At some point in my life, I learned about time. Back in the day, I learned how to tell time first on a normal watch face. It was only after I could tell time doing it the traditional way that my dad showed me there was such a thing as a digital watch. One of the first things I learned was that when the clock strikes midnight, a new day starts. Therefore tonight will be Tuesday until 1159pm. At midnight it becomes Wednesday.
Seems simple enough and I imagine that many of you would agree with me that is how it is done. Well, apparently if you work for a movie theatre you use a different calendar. If, one would for example have a ticket to see Harry Potter that says Thursday 12:01 a.m., you would think it would be two minutes past the conclusion of Wednesday night. Not so. Thursday at 12:01 a.m, actually means Friday at 12:01 a.m in the world of movie theatre times. It is also probably why they are a day early for New Years celebrations and why so many movie managers get anniversaries and birthdays wrong.
I know Harry Potter opens on Friday. I decided for once in my life to go do the whole midnight thing so bought tickets. The funny thing was they said Thursday. Odd. The movie is a Friday opening, not Thursday. When I printed out the tickets it also said Thursday. I went to other movie theatre websites and checked their pages. They all said Thursday morning. So, was this some special thing? Was I going to get to see the movie a full 24 hours early just because I was willing to go at midnight? Nope. I called some theatres and they say they do that because otherwise people get confused. Oh, and this way works so much better for people who can actually tell time.
A lot of people are not smart nor do they have common sense, so things get dumbed down. Then, for people of normal intelligence, it doesn't make sense because it's been dumbed down too much that its hard to comprehend. Also, if you happen to point this out, people get upset and think you are being "mean". When, really, they should be uspet with themselves for being so cakes and pies stupid.
ReplyDelete/2 cents.
I went to the midnight showing of the last Harry Potter movie and I will never do it again. The movie didn't start until after 1:00 am; the tweens got restless and some idiot parents brought children who were way too young to be out of bed. Bottom line: I'm too old to get home from Harry Potter at 4 AM.
ReplyDeleteI so want this movie to be great but its the same director as the last one and being a die hard HP reader, I was soooo disappointed that the movie had very little to do with the Half Blood Prince, actually the movie just sucked terribly so I am very weary of this one.
ReplyDelete"The end begins"
ReplyDeleteCAN NOT WAIT!
Montana, I agree. My friend and I are die hard HP fans, and we were both disappointed in how many discrepancies the last movie had. We are excited to see this one, but a little worried at how close to the book it will actually get.
ReplyDeleteThe same people who need "Thursday 12:01" for a Friday midnight screening are the ones who were all excited about "the new millennium" when Dec 31, 1999 ended and Jan 1, 2000 began.
ReplyDeleteSPOILERS for those who haven't seen Half Blood Prince although it's been out for more than a year and is currently showing on HBO. Agree with MM above. Half Blood Prince should have been all about Snape but he was hardly in it. More Snape! Snape is by far the most interesting character in the HP world, a fact that I don't think even JK Rowlings fully understood judging by what happened in the final book. What a let down.
ReplyDeleteSurely you are wary, not weary?
ReplyDeleteI went from being one of the biggest Anti-HP people you'd ever meet to one of the biggest supporters and fans of the series you'll ever meet...and it's all because of OOTP & Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood).
ReplyDeleteI went out and bought the first six books in a box set and said "if I don't like 'em, I'll donate them to a library". I read them, felt bad about not giving them a fair shake and went to go see Order Of The Phoenix. I wasn't terribly impressed...until that faint little Irish accent and that platinumn blonde hair popped up and I said "awww...she's so charming" and since then, I've been a huge fan.
I'm not going to the midnight showing. I've heard some rumors about Twitards showing up and giving HP fans shit. Plus, midnight showings are rarely ever worth it. I have yet to go to one that didn't end in a disaster, actually started on time and didn't have eleventy billion kids who are WAAAAAAY past their bedtime being obstinate & obnoxious.
I agree with the commenters who were disappointed in Half Blood Prince the movie. Hopefully the director was schooled by JK and dare not ruin book 7 for the screen. Although, all the trailers and previews have me hooked.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait!!! I'm so excited about this movie and the Half-Blood Prince was so bad(imo) so I'm hoping to leave the theatre with full on smile.
ReplyDeleteMost people are operating on a sixth grade education at best!
ReplyDeleteThe only reason I will see this is because of Alan Rickman.
ReplyDeleteNot to be devil's advocat, but I can think of one instance where considering 12:01 a.m. Friday morning as Thursday night. When you are running a business where your business days straddle two chronological days, it is much simpler for accounting purposes to label the early-a.m. hours as an extension of the previous night.
ReplyDeleteJust sayin'.
Alright, as I have spent the last week rewatching the movies i have a CLEAR favorite and I want to know what you guys think - for me, its number three! It is so amazingly well done, every scene is like a picture and it´s the only one where they take time to show the guys just hanging out, enjoying being at Hogwarts, being friends. Magical.
ReplyDeleteI agree, #3 is my favorite of the books and the movies. Lupin is my favorite character, the immediate affection between he has for Harry is sincere and touching, as is the bond that forms between Harry and Sirius. So many things to like about it. GoF and OotP were good, but not as good as Azkaban.
ReplyDelete@looserdude I totally agree. Snape is the most interesting character but I don't think JK gets that.
ReplyDeleteI loved the first four books but was disappointed in the last three, especially #7. I thought it was pretty boring and too long. I read a lot of sci-fi/fantasy and #7 had all the hallmarks of famous writer, scared editor. Even famous writers need to be told to cut it down some.
I'm excited for the movie because it will hopefully condense everything the way it should have been in the book.
HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban was also my favorite, but I think that has more to do with the director than the story (HP and the Half-Blood Prince was my favorite book). Alfonso Cuarón is an amazing director and he took the movie to a level none of the previous or subsequent movies have been able to achieve--he actually invested in the actors so that they began to understand and relate to their characters. I was hoping (and praying and wishing and dreaming) that he would be brought back for HP and the Deathly Hallows. I was so disappointed in Half-Blood Prince as a whole, but the fact that they didn’t have Dumbledore’s funeral or Snape‘s memories absolutely killed it for me.
ReplyDeleteI’ll see the Deathly Hallows in the theater because I have a free movie pass that expires soon, but if they screw this up for me too, I’m won’t see Pt. 2. If I don't cry during the Deathly Hallows they've fail, because God only knows I cried buckets when reading the book.
and the dumbing down of America continues.
ReplyDeleteEnty, I was confused just reading your post!
ReplyDeleteAs for the movie,I am looking forward to seeing it but not the first week. Only Lord of the Rings managed to make me excited enough to skip work in the afternoon to see it in the first week.
Listen - I went to the World Of harry Potter at Universal, and I was disappointed at the discrepancies - mostly the candy store, which they could have tricked out, but looked like any old candy store, and the games and tricks store (sorry, don't remember the name), which was an area off the candy store with lots of cheap, but highly priced toys.
ReplyDeleteOllivander's wand room, was awesome, though.
I can't wait! A group of teachers at the intermediate school I work at got our tickets the day they went on sale. Part of the fun is seeing it with friends and in an enthusiastic environment, which it definitely is opening night! Not to mention if we don't see the opening night, the kids spoil it for us the next day. Cannot Wait!!!
ReplyDeleteI am hungover today (from Elton John concert, so totally worth it) so my brain isn't working 100%. I had to re-read that post. ;)
ReplyDeleteThe world is filled with dumb-dumbs, so I can see why the theaters did this.
@The Nightmare Child - Are you kidding me about the Twilight fans??? WTF?