I watched Spiderman : Far From Home today. The film was fun but the buzz in there was great. The place was packed out, a fact that usually rots me but this time it was Marvel fans just vibrating with excitement. NO one had their phone out, no one was talking, there was no gowl acting, it was just a load of people having fun. It felt rare and what's rare is precious.
Sometimes the cinema experience is a great one.
The mother and her daughters on the edge of their chairs watching the screen in absolute awe during Wonder Woman.
The insane buzz during the first preview showings of The Force Awakens. People dressed up and not caring a jot. The hairs raising on the backs of our necks when the opening scroll appeared and the music kicked in.
The elderly couple who I assumed had bought tickets to Jackass : The Movie by mistake and who howled with laughter the whole way through it.
Seeing the finale of the Harry Potter movies in a screen full of people dressed like magicians. Magic wands and all. Not a euphemism.
Watching a re-release of Scarface and remembering just how camply hilarious the entire movie is. Watching a film like that with an appreciative audience adds to the experience exponentially.
Going to Tim Burton's Batman in the cinema in Roscrea. A theatre designed for 100 had 300 children bouncing around the place dosed up on cola bottles and score coke.
Watching Lady Bird in the upstairs screen in the IFI with about 50 women in their late 70's/early 80's. I assumed they'd be horrified by the language but they loved it.
Rambo. 2008. A cinema in San Jose, California. The bloodlust in the crowd was immense and the film delivered completely. By the end everyone was just in stitches laughing at the buckets of gore slopping all around the screen.
Scream 2. The tension was immense and the crowd was loving it. The car crash scene. If you've seen the film you'll remember what i'm talking about. When it was all over the crowd broke out into manic relief laughter.
The last 5 minutes of Rogue One when we all realised it was going to go straight into the start of Episode IV. The darkness. That laboured breathing. The red lightsaber firing up. The roars of joy in the crowd. The dust that instantly flew into my eyes.
Watching Zodiac in a cinema in San Francisco. Half enjoying the film, half wondering was the auld boy behind me about to carve a mystic symbol into the back of my head.
Getting to see Reservoir Dogs in the cinema when I was 16 and just buzzing about it.
Watching Hitchcock's Rear Window on the big screen in a packed room full of people who'd never seen it before and watching skepticism about an old movie turning into love for a classic. A brilliant way to spend 2 hours.
13 moments that remind me of why I love the cinema. What ones do you remember?
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