15 hours of movies. All at once. Who would be crazy enough to endure such an undertaking in movie viewing? Well...I was for one. But I wasn't alone. At the AMC I was at, there were two full theaters of die hard movie goers who stayed to watch all six movies. From 11:30am Thursday to 2:40am Friday we sat through Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America and finally the new Avengers. Over 40 theaters across the America had the marathon playing mostly to sold out audiences.
This was an event. An event unlike anything I have ever seen before. At the beginning of the day, it was just like going to see any other movie. You go in, pick your seat and get settled in. No one really pays attention too much to the people around you and your main goal is giving yourself enough space and having a good view of the screen. But that was where the similarities end. Because after a while, you become aware of the people around you. You get engaged in conversations. You get more comfortable with the group you're in. It starts to feel less like a movie and more like watching something with a group of your friends. Every once in a while, someone yells out something funny and you laugh, as a group, instead of being upset about the disturbance in your viewing experience. By the end, we all had that feeling of going through something together. Even the people you didn't talk to during that time, you could give that look to, and they understand.
I have to say also, that AMC, at least the one I was at, did a great job in organizing such a massive event. There were breaks between movies, giving time to use the restrooms and get more eats (The free refills of large soda and popcorn came in REAL handy for this day). They had raffle give-aways during the breaks as well, along with trivia questions about the Marvel movies. Staff was dressed as Superheroes (special thanks to Megan for dressing up as Black Widow) along with some of the movie patrons. No...I did not dress up for this one. Maybe next time.
You may think that after so many movies of the same theme, that you would get burned out on the subject. I thought that same thing. But it wasn't the case. I don't know if it was just movies themselves or being involved in the whole day. But it was a great time that I would do again in a heartbeat. Big thanks to Marvel and AMC Theaters for putting this together, but an even bigger thanks to all the people who enjoyed this with me. The camaraderie we shared will last with me for a long, long time. Thank you.
Until next time, I'll see you in the center seat.
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