10 AI — indy shows up. applause.
:40 AI — karen allen appears. applause.
throughout film — applause.
2:03 — movie ends. applause.
2:07 — file out of theater, greeted by a local tv crew out to view all the crazies out at night. wave “hi” to the camera!

how was the movie? it was fine. i recommend it to indy fans with low expectations and people who can still appreciate a solid movie despite a bad ending. 2.5 (maybe 3?) out of 4 stars (but 3.5 for the first hour and a half, and a solid 2 out of 4 for the last 30 min). it was last crusade meets national treasure meets x-files. i have to admit that audience participation may have been key to my enjoyment.

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