So Who's Ready for Some Gratuitous Violence?

Another trailer for Kick-Ass has been released and it's featuring my favorite character possibly of all time. Why? Just see for yourself:

Let's All Go to the Movies!

Movie-Going Etiquette: The Dos and Don'ts

So you may have caught my mentioning that I work in a movie theater; more specifically, a theater with an IMAX. This past holiday season has enlightened me on just how ridiculous some movie-goers are. By ridiculous, I mean LUDICROUS. I finally had the opportunity to become an usher, a position I officially had not been signed up to do before last Sunday. As most of you may know, a lot of great and (some) family-friendly movies came out this past season: The Princess and the Frog, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Sherlock Holmes, It's Complicated, and Avatar. We've sold out of a lot of showings, especially Avatar in the IMAX. That means lots of customers who leave their trash in the theaters (and in the bathrooms...ew), customers who complain (most of the complaints I've heard are utterly perposterous), and customers who become very rude and start yelling at us for no reason. Don't get me wrong, I love working at the theater, but there are just some things that get on my nerves. There are some events, however, that lighten my day.

In hopes that people will read this and keep the below in mind, I will list some of what to do and what not to do when going to the movies.

DO:
1) While you're standing in line, take that time to decide what you want if you don't know already. On busy days, the line can build up. If you don't know what to order by the time you come up to register, guess what? You're holding up the line and making the wait even longer for the people behind you. Plus, it is also frustrating to the concessionist because he/she wants you out of the way as quickly as possible so the line can get shorter and customers waiting longer won't take out their frustration on us (because they will).

2) Look up. You won't believe how many people don't. Whenever I was a ticket taker, I would point each movie goer to the direction their auditorium is located as well as repeat what number they need to look for. I once watched this one fellow wonder around the hallways looking for Auditorium 8. In my theater, it's the first one when entering the left hallway. Not once did he bother to look up at the signs ahead or above him. He came back, and I gave him a more detailed instruction on how to get there. He just looked at me blankly, looked back, and then he looked very confused. I actually had to walk with him part of the way and point at the sign ahead saying, "Auditorium 8 is this one right here." He had the gall to say, "Oh well, why didn't you tell me that earlier?" I wish he was the only one to do this, but unfortunately *sigh* he's not.

3) If you know that you have sensitive hearing, bring ear plugs. Some theaters actually provide them, all you have to do is ask. I'm not sure if mine does, though. Admittedly, some auditoriums can get loud; however, these said auditoriums are usually high-octane action films and would therefore expect loud noises. We get most of our complaints from the larger auditoriums. You must know that we calibrate the sound appropriate for the size of the room (that's what I've been told anyway). An old lady actually approached one of our ushers complaining that one of our movies was too loud. The usher went in with her to check. The sound was actually normal as it should be. Then the lady actually said, "Well that's because you kids listen to all that loud rock music it's made your ears go bad!" I kid you not. So yeah...bring ear plugs. You'll still be able to hear the movie, but it will help block out some of the really loud parts.

4) Please, PLEASE!!!! take your trash with you when leaving the auditorium. Yes it is an usher's job to clean after every showing, but it really cuts down on the time when people take out their own trash. When I was an usher, it took way longer than it should have cleaning up after Alvin and the Chipmunks 2. First of all, it's a small auditorium that seats about 70 people...and it was a sold out show. It seemed like EVERYONE left their trash at their seats. There were juice bottles, trays full of food and popcorn, and half-full soda cups left everywhere. And I'm pretty sure there was a huge popcorn fight too. Damn kids. And don't get me started on Avatar in the IMAX that seats about 265 people (which also sold out every showing). Ew....

5) Pay attention, because this is probably the most important. When you buy a ticket in advance, you are risking the possibility of not being able to make it and therefore waste your money. If there is a chance that you can't make it to your prepaid showing, come back to the theater before or DURING your movie's showing to get your money back. If you bought it online, call the customer services of whatever online ticketing site you used to try and get a refund. There's no way for us (at least where I work) to refund your money if it's an online purchase. If you ask for a refund after your ticket's showing because you couldn't make it for some reason, we won't refund your money. Why? How do we know haven't you seen it? For all we know, you could have really watched the movie and just want your money back. Also, it's like what one of my manager's explained to a disgruntled customer, if you buy a ticket to a sporting event and you missed it for some reason, guess what, you just lost your money.

6) Plan ahead. If you know a movie like Avatar is selling out all the time, it's better to just get tickets as early as possible. If you miss out on a time that you want, just buy an advanced ticket on a day and time you know that you're available next. Don't bother asking if there are really any seats left after we tell you that it's sold out, because while there really are empty seats left, we're not going to give them to you. Why are there empty seats? The last time we sold down to zero, we somehow had people sitting on the stares or standing in the very corner in the back because they want to be closer to their group. That's a fire hazard. We'd rather have empty seats for people to make room than have customers trip over other people, causing one or both of those idiots to file a lawsuit against the theater. I shake my head at people who plead for tickets after we tell them that we can't sell them tickets. I shake my head and scoff at other customers who have come back for a second or third time to try and grab a ticket to finally see Avatar only to be disappointed again by it selling out. Instead of just buying an advanced ticket, they leave and hope that they'll be lucky tomorrow.

7) Flush the toilet! I can't stress that enough! I don't care if you don't do it at home, you use a public toilet, you flush the damn toilet! For those of you readers who somehow do not know of this, AUTOMATIC TOILETS HAVE A MANUAL BUTTON! If the automatic flusher didn't activate after you have finished your business, don't just leave your crap in the bowl. Press that teeny black button (usually) next to the sensor and flush!!!! I don't want to come into that stall and see your 1's and 2's just sitting in that bowl. I DON'T!

DON'TS
1) Don't take your frustrations out on the theater staff. I've had really, really rude people come up to me and demand to be served. In my head I'd be like, "Whoa! Where the hell is this coming from?" While working concessions, one lady came up to my co-worker and listed all of the food she wanted. As required of all of us to make sure we don't mess up an order, we repeat the list to make sure we got everything right. My co-worker merely repeated the order once and the lady rolled her eyes and said, "Did I stutter? That's what I just said." That same lady came back to concessions as we started to clean up and close (my theater's concessions begins to clean up and close out ten minutes after the start of the last showing). She wanted a refill on her popcorn and drink as well as buy a pack of Milk Duds. The first question she asked me was, "When does this theater close?"

Slightly confused by her question, I simply answer, "We generally close down after the end of the last movie."

"So you should still be open, right?" She is already having an attitude by now. "So why are you cleaning back there?"

"Because concessions is closing."

"I thought you just said that you don't close until the last movie is over."

"The theater closes. Concessions is closing now."

"So you're not going to get me my refill and Milk Duds?"

"I can still..."

"What the hell kind of operation is this? I want to talk to your manager! I bought all the large sizes so I can get the refill and I want my refill and Milk Duds! And you're telling me that you don't want to get them for me because you're closing?"

I swear, this lady managed to get me out of my nice mode and shift me over to my snappy self because I was about to throw our bin of leftover popcorn we saved while cleaning the popper. Instead I call my manager and he tells her pretty much the same thing that I was trying to tell her, gives her her refills, and leaves. She comments on how she never wanted to come back again. All the while this was happening, I was finishing up on putting my stuff away. I hear her nagging voice call me again.

"So you're not going to give me my Milk Duds?" I turned around and gave her the dirtiest look. I went to my register and sold her the candy. I watched her stomp her blubber-filled track suit back into the theater before I noticed my manager returning to my register to close me out. He gave me a sympathetic look as if to say, "She was such a bitch, I'm sorry you had to go through that."

There have been other instances where a customer actually yelled at me and then my managers, but that's another story on another bullet.

Keep in mind that when you take your anger out on the staff, depending on what you do, you just might give us enough reason not to even serve you. The customer is not always right, and we do reserve the right to not sell you anything.

2) Don't bring your babies or young children to a movie you know will be inappropriate/violent/loud/scary. They get cranky, they talk loudly, they scream, etc. They are an overall nuisance to the rest of the audience who are trying to enjoy the movie. They will react to whatever loud noises or scary images that are happening and cry, forcing you to quiet them and disturb everyone around you. You just might have to walk out of the theater too, and wow, you just wasted your money. Here's what you're supposed to do: find a babysitter! If you can't, stay home and rent a movie. Don't bring your obnoxious kid to an adult movie. And furthermore, it makes you look like a bad parent.

3) Don't talk on the phone or text during the movie. My mom and friends have actually done this and it annoys the hell out of me. You pay seven to nine dollars to only give half of your attention to the movie and disturb the people around you in the process? I'm sorry, but leave that habit at home, please.

4) If there's someone sitting in front of you, try not to put your feet on the back of the chair. I know some people like to have their feet elevated (hell, I do it), BUT don't do it while there's someone sitting in that chair! It's not only incredibly rude, but I'm pretty sure the person in front of you doesn't appreciate you putting your foot next to his/her face. And don't even bother trying to press your foot against the chair in front of you, it's not sneaky and the person feels it. If you have a kid who likes kicking chairs, stop the little brat. With the wrong customer, you could get yourself kicked out.

5) Don't bother arguing about the prices. The general staff and the managers have no power over that. Also, don't yell at the box attendant if you can't get a discount for someone else. For instance, the rule at my theater is that we can only give one military discount per ID card.

This one guy yelled at me for not giving him a military discount even though I gave his wife one. And this was after I told him our rule. How was I supposed to know that he was his wife? I've come across plenty of fakers. I USED TO BE ONE! The funny thing is that I was ready to just give it to him anyway UNTIL he started giving me attitude and raised his voice at me. The problem only escalated he thought one of my coworkers gave a white couple a double military discount after showing only one military card (my couple was black, by the way). So he pulled the race card on me. We tried telling him that she had actually charged the white couple one military and one adult ticket but it fell on deaf ears. He eventually found his ID card after I had rung them up, but proceeded to accost me. I politely told him that he could exchange his ticket for a military one since he was so distressed about paying an extra dollar for himself. He went inside and yelled at two of my managers. It was crazy. There was absolutely no reason for him to blow out on anyone, especially since he could have just changed out his ticket without making a scene. His poor wife was embarrassed.

6) Don't DON'T proceed to have sex or masturbate in the theaters. That's just nasty. First of all, you will be caught; second, you will be kicked out. You just don't know which theater is more attentive than the other. The theater I work at is attentive. We will catch you. We will sick security on you. One of these days, we're just going to invest in a video camera and catch all of the "private moments" you're having and laugh at it at your expense. You think I'm kidding?

7) If you just finished watching an IMAX in 3D movie, DON'T TAKE THE GLASSES! The IMAX glasses are $13 each. When buying your ticket, you're not buying them, you're RENTING them. If an attendant sees you leaving the theater with the glasses, we have the right to bum rush you because you are stealing the theater's property. When leaving the auditorium, give the glasses to the attendant on standby.

8) We'd really appreciate it if you didn't leave your underwear on the seats for us to find. That's nasty. And yes, this as happened, otherwise I would not be mentioning it.

A Star Wars Conversation...In My Head

So I spent a good part of the day watching the first two episodes of Star Wars with my friend. All the while, my friend is analyzing the events out loud. I'm not much of a talker whenever a movie is on so I kept my thoughts to myself. Plus, my thoughts don't come out as well when verbalized. So, in a way, I save myself the effort of dominating in the analyzing game as well as sparring my friend a confusing conversation because my voice box don't work so well :) Anyway, I got to writing after he left. Naturally, Star Wars was stuck in my head. So I reach into my memory bank of one of the points my friend made and chose the Force/Midichlorian controversy.

Call me a dork now, but in turn, call yourself one. Why, you ask? Because you're reading this ;P

Anyway, I wrote a full page about two people just talking about the above said subject. I plan to use this somewhere in my big writing project (still stuck in the wonderful purgatory stage called the outline). So without further ado, I give to you the inner workings of my creative and thoughtful mind:

“Y’know,” said a young man to his friend as they both lay on the bed, their feet hanging off the edge, “It still burns me whenever I think about Lucas ruining the Force.” The young man’s friend turned her head to look at him waiting for an explanation. Her face carried a kind of expression that was prompting him to continue his out-of-nowhere stream of thought, if only he would look at her. The girl let a moment pass before finally asking him why. “Well back in the day before Episodes One through Three came out, we used to think that the Force was some kind of spiritual belief that bestowed to its followers supernatural powers. Now we know that all that’s caused by symbiotic critters living inside your body. Kinda makes the whole Force ideal lose its luster. I don’t know. What do you think, Mia?”

Mia lifted her upper body with her elbows and thought for a moment, and then she said, “It does take away some kind of luster, I guess. However, what it fully doesn’t take away is the spiritual aspect of the idea surrounding the Force. I mean, take for instance someone’s innate talent for, say, martial arts.” The young man rolled his eyes for he knew that his friend was referring to herself. “This person can kick, punch, and throw as well as any other person who has been training for a couple years now. But, this said talented person needs to go through proper training to hone this talent and make it grow into a powerful asset. Along with physical training, the person needs to train the mind so proper judgment can be used alongside his or her abilities. That, to some extent as well as in most cases, can lead to some sort of spirituality in the art. Hence general codes of conduct and precepts experienced martial artists come to live by. In a way, dedicated martial artists come to almost view it as a kind of religion. They follow its mandate well enough, and they revere its teachings of honor, respect, and life.

“On the subject Midichlorians being the source of the Jedi’s power is almost irrelevant if you think about it hard enough. Take this theory that life itself has a collective stream of consciousness and intelligence. Then take the abilities of Midichlorians—which is to communicate with that consciousness and intelligence. All life forms supposedly have them, right? It’s just that a rare few have more than others. Having enough Midichlorians in your body will make you more aware of that collective stream; you are Force-sensitive.”

“How long did it take you to put all of that together?” asked the friend who was now looking at Mia with narrow eyes.

“Few weeks, I think. It all came together after reading about some theory Dr. Allison Mann said in Y: The Last Man.”

“Yeah right,” he said. Then brushing off Mia’s revelation-esque footnote, the young man said, “So how would you explain the Jedi being able to move objects with their minds, see things before they happen, manipulate people’s thoughts, manifest lightning?”

“Um…the power of imagination? C’mon, Sam. This is still science fiction, y’know. With all the glitz and glamour of little organisms scuttling around in your blood stream, you still have to look extra cool in front the general audience. Plus there’s that whole stepping forward into the future of computer/movie technology thing going on.”

THE END...

Batman: Arkham Asylum 2

So I just got word that there's a sequel to the Batman: Arkham Asylum game. I have to say that this is pretty awesome news. The first game is fantastic. There's not a whole lot to report on what this next one with feature except that the scale your environment is bigger than Arkham Island. Here's a cam rip of the trailer from the VGAs:

UPDATE! Good news! SpikeTV has released the the debut teaser for Arkham Asylum. Much better than the cam rip.

Video Games | Spike TV VGAs 2009 | Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 Exclusive Debut Trailer HD

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Christmas Do Wants

Turkey Day is behind us! But don't worry, there's another holiday just around the corner that's ready to give you another reason to stuff your pie-holes to inconceivable capacities! That's right, Christmas is nigh and companies are filling up airwaves to tell us what we want.

So...what do you want? There's of course the regular wants such as video games and DVDs and the occasional gift card from your favorite stores. However, this day and age is all about tech, yet astonishingly enough, tech tends to be expensive and we're still in this stupid recession. My tech want? One of those itty bitty portable flash drive camcorders. Vlogging may be my next step, but who knows? Speaking in coherent sentences isn't exactly my forte so there's some work to be done with that. However, other than setting up vlogs, there are plenty of other precious (and often hilarious/off-beat) moments I like to capture.

I also would like to get me one o' those PS3s everybody's all the rage about. I have me a 360, but there are some sweet exclusive titles for the Playstation that I'd like to get my hands on. Plus! the damn thing's a Blu-Ray player! BONUS! But I figure I'll buy that one myself seeing as how my parents got the 360 for me last Christmas. The Wii will factor in the equation soon enough but that'll be for the parents.

So a little recap with some extras, yes?

1) Itty bitty flash drive camcorder (I'm staying away from actually saying Flip Video since I'm not sure about the other products out there)

2) Venture Bros. Seasons 1-3

3) A purple lightsaber (y'know, to compliment my blue, cheese knife sized one). And it's purple, c'mon!

4) PS3 + Uncharted 2, Infamous, and Ratchet & Clank (I know there isn't an actual pack with these games. A girl can dream, right?)

So tell me, scattering readers, what's on your Christmas wishlist for Santa?

Black Friday Pull List

Black Friday has come and gone. I admit that I didn't take part in the early, early morning rush on the account that I had a dissertation to edit and I was bushed. However, around eleven o'clock in the morning, I decided to scavenge off what was left of the sales in Best Buy. Turns out, there was still plenty left over. And I mean plenty. Just to give you an idea on how un-ridiculous the site was, there were still games, DVDs, and even TVs in stock. Aisles haven't been turned over from the doorbuster -- they weren't even bare! How disappointing. Freaking Xboxes were still stacked up waiting to be taken home!

Anyway, I had a meager budget of $100 and decided to go straight for the DVDs first. I got the first season of True Blood and the fourth season of Supernatural. Then I made a meandering stroll to the games. The ones that caught my eye were The Force Unleashed: The Ultimate Sith Edition (that's including the DLCs that came later for the original game) for the Xbox 360 and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days for the DS. The only reason why I didn't get Force Unleashed is because a friend of mine said that the gameplay wasn't all that great (however he did express great interest in the DLCs when they came out). I'll just get the game later, when it's cheaper :) So I got Kingdom Hearts instead.

I'm still preoccupied with Assassin's Creed 2 to want to get started with a marathon of DVD watching or even begin a new game, but I'll get there...eventually. There's also work, studying for the GREs, paper writing, paper editing, and so on and so forth. Oh yeah, since it's also the holidays, my old college roomie and friend from Denmark are coming over to visit so I'll be partying it up with them for a bit. Expect this blog to not be updated for a while.

Black Friday Gamer Deals *UPDATED*

BestBuy opens early at 5am on Friday, November 27th. Tickets for Doorbuster specials will be passed out up to two hours before the 5 a.m. openning!

Here is a quick summary of Best Buy Black Friday gaming deals:

• Xbox 360:
  • Xbox 360 Elite w/ 6 Free Games - $299.99
  • Madden NFL 10 - $34.99 (Doorbuster)
  • FIFA Soccer 2010 - $34.99 (Doorbuster)
  • NBA Live 10 - $34.99 (Doorbuster)
  • NHL 10 - $34.99 (Doorbuster)
  • Need for Speed Shift - $34.99 (Doorbuster)
  • Dragon Age: Origins - $34.99 (Doorbuster)
  • Brutal Legend - $34.99 (Doorbuster)
  • Left4Dead 2 - $34.99 (Doorbuster)
  • Resident Evil 5 - $19.99
  • HAWX - $19.99
  • Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood - $19.99
  • The Bigs 2 - $19.99
  • The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena - $19.99
  • Fallout 3 - $19.99
  • Family Game Night - $19.99
• PS3:
• PS3 Slim 120GB w/ LittleBigPlanet & Ratchet & Clank - $299.99 (Doorbuster)
• Madden NFL 10 - $34.99 (Doorbuster)
• FIFA Soccer 2010 - $34.99 (Doorbuster)
• NBA Live 10 - $34.99 (Doorbuster)
• NHL 10 - $34.99 (Doorbuster)
• Need for Speed Shift - $34.99 (Doorbuster)
• Dragon Age: Origins - $34.99 (Doorbuster)
• Brutal Legend - $34.99 (Doorbuster)
• Resident Evil 5 - $19.99
• HAWX - $19.99
• Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood - $19.99
• The Bigs 2 - $19.99
• The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena - $19.99
• Fallout 3 - $19.99
• Nintendo Wii
  • Excitebots Trick Racing - $14.99
  • Madagascar Escape 2 Africa - $14.99
  • Pikmin - $14.99
  • Boom Blox Bash Party - $14.99
  • Cooking Mama - $14.99
  • Marvel Ultimate Alliance - $14.99
• Nintendo DS
  • Nintendo DSi Handheld - Free $20 Gift Card
  • Sonic Chronicles - $9.99 (Save $10)
  • My Word Coach - $9.99 (Save $10)
  • Bolt - $9.99 (Save $10)
  • Guiness World Records - $9.99 (Save $10)
  • Marker Man - $9.99 (Save $10)
  • Cooking Mama - $9.99 (Save $10)
  • Crash - $9.99 (Save $10)
  • Spyro The Dragon - $9.99 (Save $10)
• PC
  • World of Warcraft - $4.99 (Save $15)
  • Far Cry 2 - $4.99 (Save $15
  • S.T.A.L.K.E.R - $4.99 (Save $15)
  • Assassin's Creed - $4.99 (Save $15)
  • Civilization IV - $4.99 (Save $15)
  • Slots - $4.99 (Save $15)
  • Bioshock - $4.99 (Save $15)