TTT take 2!

Saw TTT for the second time last night, and I finally realized what was wrong.

When I saw it for the first time, I didn't watch with Tolkien geeks. And last night, I did and the experience was soooo different.

The first time was at the A.S.A.P.-sponsored advance screening. I was with film buffs, not Tolkienites. So there was no one to banter (or be silly/geeky) with. The theatre then was sort of, hmm, quiet and unresponsive. Or maybe the audience was responding very quietly, haha.

But, last night was a RIOT!

The event was sponsored by 2 UP orgs and I'm guessing most of the people there were at least semi-Tolkien geeks. At the queue, you'd hear them discussing the books and you'd even hear people going as far back as the Lost Tales etc. The show was at 8pm, and by 530, there were almost a hundred people in line already, sitting on the floor. I went with abbiedude, data, and crypto. (haha, neither RockBoy nor T&TMB -- I have side-kwento abt that later. I DID ask RockBoy**.)

And watching with them was absolute fun. Namaos ako sa katatawa, kasisigaw...basta, kare-react. We were into the movie less than an hour when I realized that THIS was the only way to watch a LOTR film premiere! Or at least, have a fellow rabid fan in the group. Kahit isa lang.

The moviehouse was so alive. People were reacting to everything. In battle scenes, you would hear people cheering. In Arwen's scenes, there would be groans, hahaha. Poor Elf. In the mushy-fellowship-friendship-semi-homo-erotic scenes, you'd hear people snickering. It was hilarious! Ang daming "Yiheeee!" when Sam and Frodo share "moments." Kakatawa!

And afterwards, people didn't get up from their seats right away. They watched the credits to the very last name, while talking middle-earth lore. That's what I missed during my first screening. I didn't even get to talk about the movie. I didn't get to complain about the deviations or rave about the adaptation of whichever scene. We just had a late dinner and talked about other things, so the experience wasn't complete.

Last night, we talked about it endlessly, and did silly LOTRfan stuff, too. Haha. Lookee here. data, abbiedude, and i & crypto and data

So, come December 2003, I will make sure that my first screening will be with at least ONE fellow fan.

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**I finally got in contact with RockBoy last Wednesday, while waiting for TTT to start. My friend sitaw asked if it would be ok for her to give me his number and he says sure! So, before I could chicken out I sent him a message, introducing myself and asking if he'd be interested in coming to see TTT on Saturday. He says, Yes but he'd have to check his sked because he's on standby for work. So, I said I'll just ask him on Saturday morning again. But, Friday pa lang he texted na that he has work. I find out that he has 2 gigs that day. Awww shucks. Haha, k lang. It was worth a shot, ne? T&TMB, likewise, had something to do. Ok lang rin cos he got to join me on the first screening. All's well that ends well, I say :)

Labels: tolkien