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Everything started off awesome with us all meeting each other on time. I recall exclaiming to one friend I'm early!! Look I'm a minute early! (I'm often late.) We had lots of time so we walked to the Royal Theatre, bought our tickets, found seats and enjoyed snacks. One friend noted that the crowd seemed different than the normal attendees at Kung Fu Fridays (more about that below).
But it wasn't until the movie was announced that we discovered WE'D GONE TO THE WRONG MOVIE THEATRE!! This brilliant move was accomplished by none of the three of us actually reading any/all of the information about the movie. And none of us knowing the title of the movie! *facepalm* (There's only one screen at the theatre so there's no need to say the movie's title when buying the ticket. Also, we all just assumed it would be at the theatre Kung Fu Friday's are normally at.)
We dashed out of the theatre, popcorn and drinks in hand, and briefly waffled about whether to take the TTC or cab it (we needed to go further west). Since it was 9:25pm and the movie started at 9:45pm, we crammed into a cab. During the ride we munched on popcorn and laughed at ourselves.
As the minutes ticked down we were delayed by the filming of a movie!! Oh the ridiculousness of trying to get to see a movie and being thwarted by the making of another movie! (I believe they were shooting at a diner my friends and I ate at a few weeks ago.)
We convinced the cabbie to take a detour and actually arrived at the correct theatre - the Revue Cinema - at 9:40pm!!! My friend explained our mix-up, so we didn't have to pay again and were able to bring out snacks in with us. Yay!
Much to our amusement we actually beat our other three friends to the theatre!! So they arrived to find us lounging with a half-eaten bag of popcorn as if we'd been there for ages. I'm so glad it all worked out!!
The movie itself was very entertaining with lots of good martial arts scenes, silliness and token white people involved in the evil opium trade. But it couldn't beat the experience of getting to the theatre!!
So the sad news: Three of Toronto's Festival Cinemas are closing, and just recently a fourth one was closed. This means that there will be 3 or 4 remaining independent theatres that show second-run, older and more obscure films (there are a few other independent or smaller theatres that show non-mainstream films but not for as cheap and never as obscure).
It's so sad every time these single-screen theatres are closed because they're one of things that make Toronto a unique city instead of some city with a bunch of big chain theatres (not that those can't be fun). All the single-screen theatres are different and many used to be the neighbourhood theatres back in the days when there were movie palaces all over cities in North America. Every year more and more of them are torn down, gone forever. Occasionally they'll leave the storefront and then build condos or put a Williams Sonoma in it. Since I've lived in Toronto (almost 10 years) I've seen at least 10 smaller theatres close, and it's just heart-breaking. I really miss the Uptown and the York theatres in particular, those are theatres I saw things like the re-released Star Wars movies, The Big Lebowski, David Cronenberg's Crash (It was a continual stream of people walking out), Pirates of the Caribbean, Shine, Bulletproof Munk (Mister Funktastic!!!), In and Out, X-Men (on opening night) and so many other movies I can't remember now.
Um, so this post has gone from silly adventures to sad ramblings about theatres closing down. opps. One more thing: The closings affect Kung Fu Fridays because there will be hardly any theatres for them to be screened at. Kung Fu Fridays are an awesome way to see old and new martial arts films that can sometimes be hard to find even on video and dvd. And you get to see them on the big screen; nothing beats watching a lightning-fast fight in a theatre!
To end on a happy note: one of my favourite Kung Fu Friday memories is watching a Jet Li movie with my BFF who fangirls him and squeeing with her at all the awesomeness on the beautiful big movie screen.
- Mood:
ditzy - Music:Sarah Slean's My Invitation (THE Joey/Pacey anti-prom song!)
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Comments
Oh the ridiculousness of trying to get to see a movie and being thwarted by the making of another movie!
Bwahahahahahaha! Now that is indeed karma ;D
And I use my Tony Leung-Chiu Wai icon in honour of your Kung Fu activities. Not that he's particularly Kung Fu ... but y'know ;)
Tune! :D
Bwahahahahahaha! Now that is indeed karma ;D heeee! So true!!
Yay for Tony Leung-Chiu Wai!!! And he's been in at least two martial arts films I've seen (Hero and Ashes of Time) as well as some other action movies. Your icon is more appropriate than mine! *g*
And I'm loving all the music!! *hugs*
And I'm sorry to hear about the theatres closing down. That type of stuff always gets to me because I am such a sentimental softie. *hugs, not smoothes*
Things like theatre closings get to me as well. I get all nostalgic and sad about it. Even before I lived in Toronto I visited my grandparents here so I have memories of going to theatres with them when I was a little girl, and it just makes me sadder. But I still remember those things even if the theatres are gone. Oh dear, I'm getting all nostalgic again!
*hugs*
It was very fun - and a little bizarre - to be eating popcorn in a cab! The Kung Fu Fridays were always lots of fun, with raffles and silly trailers before the movies.
I've been to a few festivals and theme weeks here as well. They can be very fun! I've seen some excellent films at them. *g*
Popcorn on the TTC would have been fun too!
Similar sad story in Halifax. And London ON. Small theatres, where you'd see things you'd never get in Odeon or SilverCity...
That's so cool that they let you in after you explained. You wouldn't get that sort of thing with Famous Players et al.
And hee for being delayed by movie-making!
You're right, it would be fun to eat popcorn on the TTC!
It's so sad about all the small theatres closing. I expect it's hard for them to compete with the big chains. Even though I understand the financial reality it still makes me unhappy that this happens.
So very true, we totally would have had to pay at a chain.
I'm still very amused that movie-making delayed us! *g*
We have a grand total of one single-screen theatre in Winnipeg. Oh no, wait -- now we have two. At the new one, you can actually order dinner and eat it at tables in the lobby or something. I've never been, but I'll be going there in a few weeks for the premiere of that ultra low-budget film I told you about a while ago. It should be 'interesting.' ;D
Anyway, as I was saying, it's so unfortunate to see the little indie theatres shutting down. It's great to be able to see movies somewhere other than the very noisy and very commercial multiplexes. I hate the seats in those theatres. I think they were designed for people a foot taller than me. *g*
That theatre - where you can eat dinner in the lobby - sounds awesome! You'll have to report back about what it's like. And how exciting that the film is premiering soon! I'm not sure if I mentioned this to you, but I told some friends about it and they were very interested and excited.
There's something so awesome about watching a movie in a smaller indie theatre that the multiplexes can't compare to. And I was totally noticing how the seats are made for tall people when I was watching X-Men III tonight. This week-end was clearly movie-watching themed! *g*
Oh, I shall!
And how exciting that the film is premiering soon! I'm not sure if I mentioned this to you, but I told some friends about it and they were very interested and excited.
You did? Hee. I'm so afraid that the film is going to be terrible. Which is incredibly awful of me, I know. :D If you'd like to see a trailer, I could email you a link to his webpage (I'm not sure how he'd feel about me posting the link publicly - bandwidth and all that...).
Was X-Men III good? I think I'm in the mood to go see a movie this weekend. :D
I would LOVE to see a trailer! My email's cordelia_anne @ hotmail.com
X-Men III was very entertaining and fun. It's definitely not as good as the first two X-Men movies though. But I'm glad I went because I had a good time. *g*
That's what I expected. *g* I think I'll be going to see it sometime in the near future.
I hope the rest of your week-end is very good!
I share your sorrow is losing the independent theaters. My brother and I practically grew up seeing Kung-Fu and Godzilla flicks at the local theater, and the drive-in down the road.
What wonderful movies to watch as a kid. And the drive-in was always fun!!
(Yeah, the Seinfeld characters were incredibly obnoxious -- but that's what made them fun!)