Revenge of the Cineasts
I came home (to Broadway, as in "My posse's on...") around 4:30 p.m. I checked on some stuff and then headed out to Wallingford around 5:45.
I arrived at William's at 6:40, and he was a bit antsy since we had yet to eat, and he wanted be in line at Cinerama by 8:00 for the 10:45 show. He'd read that lines at the theatre were quite long (and good seats had got to be got).
I wasn't so sure that the line would be that big of a deal (having never been to C-Rama before, and since it _was_ the second full day of screenings). We went to have pho on Aurora. We then made our way to the theatre well ahead of schedule, even after looking for parking. [William used the Westin Hotel garage, which is open from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m., and it only costs $4. Something for you locals to remember.]
Parking secured, we then stood on the corner of 5th and Virginia for about two and a half hours. There were already 120-plus people in front of us. The line eventually wound down 5th Avenue, with the occasional driver or passerby asking "What's showing?" This was the first night of the Seattle Film Festival, I should point out, and normally there are special events for it at C-Rama.
William's friends Jeremy and Dorothy met us at about 9:30. The 7-something show let out, and we began to wonder why we'd be out in the street (fortunately no rain, and a clear moon) for 40 more minutes. This ended up not being the case, because the doors were reopened at or before 10 p.m.
Once people were inside, they quite literally scurried into the theatre (which is quite nice; I can understand why it's a preferred venue). We had four seats all next to each other and settled in while people kind of nutted up all around us.
I was thinking of going to the restroom and perhaps getting something to eat while William and Jeremy went off to the loo. Dorothy and I chatted a bit, and then the manager came out and began to talk to the people who were right down the row from us. Apparently they were drunk, they'd cut into the front of the line just after the doors opened, and there'd been complaints about their behavior toward other patrons. Some guy in a Vaderish black tunic and cape was getting all huffy behind the manager, who was handling the situation in a pretty straightforward manner.
"I can't make you leave for being drunk, but I can make you leave for being belligerent. So you'll get a refund, and you all have to stand and come with me right now."
One of the guys in this group (three of them and one woman) was sitting there not saying much, and people's attention in the nearby rows was focused on the to-do [The young women behind us were preparing to jump into their seats as soon as these folks got the heave-ho.]
The group wasn't budging, the guy in the Vader tunic was getting more testy, the manager was relating all that he'd heard ("We've gotten 15 complaints about you in five minutes!") and I decided that I wanted to get away from this pre-screening drama. And so off to the loo I went.
Apparently, it was a few moments later that the punching started.
As William described it --when I returned some 15 minutes later, unware of what had gone down -- the manager had reasserted that this group had to leave. The one guy stood up without saying anything, and then he turned around and had at one of the people in the row behind him (one who'd complained earlier, I guess).
"People surged forward from the rows around them," William said, which I took at the time to mean that this guy got bumrushed. He actually meant that people were getting the hell out of the way, although it sounded like a few did jump into the brief fray. After the film ended and I brought up this mini-melee again, William and Jeremy joked about how this guy was about to get a beatdown from a theatre full of Star Wars geeks, and he'd have _that_ story to tell the rest of his life.
Anyway, the funnier bit was that William turned to get my reaction about the beginning of the fracas, thinking I was still sitting there, and when the bantha poodoo hit the fan, he turned to find an empty seat.
When got up, I had said "I'm outta here" because of the gawkerific scene that was developing, and because I wanted to get myself situated before the previews began.
As William continued to express his surprise about my disappearance, I simply said "I had a bad feeling about it," which got a laugh and seemed to have surpassed my earlier, seemingly random response to Dorothy's offer a chocolate chip cookie: "Are those _Chips Ahoy_?!"
I arrived at William's at 6:40, and he was a bit antsy since we had yet to eat, and he wanted be in line at Cinerama by 8:00 for the 10:45 show. He'd read that lines at the theatre were quite long (and good seats had got to be got).
I wasn't so sure that the line would be that big of a deal (having never been to C-Rama before, and since it _was_ the second full day of screenings). We went to have pho on Aurora. We then made our way to the theatre well ahead of schedule, even after looking for parking. [William used the Westin Hotel garage, which is open from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m., and it only costs $4. Something for you locals to remember.]
Parking secured, we then stood on the corner of 5th and Virginia for about two and a half hours. There were already 120-plus people in front of us. The line eventually wound down 5th Avenue, with the occasional driver or passerby asking "What's showing?" This was the first night of the Seattle Film Festival, I should point out, and normally there are special events for it at C-Rama.
William's friends Jeremy and Dorothy met us at about 9:30. The 7-something show let out, and we began to wonder why we'd be out in the street (fortunately no rain, and a clear moon) for 40 more minutes. This ended up not being the case, because the doors were reopened at or before 10 p.m.
Once people were inside, they quite literally scurried into the theatre (which is quite nice; I can understand why it's a preferred venue). We had four seats all next to each other and settled in while people kind of nutted up all around us.
I was thinking of going to the restroom and perhaps getting something to eat while William and Jeremy went off to the loo. Dorothy and I chatted a bit, and then the manager came out and began to talk to the people who were right down the row from us. Apparently they were drunk, they'd cut into the front of the line just after the doors opened, and there'd been complaints about their behavior toward other patrons. Some guy in a Vaderish black tunic and cape was getting all huffy behind the manager, who was handling the situation in a pretty straightforward manner.
"I can't make you leave for being drunk, but I can make you leave for being belligerent. So you'll get a refund, and you all have to stand and come with me right now."
One of the guys in this group (three of them and one woman) was sitting there not saying much, and people's attention in the nearby rows was focused on the to-do [The young women behind us were preparing to jump into their seats as soon as these folks got the heave-ho.]
The group wasn't budging, the guy in the Vader tunic was getting more testy, the manager was relating all that he'd heard ("We've gotten 15 complaints about you in five minutes!") and I decided that I wanted to get away from this pre-screening drama. And so off to the loo I went.
Apparently, it was a few moments later that the punching started.
As William described it --when I returned some 15 minutes later, unware of what had gone down -- the manager had reasserted that this group had to leave. The one guy stood up without saying anything, and then he turned around and had at one of the people in the row behind him (one who'd complained earlier, I guess).
"People surged forward from the rows around them," William said, which I took at the time to mean that this guy got bumrushed. He actually meant that people were getting the hell out of the way, although it sounded like a few did jump into the brief fray. After the film ended and I brought up this mini-melee again, William and Jeremy joked about how this guy was about to get a beatdown from a theatre full of Star Wars geeks, and he'd have _that_ story to tell the rest of his life.
Anyway, the funnier bit was that William turned to get my reaction about the beginning of the fracas, thinking I was still sitting there, and when the bantha poodoo hit the fan, he turned to find an empty seat.
When got up, I had said "I'm outta here" because of the gawkerific scene that was developing, and because I wanted to get myself situated before the previews began.
As William continued to express his surprise about my disappearance, I simply said "I had a bad feeling about it," which got a laugh and seemed to have surpassed my earlier, seemingly random response to Dorothy's offer a chocolate chip cookie: "Are those _Chips Ahoy_?!"
Revenge of the Cineasts
mr damon, 15:17
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