The 12:01 Phenomenon

The first 12:01 am show I remember hearing about was the release of Episode One of Star Wars my senior year of High School. I had friends who were camping out at the theater over night. I’ve since met friends in college who slept outside of a theater in Washington, DC for a full week in advance of the show. Despite all the hype, my parents wouldn’t let me go. I had to settle for a 7:00 pm show on opening day. I felt inadequate.

For some reason, missing out on that first midnight show has made me all the more likely to go to them now. In theory, going to a movie at 12:01 am is kind of compulsive. I’m not sure what it is that makes me do it. There are lots of reasons to go to the 12:01 am show: you get to see it before anyone else does and not have to worry about having the surprise leaked by some doting fan discussing it on the street; you’re so excited about seeing it that you can’t bear the notion of waiting until the following afternoon; you have a real craving for junior mints at that hour of day anyway so why not entertain yourself while eating them; you have insomnia; you’re a college/law school/grad school/business school student and don’t have to get up until noon anyway; you’ve been dying to show off your new Darth Sidius costume; or maybe its just that all your friends are doing it. . .

After being deprived of that first opportunity in high school, I’ve developed a penchant for the midnight show. Star Wars Episode Two. Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone. Spiderman. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Fellowship of the Ring. Two Towers. Add to that all the opening day movies: Superman, Return of the King, the other Harry Potter movies, Quantum of Solace, Spiderman Two, Spiderman Three, Cloverfield, Star Wars Episode Three. I know there are others that are escaping me; some worth watching, others not.

For someone who hates crowds, waiting in line, and sitting still for more than 30 minutes at a time, I absolutely love the 12:01 show. There’s something about the excitement of sharing the absolute first show with a theater full of others who are just as excited as you are, if not more. If you’ve never been to a movie in which someone in costume gets up before the previews and acts out a scene from the previews, you haven’t lived. If you haven’t staked out your seat in a jam-packed theater and gotten more entertainment from watching your fellow viewers, you’ve missed out. If you’ve never gone in costume yourself, that’s probably a good thing. And if you’ve never waited in line in sleet and freezing rain, you’re probably far less likely to have caught the cold I did while waiting to see Return of the King.

But if you’ve never gone to a midnight show, I challenge you to this. Pick a movie with lots of hype. Read the reviews. Watch the stars on morning show circuit. Take a look at the action figures lining the aisle at the toystore. Go online and buy yourself a ticket to the midnight show. Get a group of friends who are willing to poke you to keep you awake while waiting in line. Get a thermos of coffee or flask of whisky to keep you sharp while killing the time. Bring a pack of cards, your ipod, this week’s issue of the economist, or whatever you need to bide the time, and settle in for your wait until the witching hour. Watch the sheer giddiness on the faces of the folks around you. Listen to the cheers when the first Fox searchlight graces the screen, and join the thunderous round of applause. Do that, and if you’re not sold, I’ll comp you your ticket.