Midnight Movie Madness

You always remember your first time right?

Mine was in the summer of 2004. A new film by M. Night Shyamalan was opening and people were excited. The audience was electric with people whispering and talking amongst themselves. Some in anticipation. Some just recounting the days events. But everyone was there for the film at that special time. Midnight.

The Midnight Movie is something of a rite of passage for cinephiles. It shows how much you want to see a film that you would stay out late and see it when most people are asleep. Now, it’s not for everyone and some times you just cannot make the midnight show but you should at least do it once. Just make sure it’s for the right movie. I’ve been there for “Revenge of the Sith”, “At World’s End”, “Spider-Man 3”, “Wolverine”, some others and the aforementioned “The Village”. All of which have a pedigree for fans and a history for healthy box office. That’s not so much the case anymore.

Take a look at this poorly constructed image I created from screen caps of the actual movie show times from a local theatre.

Notice anything a bit out of the ordinary? Perhaps that “Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son” is being shown at midnight. Or that “I Am Number Four” and “Unknown” are also being shown at midnight. Uh, what?

I had no idea that there was a groundswell of support for a third “Big Momma’s House” movie let alone enough of an audience to require a midnight show. It is a travesty. I understand that “I Am Number Four” is based on a popular book, so I’ll give it that, but I hadn’t heard of the book until I heard of the movie so that illustrates where my focus is on all things literary. “Unknown” looks like a lesser version of “Taken” but this time they speak German instead of French.

When did these films become worthy of midnight showings? It’s as if the midnight show doesn’t mean anything anymore. The zest is gone. It used to only happen every once in a while for an “Avatar”, “Harry Potter” or “Transformers” and now it seems everybody is allowed entrance to the party when they shouldn’t be. There is no pedigree for any of those films. Am I being a snob for what I deem to be worthy of midnight shows? Hell yes I am because who else is going to protect the midnight show. “Rocky Horror, “The Room”, “Indiana Jones” are films worthy (used loosely for ‘The Room’) of the midnight show for their own reasons. The novelty of the midnight show is being worn thin by the volume of films being shown.

The idea behind the midnight show is to gain support for the weekend and give the hardcore fans the first crack at the product. Whether it’s a film based on comic book, science fiction novel of TV show, or what have you it’s generally reserved for something BIG. Good early buzz = solid weekend box office. Now with the advent of social networking sites the word gets out much quicker so people will (hopefully) flock to the theatre to see the film. Is that really necessary for any of the films listed in that image? I say no. This comes off as the theatre’s attempt to grab more cash by adding an extra show instead of doing it for the fans and having a midnight show. No movie screams BIG in February, especially now.

I guess I’m just upset that a “Big Mommas” movie is being shown at midnight. C’mon man, that’s just ridiculous. When was the last time people actually said “Hey let’s go see that Martin Lawrence movie.” There was a time when I did. “Black Knight”. I regret every single second I sat in that theatre. Why did I see it? I don’t recall. I like Martin Lawrence. He can be extremely funny, but his track record as of late does not reward a midnight show. Especially when it’s “Big Mommas”.

This is the film world I live in now. A world where Liam Neeson, Martin Lawrence and that girl from “Glee” who always seems to be talking like her nose is congested can share a midnight show and it can be considered normal. I have only one thing to say to that: ‘Shit just got real.’