Working In A Movie Theater

You know, some days it's harder to come up with ideas for posts than others.  I have some big ideas for posts, but it's filling in the gaps in between that are difficult.  I always figured it would be easy to find stuff to write about.  After all, I keep up on a lot of news, nerdy or otherwise, I have a rather scary level of knowledge of a lot of things from the 80s and 90s, and I currently still own a lot of stuff that I find interesting.

Some days, however, you sit at your computer and simply stare at the screen, trying to find what grabs your attention.  This is one of those days.  So, I'm going to simply pick something at random and write about it.  Why not just take a day off, you might ask?  Well, numerous writers I've read or heard interviews with have said that the secret of writing is to never stop writing.  If you hit writer's block, keep writing.  If you feel completely unmotivated, keep writing.  If you're sick, write while you can manage without passing out or vomiting.

So, here it is, a totally random article about a totally random thing.




See, normally when I'm in a rush or I just need filler, I try to think of something to share, like a recipe or a video link.  But today even those don't feel like they'd be something to dig up.  Looking around at some of my stuff, I can't help but realize that a lot of this stuff I seem to be holding on for purely sentimental reasons, when they've long since used up their usefulness.

For instance, I have a metal figurine of Darth Vader sitting on my desk, which used to be part of a key chain until the chain part broke.  I got it when I lived in Virginia and worked at a movie theater in the late 90s.  Movie studios would regularly send gimmicks and objects like key chains, buttons, and other gimmick items to try to encourage theater employees to promote their film.

I was regularly in the box office, and I vividly remember them explaining that there were some set rules for being in that position.  They had limits for how far you could be off with your register without getting fired, and somehow I managed to shoot past that record on my first day.  Somehow, I talked them into not firing me on the spot.

We would also regularly get to screen movies the night before they'd premiere (which is quite common at a lot of theaters, though I suspect it's harder now that many advertise midnight showings the same day the film arrives).  However, they would only allow up to three employees to see any film, and the management people would usually take anything that was going to be a "hit."  It was through this process that I got to see Election, Wing Commander, 10 Things I Hate About You (after which I've had a permanent crush on Julia Stiles), Idle Hands (which I only liked for one reasons, and any guy who's seen the movie can tell you what that was), She's All That, Payback, The Thirteenth Floor, Wild Wild West, and a few others that weren't any good.

After a while, I stopped attending the premieres, if only because I got tired of leaving movies I didn't pay to watch and feeling like I wanted my money back.  Of the films I saw, I remember absolutely hating Election, Wing Commander, Idle Hands, Payback, and a bunch of others.  I was mildly fond of The Thirteenth Floor, and I still think it's a bit underrated.

I'm going to admit that She's All That is a guilty pleasure movie of mine, but half of that comes from looking at the cast and going "hey, I know that person, I just saw them in <insert title here>!"  Amusingly enough, the two people I don't tend to say that about are the two main characters.  I still have a huge crush on Rachel Leigh Cook, though.

When I moved up to Maine, I wound up taking a job at a movie theater again, but I once again rarely took part in the screenings.  I remember getting two friends of mine in to see the Dungeons and Dragons movie, and we all left the theater trying to find excuses for it, and trying really hard to say "well, I liked how they did X" or "it was neat to see a Y for those few seconds."

Working at the movie theater in Maine was where I really first learned that some girls you just don't want to have anything to do with outside of work.  Her idea of the perfect evening was convincing guys to let her be a passenger in their car and driving down roads at speeds at least twenty miles over highway speeds.

...I think I've rambled enough for now.  I have a few stories of interesting things that happened while working at the theaters, and stories of supposed movie stars who "reportedly" regularly showed up but I never saw.  I did meet one minor celebrity, though.  But that's another story for later.