Midnight Maddness!

Midnight premiers are one of my favorite communal experiences.  It’s not often you get to sit down with like minded people who are all super fans of the same thing.  There is a heightened sense of excitement and enthusiasm in the room, especially when the film lives up to all expectations.  I recently had the opportunity to watch all 5 Avengers movies in a row leading up to the premier of The Avengers.  That may have been my all time favorite movie going experiences, the excitement and suspense in the room was palpable to all in attendance.

When you get to the end of a Broadway musical or a live performance there is typically applause, something you generally do not see in a movie theater.  At the end of most midnight premiers there is a loud applause when the movie is finished.  I think this is an ovation to all of the people who worked hard to put that film together.  It’s also apart of the fun communal experience everyone feels when something spectacular is seen.  It’s moments like these that bind us together, and make us feel apart of the whole.

I have seen several midnight premiers, and then gone to see the movie in theaters again a few days or weeks later.  I can tell you the midnight experience is much more fun then any of those later experiences.  There is a higher level of reaction by audience members, be it through laughter at just the right times or cheering when the protagonist makes just the right move!  The times I have gone to a repeat showing I have often been let down by the audience, which completely changes the movie going experience.  Sometimes it even gives me a different perspective on the film, and there is often a let down in what was so magical the first time around.

If you have not been there you need to go, positive emotions truly form great impacts on the world.  With regards to how we feel, our outlook on life, and the success of an improv scene; midnight premiers is one place in the real world where you can find a definite outflow of positive emotions.  The summer season is just beginning, and I will take in at least one more midnight showing when the batman returns to the big screen, and I can promise one thing on that night, a positive and highly eclectic movie going experience.

The Dark Knight Rises Trailer #3

Here is the third trailer for The Dark Knight Rises, which will be released on July 20th.  This trailer will be attached to The Avengers this weekend, but was released early to the fans through a fun and creative viral marketing campaign.  As a huge Batman and Christopher Nolan fan, I needed to post it here.  Enjoy, and get ready for Rises!

Meow…Catwoman Picture Released

I am still playing a bit of catch up on the pop culture front, but I wanted to share my thoughts on the release of the Catwoman picture.  Batman is one of my favorite movie franchises, and in looking at past posts, you will know I love and trust what Team Nolan has done for the series.  Warner Bros recently released the above picture, and there has been a bit of backlash from fanboys on the net.  Why does Catwoman not have a cowl, cat ears and a whip, she must not be Catwoman.  Well, I feel you on that but then I don’t.  Nolan is obviously creating a new more realistic world with his bat-universe, maybe with the story line Catwoman is more modern with out the cheesy imagery.  It feels like the release of the first Heath Ledger Joker image where everyone was flipping out because he didn’t have bleached white skin, and we all saw how that played out.  I think Anne Hathaway said it best in her recent interview with MTV News, “What I am happy to say is, if you didn’t like the photo, you only see about a 10th of what that suit can do. And if you did like the photo, you have excellent taste.”   So as we can see, we are obviously not seeing the whole story with this photo.  I also really like how this portrayal models the current character from the comic book featuring the blue high-tech goggles.  So as always Team Nolan, I put my faith in you, I bet this film will be awesome, I bet this adaptation of the Cat will blow us away, now why isn’t it next summer already?

Bane of My Existence – Goes Viral

Viral marketing for The Dark Knight Rises starts with this first official photo of Tom Hardy as Bane!

Christopher Nolan has been making #BoldChoices and knocking the Batman series out of the park since he took over the franchise.  The Dark Knight Rises, just started filming in London, and the whole cast is there: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Anne Hathaway.  Gotham police department cars have been arriving on the streets of London, which probably means shooting will soon move outdoors, and you can guess we will get some fan snap shoots of the characters in costume.  Nolan and the people at Warner Brothers have done an excellent job of getting in front of the paparazzi, and providing the true fans with an exciting viral marketing campaign.

That is what we got on Friday, so let the fun begin.  To start the action, fans needed to tweet the hashtag #thefirerises.  With that your twitter profile picture was added to a conglomerate of pictures creating the first look at Tom Hardy dressed as Bane, which could be found at the website http://www.thedarkknightrises.com/image.html.  As always, love the #BoldChoices Team Nolan and Warner Brothers make with the Batman franchise.  This movie is going to be amazing, and you can feel that momentum with this first image from the film.  Watch out for more viral marketing as “The Fire Rises!”