WIL WHEATON dot NET: 1.5

Wow! First post! That's exactly where we're headed, after we watch the First-Born do Shakespeare--and I helped with make-up! :D

Movies get even better when people TRANSLATE the fscking movie to someone else. Thats one of the many reasons I LEAVE LA AREA to go see a movie.. It's well worth the 30 minute drive to see a movie in a theatre in complete silence. I've seen 2 movies in the last month, all out of LA.. previous to that.. The last movie I saw in theatres was feb I think.. I feel your pain Wil..

That is a very cool parently thing to do. I think all parents should try to do spontaneous, joyful activities with their kids like that, whenever they get the chance. It's like a random act of kindness. School is great, but it isn't sacred. :)

Yeah, I know how you feel, Wil. It's sooo rediculous how much people talk.

Anyway, glad you got a break in, and glad you're having fun! I'm sure your kids yet again think of you as their hero.

Pull your kids out of school to go see a movie? Fantastic! I like your style, Wil.

Even worse than chattering people, I think, are the screaming infants whose parents don't see fit to remove from the screen room. Grr. But the talkers are just as annoying, really, just in a different way. Bleh.

Luckily, when the BF and I went to see Chamber of Secrets on the 8th, the audience was blessedly quiet except for laughter. ^.^

Wil! the answer is ARCLIGHT!!! Have you been there yet? Sure the tickets are $11 rather than $9 but it's a MILLION times better than anything. No talking, no walking in later, super comfy seats, all over it's an AMAZING way to see a movie, I try not to go anyplace else now, I'm spoiled.

Kudos Wil on pulling your kids out of school to spend some spontaneous family time with them. This will be a memory you will all talk about when they are much older.

School = intellectual death, anyway.

Cheers!

Thought for the day.. hmm. Sounds like my kind of thought. :P

Oh and Wil, make sure your kids have a good excuse to tell their teachers Monday about being pulled out of school. "Our friend Harry was in trouble" would be a bit suspicious.

Look. Number 11. Highest for me ever. That was cool to take you kids out of school for a movie. Wish that would happen to me, oh well.

I haven't seen that yet. I was a little afraid too though because I didn't know the whole soap opera that went along with it.

I went to see HP right after school today, and I must say, that seeing a movie here in the midwest must be a totally different experience than CA. There was no talking in the theatre, there never is here. See, you just live in the wrong area of the country for manners. LOL (oh boy am I going to get email on that one.)
I personally thought the new movie was better than the first one. I loved it

I assume you will be doing the same thing with "Two Towers".

I'm not picky about many things, and I don't have many pet peeves, but nothing irks me more than people who talk in the movie theater. Especially if they're my friends and the person they're talking to is me.

Someone said:
"Kudos Wil on pulling your kids out of school to spend some spontaneous family time with them. This will be a memory you will all talk about when they are much older."

Right... like when they're 17 and they're skipping school habitually because they got this idea from somewhere that it was OK to lie your way out of commitments just to have a good time. Personally I don't see why surprising your kids on the weekend with something like this wouldn't be similarly memorable, but without the deviousness. I do see the fun factor involved here... but if you have to go to this extreme to surprise your kids or make something memorable... what will you have to do next time?

It's time to bring back ushers. Ushers in each screening room of the multiplex, empowered to ask people to leave with their screaming babies, to ask people to take their calls outside, to confiscate phones...

Well, I happen to be a teacher in Pasadena, and I have no problem with your little surprise for your kids today. Truthfully, not that much gets accomplished on Friday afternoons anyway. And the students I have that have close relationships with their parents are easier to deal with than the others anyway.

Wil, I assume you know you are using Tolkien's works.

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

Nice thought though.

Silly wadetemp... I guess it's been a long week for you. I'm sure the poor kids' characters won't be irreparably damaged all this.

It's not only in the theaters that this happens. I'm in med school and sometimes part of the material we are provided as learning resources are movies. Yesterday we had the chance to watch the Linda Peeno story about Managed care in the US. It was a preview for her being a guest lecturer next week in our class. The exact same thing, but worse, happened with my classmates. They would start screaming and making stupid comments when something interesting happened. I saw your post and it was like "Bam!", you were talking about the behavior of my "collegues" and not California movie goers.
That's my 2 cents.

mmm Hope their teachers don't read your blog ;-)

I hate it when parents bring babies to movies. Is it so hard to get a babysitter? Fantasia 2000 would have been so much better if somebody hadn't BROUGHT THEIR BABY!!! I was also very annoyed that in Black Hawk Down some parent brought their kids! Those kids must have had nightmares.

You must have had the same people sitting near you who sat behind us at Santa Claus 2. The woman would NOT shut up... (and yeah, I bitched about it in my blog, too...)

How very odd, my fiance and I did the same thing today. Our older daughter was sick yesterday, and I'd decided to keep her home today. Since she was feeling better and I'd be home anyway, we kept my younger daughter home, too.

My fiance has been having back problems, and is also feelign a bit frustrated at his job, so he decided to play hookey.

So, we all decided to go see Harry Potter. Really terrific film. Great costumes and sets (just a thing I notice) and the actor who plays Harry is truly amazing. Terrific presense.

It was a bit overlong, and couldn't hold my 3-year-old's attention, so I did spend about a quarter of the movie in the lobby... ah, well, will get to see the whole thing, without distraction, on video.

Lara

I'm surprised by the lack of respect in U.S. Cinemas, over here in the UK you can always hear the bleep of the audience turning off they're phones before the film starts, the only sound you hear after that is the munching of popcorn and slurping of drinks and even then they do that really quietly. But you do have to try and tolerate the kids when going to see Harry Potter as they get up every ten minutes to go to the toilet (HP and Star Wars at night viewings for me unfortunately).

I wonder how movies make that much money over there, if i had to endure that sort of idiocy i would never go to the cinema.

Hey Wil:

Sorry to hear your movie-viewing experience on-a-whim with the family didn't go as well as you would have liked, what with the noise and such, what a bummer, dude.

On the other hand, you could have my experience at the theater, sans sound/narration/special effects -- try it sometime, just pack cotton in your ears and THEN try to figure out what's being said, or done or whatever, and maybe, just maybe, you'll see that every moment DOES have two sides and those of us who are deaf and otherwise oblivous to the noise conducted amidst the audience seats will be oblivious to the noise spoken on the screen, as well.

Near as I can figure, no one really wins (except for the schmuck you mentioned who insisted on talking out loud in the theater during the movie, seemingly??).

Peace, out.

I, for one, actually have to disagree.
Although I don't like the idea of taking the kids out of school, if it's going to be done, than do SOMETHING with them.
Sure, they'll remember you took them to a movie, but wouldn't it be cooler to take them to do something interpersonal?
What do I know

Will,

I don't know if you actually read these, but here is a suggestion: Get the family together and read to them the 4 Harry Potter books, a few chapters at a time. I did that with my wife and 2 daughters and had a ball. They enjoyed sitting there listening to me read them the stories and I really enjoyed spending the time with them reading. We can't wait for the next book to come out!

Dodge

kicking/putting feet on the back of my chair drives me absolutely mad. how rude.

anyway Wil, it's one of those live life, have fun situations. It's not like you neglect your children and let them stay home every single day. You have to enjoy the little things like Harry Potter as a family. Too bad some bad eggs had to ruin it.

I just got back from seeing Harry Potter.
It was an adventure to say the least.
I'm a lowly college student with one class on Friday, so I was sent to get tickets for one of my best friends, and myself (the other friends had their tickets a week in advance). So at 12.30pm I find myself in a huge line. Where I spent the next 20 minutes. When I got to the front, in tiny print, read: 7:00 Sold Out, so I think about crying, instead, I tell the guy to write it on the sign outdoors. I decide to buy 2 for the 7:30 show. Well, he plays with his computer for a while and finds me 2 tickets for the 7pm show! Yay!!
We were there by 5.45, and were first in line, and first in the theater.
Truly, the film would have been even better without the little girl behind me who talked in a normal voice every once in a while, and the little boy and his mother who kicked my chair quite a bit.
All in all though, I had a great time, and LOVED the movie.

No no no, you got it all wrong! Those people in the theater weren't being rude, they were doing an homage to your Nickelodean "True Stories From Famous People" interview where you talked about how obnoxious you are at the movies and always wind up with the popcorn bucket on your head. See? They were FANS!

wadetemp... as a teacher i can tell you that friday afternoons are usually a relax/have fun/play math games kindof of afternoon. and, again as a teacher speaking, i love it when my kids are gone in the afternoon.... even if it's just a few of them... fewer kids on a friday is the perfect way to ease into the weekend.

so relax with the harshness.

and as a teacher, repeating the word 'of' twice will be a lesson to myself to edit! ;)

We did the same thing- we kept our daughter home and went to the 10;15 showing here in TX. and quite frankly we were lucky to enjoy the fact that we chose a downtown theater--less people and less chance for them the be heard if talking---

I enjoyed the movie.... :)

November is nice though-- ;P

Yup, when I went to see Blade II awhile back some idiot brought what looked to be his 5 and 7 year old kids. They kept asking, "Is that man bad daddy?" and "I'm scared". Argh...stupid parents.

Wil,

The last time I went to see a movie and was disturbed by yakkers I told the ushers. When that failed I went to the manager...bitched at her and got two free passes for another show. We tried again the next week abd there were a couple more ushers and a lot less talking.

Take care,
Bart

When I was a junior in highschool (or was it a senior? I can't remember now. Every highschool year was exactly like the previous/next) and Episode 1 came out, two of my friends and I skipped school. We saw it Wednesday at midnight,hung around a bit, slept through the first half of our school-day and then went to see it again during the time that our classmates were having lunch. All of our parents, teachers and prinicpal knew where we were. Some even asked how the movie was. And somehow, even though I skipped school and had fun for one day instead of going to physics (or chemistry; I still don't remember what year this was), I graduated second in my class and had all As that year as well as being set to having a B.S., M.S., and maybe even a Ph. D. soon.(I use the word "soon" to mean "before the universe suffers its heat death")

Seriously, wadetemp. Where were you? I ruined my youth by skipping school that day. Everyone knows that our state-run schools know what's best for us and people like TV's Wil Wheaton don't have a clue.

For the record, my friends and I still discuss that as one of the better times we've had together. But...what are memories worth compared to truancy laws?

I shouldn't use Wil Wheaton's comments to rant...but blind ignorance and telling other people how to parent even though they seem to be doing wonderful jobs without random strangers' input really pisses me off.

I'm sure Nolan and Ryan didn't miss much in the last half-day of school, and it'll prove a great memory for everyone.

I can't agree with you, Enuma, Tinker, and Thumper, Wil...I absolutely cannot stand those people who go to the movies nowadays and feel as if they're sitting and watching a video in the privacy of their own home. Being from the "older" generation, I was always brought up to be quiet in a theatre and no talking, unless it was a whisper. And then, not more than a word or two. Unfortunately, our society has become so complacent with manners and that's brought on a HUGE increase of uncouth behaivor. Only way to get out of it is to do what you did with the first HP movie...stay at home and watch it in beautiful silence.
But...that was a cool thing to do with the boys...just wish y'all could have enjoyed it more!

Take care,

MORE...I can't agree with all of you MORE...

Hitting self on head for leaving one word out...

: )

You'll take your kids out of school to see a movie, but you won't let them eat sugary cereal.

that is just so fucked up.

Eddie,

I understand your point... skipping a day of school never contribued to the downfall of anyone's education. I know plenty of people who graduated from college with honors who skipped classes regularly from high school though college (including myself.) I assume you were honest about your trip to see the Star Wars movie... as I assume Nolan and Ryan will be about this.

Please understand, I'm not telling anyone here how to parent. You have to figure those things out for yourself. I don't believe I ever said Wil should change things... it sounds like he has a great family.

I know from experience that kids (especially in their early teens) have a built-in hypocracy sensor that has not been bested by modern science. If you tell a child that something is acceptable (actions, words, or both... even in passing!) when they do something similar, but unacceptable, you no longer stand on ground to explain why what they did is wrong... because you did the very same thing. They won't forget, and they won't overlook it. There's a very powerful role model effect at work at that age, and once you work your way down the slope a few times with this kind of thing, it's very difficult to get back up.

As I said, I don't see anything wrong with suprising your kids. Very cool. But... why not on a weekend when there's no need to drag them out of school by (here's the hypocracy alert!) making up a false excuse for behavior?

I am a teacher as well and think nothing of students being pulled out to spend time with their family. In fact, I just returned from a week in Colorado with my husband and kids in Colorado. My older daughter is in kindegarten. There are more important things than school sometimes...She can always make up the school work.

Ha, how ironic, I was planning on catching the early show today, and am about to head out to the theater right now to catch it. Had I not been helping a friend, I might have run into you guys, and had said friend not taken me to a bar where I had a couple too many with my late lunch, I wouldn't be looking for something to read while cramming down a bagel and some caffeine before walking over to the theater.

You a Paseo Colorado fan, or do you hit the "classic" theaters?

My $0.02...
When I was a freshman in high school my parents pulled my brother and I for a month to go on a missions trip to Africa with them. Best. Month. Ever. I learned much more there than I would have in 6 months of school.

Before anyone gets pissy. I'm not saying a movie is the same thing. I am saying that it's perfectly all right for parents to pull their kids now and then. Missing a day (or two) here and there isn't a problem.

Next subject...
People who talk in movies. You hit the nail on the head. (please forgive the cliche) I was at an R rated movie a couple years ago. The movie, Hollow Man I think, had been out for a while so there weren't very many people there which was nice. However, just before the previews started a couple walked in with their two-year-old. The kid proceded to run around the theatre for the ENTIRE movie. Very annoying.

Anyway! :)
Glad you guys had a fun family outing. Those are priceless.

I must say that I had a very similiar experience when I was in California a few weeks ago and went to see The Ring on opening night. I am from NC, and for whatever reason, we generally have quiet movie theaters. I expected the same in CA, but, boy was I wrong! That was the loudest theater I've ever been to (audience-wise) and every time any event that held any kind of significance happened, it seemed like half of the audience had to comment on it! So, I agree with you...all of the people who talk during movies need to STFU!

OK, Which of you is so important that you have to be in constant contact with the phone world?

Give it a rest already.

Even if you quietly talk to who ever is on the #@$@###)@@##$^^ cell phone while you walk to the lobby... Too late! You have already labled yourself a jerk.

Enough already. I think I am heading over to the board to post this as a topic!

Lets just say...that there are a couple of 13 yr olds I wanted to strangle to death for talking during the 3rd Austin Powers movie. The one 12 or 13 yr old had seen the movie before and was giving a play by play of every FUCKING funny scene before it came on. So it ruined the comedic timing of each scene. And it was hard to watch already sense that movie is totally inappropriate for their age and younger. I and my husband couldn't feel comfortable at laughing at some of the adult humor while there are children 13 AND YOUNGER in the audiance. ARGH!!! I and my husband had never had such a horrible movie going experience.

oh yeah....there parents were with them or at least the ones mom was with them. There was a single dad with two small 5 or 6 yr olds sitting in front of us. *Groans*

Wil,
That was a long but good movie. I got lucky because I got to see it with a bunch of quiet people. These were some of the best kids that junk food could buy. I think they will get to see the second LORD OF THE RINGS film. It was a holiday and no one went to school. Everyone of all ages had a good time. This is one of the goals of films with that much everything. I went in thinking that I would have to fight for a seat and ended up sitting next to some really nice people. It was cool.

FG

Keith in Montana said:
"Even if you quietly talk to who ever is on the #@$@###)@@##$^^ cell phone while you walk to the lobby... Too late! You have already labled yourself a jerk."

You're saying that people who buy tickets for their friends, and then when said friends don't show on time, are jerks when they call to see if they got stuck in traffic or are just not coming? Did I see a no-phones sign in the lobby? Sorry, I must not have been looking. :)

I am not saying not to use your phone in the lobby. If you are waiting for friends, that is where you should be.

What I hate is people taking phone calls (verbally saying "Hello, blah blah") inside where the movie is being showen. And then listening to the chit chat as they head for the lobby to "talk".

I went ahead and posted this as a topic under the "Geek Toys" category. So if anyone has more to say on this, that would be a great place to post.

THanks

AAARRGGHHH!!! Don't you just HATE movie-talkers? I saw 8 Mile this week and all the "gangsta" wannabe's were there with their baggy pants and blang blang jewelery...and they were EIGHT YEARS OLD!!! Some of them even had cell phones and pagers on them and insisted on making sure everyone there knew they had them by using them and shouting "SORRY, I CAN'T TALK, I'M WATCHING 8 MILE...." then talking for 2 or 3 more minutes.

I did the same thing with my nephew for the first movie, he skipped school, I was to "sick" to go to work. We had the best day together. We could'nt do that this year, but are going tomorrow, and we both can't wait. By the way, if you go to a kid's movie, and a mattinee to boot, you have to expect noise.

You know, sometimes things are not at all what we would expect! Wil and several other readers "sneak" their kids out of school to see Harry Potter, while at my daugher's school, where most of the parents and the staff are very conservative, *everybody* (staff and students) have known for months which kids were going to be absent the day Harry Potter opened! There was no sneaking-- the parents just came and got their kids for the movie.

I wish *I* could see the movie, but my husband is in Europe right now, and he would be crushed if we saw it without him.

Yeah, it's kind of a waste of money if people won't shut up. But there are actually theaters that cater to just that type of experience. Years ago I went to a matinee at a so-called "family theater" in Vancouver, Washington with my friend Rachel. She warned me in advance but I had no idea of what was coming. It was one of those palatial old theaters with a gigantic screen and about 9 million seats. Half the seats were filled with kids and moms, the other half were the empty seats of the kids who were wandering around all over the place. There was a constant flow of traffic up and down the aisles, back and forth in front of the screen, groups of 2-5 kids walking, running, talking, laughing, getting snacks, spilling drinks, returning to mom for more money, chasing after each other... the fact that a movie was playing in the room at all was pretty much superfluous.

So like they say, after you've been in a Turkish prison everything else is easy.

Wil, that was an awesome thing you and Anne did for the boys....and I know if my parents did that for me, it would be one of my all time great moments in life. I just remember being a kid beaming with excitement when I would hear the voice over the intercom asking for me to be excused because my parents were picking me up early...and probably even more giddy when I would do something fun with my parents when release from the confines of education.

As for the inconsiderate jerks in the movies...I agree with you completely. I just don't see what pleasure it brings to those who find it fun to disrupt the movie by talking on their phones or even with the damn laser pointers. If people are sadistic enough to do crap like that, why bother paying eight dollars a pop to do? It's just a big ass pet peeve of mine.

I remember reading in OMNI magazine in about 1982 an excerpt from a sci fi story called something like "Marching Morons." Average modern guy cryogenically transported to the future. Read it if you want the details, but one scene is in a movie theatre. The "audience" is there for the food, and wolf down snacks and drinks while ignoring the "entertainment." I don't think the author had considered cell phones, betcha he wishes he did.

Also, there was a time when teachers were professionals and kids and especially parents took them seriously. What went wrong? Parents get too smart for their own good? "Question Authority" go a little too far?

Last, I think I read a news article about cell-phone eating radar that can be installed in a building to block the signals. Perfect for this kind of situation, no? Here's one: http://www.cell-block-r.com/ There are also radiation-eating materials that can absorb microwave radiation and reduce cell phone effectiveness to 1% of normal.

I went to see this movie today too. There was a baby in the theater as well. It actually made me WANT a baby vrs being upset it was there. Im a weird one.

Did you stay past the credits? There is a cool little thing at the end.

this is my first ever comment

Drakensykh posted:
Last, I think I read a news article about cell-phone eating radar that can be installed in a building to block the signals. Perfect for this kind of situation, no?

In the U.S. private individuals and businesses (sp?) are not allowed to jam the airwaves. Since the airwaves are "public property", also it would constitute as a safety hazard.

I forgot to add that I really dig today's Thought. Very nice. :o)

Hmm, stay at school or watch a movie with TV's Wil Wheaton?

I know which I'd choose.

:)

Price of Gas to the Theater: $1.45.
Price of 4 Large Cokes: $12.
Price of 4 Popcorns: $9.
Price of 4 Matinee Tickets to Harry Potter and the Annoying Audience: $24.

Teaching your kids the value of education by yanking them out of school to watch a movie: Priceless.

-------VERSUS:

Price of Harry Potter II Movie next year on DVD: $20.

Value of Education: a portion of your property tax.

Value of not hearing every other line of dialog repeated for the benefit of the nearly deaf spouse of the woman sitting behind you (which is actually fortunate as you can now hear over the cell phone conversation two rows ahead of you): Priceless.

Hey ya, Wil. I watched Harry Potter last night as well and I'm happy to report that the entire packed theater was quite the whole time. The only part it got loud at was when Dobbie blasted Malfoy's daddy's ass. The whole theater erupted in applause and cheering. All I can say is that the theaters where you live need to hire some ushers with balls. They let everyone know straight up to keep their cell phones turned off and to shut the fuck up. I've seen them stop a movie before and haul people out of the theater for running their gobs. :)

Something really bad:
People talking during a movie.

Something worse:
People in the row in front of you (in a packed theatre) getting up AGAIN AND AGAIN, stretching, walking out and coming back in again and taking AGES to sit down again and they're so damn rude, you're better off not confronting them at all.

(1) It must be a California thing, or maybe a big-city thing. Here in NC I'm rarely bothered by people talking in theaters. (OTOH, I rarely spend the money--the last film I went to was the first "Harry Potter" movie.)

(2) Kudos to you, Wil, for springing such a fun surprise on the boys.

(3) When you get the chance, do read Rowling's books. They are an amazing ride.

Shannon

That's what ushers are for.

They'll tell people to keep quiet for you.

What an awesome memory for all of you, Wil!

Tamm

You're so right about the cinema, though I love going there for the big-ass screen and just the cool feeling I get when I'm there.
I haven't seen any of your work, not even star trek but Comedy theatre sounds really cool and your geekyness pays off, for this is a very clean-looking site, like the layout, good writing, good reccommendations. Keep up the good work. I'll peek in some more.

Wil,
READ. THE. BOOKS. Do yourself a huge favor. If you're just seeing the movies you've been robbing yourself. Seriously. READ THE BOOKS.

You see, this is why I have to move to Southern California and attempt to become a screenwriter. 'Cause the sun "warms your shoulders" in mid-November. I just spent the morning shoveling my driveway and knocking an inch of ice off my car... :)

I didn't take the time to mark down people's names, but just because you are a teacher and you like having less kids in class doesn't make it right! God love you for being a teacher, but saying it's ok for parents to take kids out of class to go see a movie so you can have a more relaxing afternoon is ridiculous!
Going to Africa, also, is not the same thing. Like I said before, at least it's interpersonal and educational. At least take them out of school to READ them the book! What if you took them out of school to see Star Wars? Or "Nemesis" for that matter? Is that ok?
And whoever said it is right, you lied to the school so you could go to a movie! Great afternoon with the kids but the ends don't justify the means!
Like leaving Star Trek, Wil, admit it was a mistake and move on.

I feel you, Wil. Lately I've had this urge to take a machete with me every time I go see a movie, and just slit people's throats when they speak ;).

the first week of release is a bad time to see movies like harry potter, star wars, star trek, and lord of the rings...if you want to be able to hear the dialogue and follow the story go the second week or later...after the most intense fans have already seen it...and chances are you won't be packed into the theatre like sardines...as for the dipsticks that use the cellphone during the movie...i quote the great william shatner...get a life!

unfortunately these days the best way to see a movie is at home on DVD!...you can eat reasonably priced snacks like microwave popcorn...and you can freeze the movie and pee anytime you want!

yet another note from me...i love the thought for the day!

1) When I was in 5th grade my mom and our neighbor's mom took me, my brother, and the neighbor's two kids out of school for the afternoon to see Return of the Jedi. It's one of my fondest memories of childhood. I never skipped a day of school until I was a senior in high school, and I'm sure having a wonderful afternoon with my mom and some of my best friends had nothing to do with that. I think that if you're a good parent your kids will understand the difference between a little fun for quality time and skipping school without permission to do bad things. Wil, good for you, don't let the naysayers get ya down. :) I'm sure the kids will remember this day -fondly- for a long time.

2) I saw the movie at 12:01 friday morning (first showing). Some of the people around us talked a little, but it wasn't so bad, I even expected it and it didn't bother me. There wasn't any cell phone usage that I heard or anything, so overall it was pleasant except that the guy in front of me thought it'd be fun to jam his seat back into my knee every other minute, and no, I wasn't kicking his chair. :p
Most of the noise in the theater was cheering, laughing, clapping, the normal things you hear when an audience is NOTHING but excited to see a movie. I think that kind of noise is awesome, makes the movie more fun when the theater is really into it. Only twice was it hard to hear a line of dialogue because of it, but I was laughing too, so I couldn't complain.

12:01 showings=good! :)

At a viewing of "Shakespeare in Love," there were two women seated behind me who talked and talked. I tried the polite look, then the dirty look, then I asked them to be quiet. It was ugly, but it worked. They then shouted at me as I exited the theatre - these were grown women. In an incredible feat of stupidity, I walked back up to them and got in their faces, explaining that I'd paid to hear the film, not them. God, I could have been shot! Think I'll keep working on my home theatre.

"AMEN BROTHER"!"AMEN"!

Wow. I wish my parents would have taken me out of school to go see a movie. You guys are cool parents...

Our audience cheered, but none stayed for the bonus scene at the end of the credits! So disappointing, but I suppose you can't expect too much in Lynchburg, VA.

On talking in the theater, I noticed some in our theater, but it didn't bother me precisely because I had read the books. It wasn't terribly loud, whispers at most, and usually it was just someone mentioning a change from the book. Plus, I have sufficiently selective hearing to block them out when need be :-p

I'm sorry your theater was loud--I think theaters full of little kids have that going on a lot. Ours was significantly quieter, but then it was monopolized by 30+ college girls, whose biggest contributions were swoons over Alan Rickman and Kenneth Branagh.

Anyway, I think it would have been impossible for them to cut it down any more than they did and not have fans screaming at them about it. I highly suggest reading the books--they're wunnerful! Mmmm, Harry Potter :)

Our audience cheered, but none stayed for the bonus scene at the end of the credits! So disappointing, but I suppose you can't expect too much in Lynchburg, VA.

On talking in the theater, I noticed some in our theater, but it didn't bother me precisely because I had read the books. It wasn't terribly loud, whispers at most, and usually it was just someone mentioning a change from the book. Plus, I have sufficiently selective hearing to block them out when need be :-p

I'm sorry your theater was loud--I think theaters full of little kids have that going on a lot. Ours was significantly quieter, but then it was monopolized by 30+ college girls, whose biggest contributions were swoons over Alan Rickman and Kenneth Branagh.

Anyway, I think it would have been impossible for them to cut it down any more than they did and not have fans screaming at them about it. I highly suggest reading the books--they're wunnerful! Mmmm, Harry Potter :)

Wow, you and Anne did create quite the memory for them I bet. A nice and happy memory.
Damn theaters. I usually tell people ever so nicely, to be quiet. People usually don't want to create a scene in public, however, I have no such qualms about that, especially paying 12 bucks just to get in. Sorry, my own rant.

Wil, it doesn't matter who's a step. They may have a different father, but you are so obviously those kids' *dad*.

Rock on, man. School work can be made up, and the teachers would probably have understood even if you didn't use the "personal reasons" excuse. Those kids know you love them, and that you and your wife are *both* their parents. Not every "step"-child can say the same thing.

Way to go! My dad did the same thing on friday. He had given me the day off, but I was planning on going to school in the afternoon, until I noticed that he sent me an email ordering me not to go to school. When he came home we went out to lunch, took my little brother out of school, and proceeded to see Harry Potter. It was much better than AP Chemistry :-D

There is one, and only one, excuse for having your cellphone on in a movie theatre. If you are the surgeon, anesthesist or perfussionist on call at the local university hospital for organ transplants (tragedies can happen at any time, and smart people will try to mitigate the tragedy by offering working organs to save othrs' lives).

Other than that, nobody is so important that they have to be called, or can't have voice mail.

All you November-philes should come to Minnesota. Yuck.

Never go to the movies on the first day of a showing, and avoid weekends if possible.

Oh, and if you're one of the kids' teachers, pretend you didn't read this. :-)

I liked the books 100 times better...but the movies are awesome b/c of the Quidditch matches. I haven't seen the second one yet...

"Not all those who wander are lost"

I love that quote. I had it at the bottom of my email sig for the longest time. I once saw a bumper sticker that has the phrase meandering from the lower left corner up to the upper right. Made for a real nice effect. :)

speaking of childhood memories... guess who showed up in a photoshop on fark.com today?

http://forums.fark.com/cgi/fark/comments.pl?IDLink=352678

I took my kids to see Harry Potter today, we loved it. You need to read the books, trust me, you are missing out.

Being annoyed by rude people in a theater and not doing anything about it, but bitch about it later:

(1) Makes out to be a victim;
(2) Teaches your kids not to do anything about rude behavior;
(3) Allows you to righteously bitch and moan about it on your blog;
(4) Makes you want to stay home instead of going out (perpetuating the "loner" aspect of America).

On the other hand, if you had done something about it, you'd:
(1) not be a victim;
(2) teach your kids not to be a victim;
(3) allows you to righteously be a good example on your blog.
(4) makes you want to go out again.

I fucking HATE those rude theatre-goers. When I saw Cast Away there was a guy who talked directly to Tom Hanks throughout the film. All of those quiet parts weren't so quiet. I asked him to be quiet several times and he completely ignored me.

I can't believe some of you adults ragging on Wil for taking his kids out of school! Talk about piss me off. Man, when a father does something nice for his kids and actually spends time with them that is valuable, even if it is a movie. My parents never spend anything with me, never. and I hate them with all my soul. I think it is very cool that Wil and his wife took their kids to something special and took them out of school. Like they really missed something. Shit, how many of you actually remember being in a classroom bored shitless because the teacher is teaching to the dumbest kid in class, and you already got the lesson. Man, classroom work is the most boring and senseless thing we do as kids. Take em out more, shit, do like my cousins do and take them out permanently and teach them at home. My cousins are way ahead of their peers because they are finally being homeschooled and can progress as they need. Geez, get off Wil's case. Some of you people are just like my dad, and I hope you get your just reward for it.
Think I'm angry? You got it.

"Not all who wander are lost" - I have a bumper sticker with that quote. Good choice for thought of the day. ^_^

Zander? Zoinks!

And shanna/setf/y'know, in that guys defense, I saw Cast Away and I wish someone would have talked to ME during it to keep me AWAKE!
What a ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ'er!

And I'm not ragging on Wil (don't know about the rest of you), I'm disagreeing with his him. He posts his life on here to be discussed and not everyone will agree with him. I guarantee he never expected people to react like this about it, did ya Wil?

PET PEEVE: people who let their kids beat the shit out of the seats in front of them and think it's cute. Small children should be left at home and children who can't be taught even a *little thing like 'don't kick that nice person's chair' should be in cages.

Dude, that happened to me and my mom too at the movie theater! We went to see Harry Potter, and there were these 3 skanky ladies sitting behind us and one kept burping loud throught the whole movie... one was saying "Fuck this fuck that" and the other kept blowing bubbles loudly and kicking our seats. I was about to tell them where to go but I decided that I should just ignore it. It sure was annoying tho.
I liked the first movie a lot better too. CoS was choppy and they didn't put in a lot of Professor Lockhart, which he happens to be in the book a lot more. And didn't put in alot Professor Snape stuff either. But the DVD should be good cuz they had to cut a lot out. yay.

1) you're a hella cool parent Wil...

2) READ THE BOOKS...they're wonderful...way better than the movies...(although the movies are fairly good and more or less faithful)

3) people that talk or otherwise ruin a good movie experience suck...
but hey....they'll be the first with their backs against the wall when your revolution comes ;)

cheers wil...
ty

a note on todays entry
/F.L.A.M.E

hey, it's my first time commenting...

things are even WORSE if you live in a non english speaking country!
i live in japan, and everyone talks (as in "at normal conversation volume") during movies.
maybe it's because 99% of the audience is reading the (japanese) subtitles.
yes, that means that nearly 99% of the audience is not listening to anything at all!!!

AGH!!!

nicely written! sounds like the small ones had a good time. Buy the large drink next time, and use the straw for spitwads at chatterboxes. it is Just dark enough and very entertaining, believe me! [you will need to rent the movie later so you can actually watch it] hehe have fun folks. ;p

MAN! was it your intent to be a sounding board for people's problems? whew!! be positive!
see yas ;p

So true!!! I saw the 4:30 today (Saturday) on the promenade over here in Santa Monica. I think your entire theater drove over here just for that showing. Someone actually ANSWERED their phone in the movie! Bastards.

That was cool, Wil. "Personal reasons" is the perfect excuse and not being hypocritical or a "lie", it was a very personal time for the family. Phew, some people need to chill!

I saw the movie Friday night at the 9:45pm showing. Plenty of kids there for a movie that was going to end about 12:30am. I found the kids got quiet a lot sooner for this movie, at the first Harry Potter movie it took about a half hour before the kids really got quiet, at this show they were quiet after only 5 minutes.

I had only 2 interruptions. One was when a boy a couple of seats down in the row behind me seemed to be intently explaining something to his friend, but he stopped talking before he got on my nerves. The other was when the boy sitting in back of me started shaking his bucket of popcorn, but a quick "shh!" stopped him.

BTW, the popcorn buckets for this show were advertising Star Trek: Nemesis. Yeah, I bought one, although I knew I could never eat all that popcorn. But HBO showed the first Harry Potter movie on Saturday, so I finished the rest of the popcorn watching it.

Although a lot of folks seem to be prodding Wil to read the books, I vote "no" on this issue. I like coming into a booked based movie with no knowledge of the book. I want to see if the movie will stand on its own. So many times I heard people express disappointment at a movie because it wasn't exactly like the book. No movie is going to be exactly like a book and no movie is going to match your imagination of a book. It must capture the spirit of the book, and although I've just skimmed The Chambers of Secrets after seeing the movie, I think the movie outdoes the book. At least the Quidditch match is much more exciting than anything I could have imagined and is much more on screen than in the book. I'll see when I get a chance to read it later today. At 2 hours and 40 minutes, I think it will take me less time to read the book than it did to see the movie.

I believe they start filming the next movie in about a month (from Daniel Radcliffe on a recent talk show). I wonder who they have to replace Richard Harris as Prof. Dumbledore? He will be missed. And there's a new director - Alfonso Cuarón instead of Chris Columbus.

Just went to see Harry Potter last night at the cinema. I just want to say that if any of you guys are even in Scotland...do not go to the Glasgow East Showcase cinema. Not unless you want stupid, annoying kids asking their flabby, belching parents whats happening evey five minutes, or having every cunting brain dead fuck in the place munching on the contents of rustling paper bags, and glugging down bottles of Buckfast that they smuggled into the cinema. It really spoled the film for me.
"Whits tha' ma?" - inbred child
"Thats his wand," - inbred mother
"YOU DONT FUCKING SAY!!!! I KNOW ITS A WAND AND SO DOES EVERYONE ELSE!! SHUT UP!" - Me.

On the film itself, it was much more coherent than the first one, and the actors seemed for comfortable with their characters. Good fun. Not in the same league as Lord of the Rings, but you can't have everything.

I wish I had parents who would do that! Mine won't ever let me miss school, unless I can't actually walk from my room to the door. Even then the doctor has to flinch when he sees me or I only get a half day. Too bad those people were so bad, I've never had too much trouble with movies, must be an American thing (just joking, no offense meant.) It can be fun sometimes, if you're in the right mood for it.

afaik some theatres here in sweden have a system to jam phone signals so they can't be used inside. A very nice solution, I wish they would have it in all. and maybe in a couple of hundred years they can also jam talking people :)

I think the people that have a problem with taking the kids out of school for a movie have a more or less subconscious envy that their parents never did something like that.

Academic damage to kids: tiny to non-existant. Enhancement to family life: large.

We were at a screening of "The Thin Red Line", there's group of about a dozen kids with two parents down in front, the oldest kid about sixteen, youngest about four. They were yacking and chatting and beeping, and the management came and threw them out, the parents objecting. I'm not sure that that movie is age appropriate for anyone other than a combat vet.

Another time, there were a couple of dudes babbling on their cellphones; someone stood up, told them to "Hang it up and shut up!", and the audience cheered; the offenders fled.

Just a small comment: anyone who thought the 'Quidditch' match in the first movie was exciting needs to get out more. Maybe it was more exciting than reading about it in a book, but I personally found it tedious and overlong, and after the first few minutes I excused myself to go to the bathroom.

Wil,

Good on you and Anne for taking the kids to see the HP movie. School will always be there. To those folks who got their panties in a bunch about the kids missing school -- get over it.

Wil wasn't asking for your validation -- he was sharing a happy family memory with you.

As for the clueless dweebs who talked through the movie -- that is precisely WHY the husband and I rent DVDs and watch them in the privacy of our home. That, and our floors are a lot cleaner and the food is better (and cheaper).

Wanna see what we did on vacation last month?

http://webpages.charter.net/markpet/newmexico/newmex.html

Spacewriter

All that is gold does not glitter,
not all those w