YDKS Covers The Dark Knight Midnight Show!

So I just got back from what was honestly one of, if not, the greatest experiences of my short 21 years of life: the midnight show of The Dark Knight. Wondering how I felt on the film? Well... we'll get to that later. First I want to give you guys a little summary of our insane night of waiting in line for... well... about five hours (please note that it's five a.m. right now as I writing this... so I may keep it a little shorter than I usually do. I am absolutely exhausted).

First off, you guys should know that I've been having a horrible time getting these pictures uploaded onto the site. Blogger has a pretty awful uploading system and, due to about an hour's worth of frustration, I've picked the only pictures that it would allow me to upload and, fortunately, some of my favorites. However, all the pictures that I took tonight (all 50 of them) can be seen at my photobucket here. Please be sure to look at all of them, there really are some gems that I couldn't get uploaded on here.

The evening started off pretty well with me, Jason, Daniel Howard, Amanda Howard, and Daniel Thomas meeting up at the local Chili's to eat at about 6 p.m. In the picture above, Daniel and Amanda can be seen in mid conversation. After eating up pretty fast as Jason was absolutely convinced that we had to be first in line, we left and went to the theater (which was just down the street). We arrived at 6:40 p.m. We were the first ones in line. 

Once we got there, management told us that we would have to stay outside and wait for regular business to finish before we could come inside to wait. While this was occurring, I quickly became concerned about a ticket situation that had occurred earlier that week. When Malco decided to have a midnight showing for The Dark Knight, they put it on Screen 16. This was the screen I bought tickets for. Later that week, they opened up tickets for Screen 17- the biggest screen in the theater. I was pissed. I went out to the theater on Monday to try to exchange my Screen 16 tickets for Screen 17 and one of the managers there let me do so. However, the method he did it was very... unofficial. He simply crossed out the 16 with a pen and then signed the ticket. So, when we arrived at 6:40 p.m. I wanted to make sure that we would be able to still get into Screen 17. To my horror, they told me that they weren't sure that they could still honor it as that particular manager had been fired... Yeah, I was pretty much freaking out. Luckily, they came through and we got to see it on Screen 17. However, for a little while, things were looking hairy. 

So, we ended up waiting outside for quite a while. Everyone working at the theater thought we were pretty crazy for getting there so early. We even made a little sign that showed that we were the first ones in line, as can be seen above as Daniel Thomas holds it. I cannot tell you how many people would stop at this sign, thinking that they would have to buy their tickets from whoever was holding it. It was ridiculous how stupid some of the people we encountered were. My favorite encounter was with this older guy that came to buy tickets for the midnight showing. He saw us and, after asking if we were already in line for The Dark Knight, exclaimed, "Holy Sh*tballs! You still got five hours!" 

A lot of the early hours were pretty quiet. We were the only ones for quite a while. However, we entertained ourselves by playing on Daniel Howard's computer, watching terrible videos from Batman and Robin, and even doing a little YDKS Movies update. We also took a lot of silly pictures like the one you see above. Be sure to check my photobucket to see a whole lot more of those gems. 

After a while, one of the employees of Malco began to come outside and talk to us. His name was Glen. He thought it was really funny that we got there so early but, because of our insane dedication, he made sure we knew that he would be the one that made sure we were the first ones in. Glen came outside frequently to joke around with us, even saying one time that the projectors had all just broken to try and damage our spirits. Still, he was a good guy and he held up to his word: we were the first ones in. Thanks, Glen. You're Malco's best employee. Heck, he even posed for the awesome picture that you see above. You're the man, Glen. 

After a while, people began to show up and I began to run into some friends that I haven't seen since we got out for summer break. Above you can see two of them: Ellis and Joel. I cannot tell you how happy I was to see these two guys show up. While I didn't see much of Joel after this picture, Ellis ended up scrapping his plans just to hang out with us and enjoy the wonderful experience that became waiting for Malco to let us inside. Because, once people began to show up, the energy began to rise in the air and the feeling was pretty much indescribable. 

Another person that I hadn't seen in years ended up showing up: the great Joe Fabbri. Joe was in one of my first movies (La Reunion Pasada / The Last Reunion) and actually never saw the finished product. This is probably for the best. Still, I haven't seen the guy since the filming of that movie (over two years ago) and it was great for the The Dark Knight midnight show to bring the two of us together again. Also, he told me that he wanted royalties from this picture. 

When people were starting to show up, Austin finally got off work and joined us. That's when the picture above was taken. This picture is important because this is really the first time that Jason and Austin have ever met, which is crazy because Jason writes for the site and Austin does the artwork. It was a special moment and I felt it necessary to put on my wrap-up of the event. First thing Austin said: "Man, you're tall." Jason is like a giant, people. A giant. And I mean that in a good way.

One of the coolest people we hung out with in line was Jeff, an employee of one of our local comic book stores Heroes and Dreams. I had talked to the guy last week and he was one of the first people that had warned me about Malco being only on Screen 16 for the midnight show. When I saw him arrive at the theater, I called over to him and told him that he may be able to exchange for a Screen 17 ticket. At first, it didn't look like he would be able to. However, after a while, he was able to pull it off and there he is in the picture above celebrating being put on Screen 17. The guy was nice to talk to and he made the wait a little easier. Plus, he knows his Batman. Thanks for being cool, Jeff. 

After a while, people like this showed up. The guy in the middle has pretty good make up but the other two... well, I cannot say much for them. Plus, there were these other kids in line that kept saying that they looked lame, which was really funny. I also took a picture of a kid dressed like Batman (poorly might I add) and you can see those pictures in the photobucket. Also, there were these girls there dressed up and in clown make-up but I didn't get any pictures of them. That would be too creepy. Plus, I'm pretty sure they were about 15. 

Finally, at about 10:30, they let us all into the theater. We then stood in line inside until about 11:30. It was pretty much a mad house at this point. However, we were at the front and didn't really feel threatened about not getting a seat. However, Jason went and got some good pictures of the insanely huge line that formed at this point. You should check them out in the photobucket. Also, during this time I got the amazing picture of Ellis and Zach Osborn above. Zach was lucky enough to sit next to me during the whole movie and I must say it was a great experience. I would always turn to him when something awesome happened and be like "Oh my God... that was freaking awesome!" 

Finally, at about 11:30, we entered Screen 17. The feeling of running inside of there and being the first one was purely magically. I got the perfect seat- middle and center. It was great. The excitement that was building before the film started was unearthly. I was literally shaking. 

The previews were pretty good but honestly I was so excited that I didn't really get to enjoy them. However, that Watchmen trailer was something else. I mean, really it was. We'll have to talk about that more later. As for Terminator 4, all I can say is...."meh." I don't get why everyone's geeking out over it. 

So, I guess you must be wondering ... what did I think of the movie? It was okay, I guess...

Did you really think I was being serious? Well, I wasn't in the slightest. The Dark Knight was absolutely amazing in that it some how surpassed my ridiculously high expectations that I had for it. The thing was insanely dark, complex, and moving. It surpasses Batman Begins and pretty much every other superhero movie I've seen in every way. Honestly, it's one of the best films that I've seen in years. It had me so engaged that I literally forgot where I was at times. This thing is just epic. If Heath Ledger doesn't win an Oscar, I will be deeply offended. His performance was honestly beyond words. 

At multiple times during the film, I actually felt myself almost reduced to tears. It was that damn good. Expect a longer review later, but I just wanted you all to know right now: it is that good.

This was the last picture that we took of the group before we left. It marks the end to one of the greatest and most bonding experiences of my life. It was totally worth the five hour wait. In fact, the wait was definitely part of the fun. I'm absolutely exhausted right now writing all this down but man, I gotta say, it was one hell of night. Yes, this is pay back for what happened to me last year with Spider-man 3. Overall, I'm happy to be alive.

Thank you, Chris Nolan. Thank you so much. Go see The Dark Knight immediately.