Star Wars Fans in Line... at the Wrong Theater 618
Rollie Hawk writes "More than a month before the premiere of Revenge of the Sith, fans are already lining up. Outside Grauman's Chinese Theater, eleven diehard Star Wars fans (i.e. lifelong virgins) are waiting for tickets to go on sale. Unfortunately, it appears that the guys with girlfriends will have the last laugh as the Chinese Theater isn't even premiering the film."
Triumph (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Triumph (Score:5, Interesting)
"Which one of these buttons calls your parents to pick you up?"
Except for the LOTR kid. That was just kind of sad.
Re:Triumph (Score:4, Interesting)
Blackwolf the Dragon Master was hilarious!
Besides, as weirdness goes, that kid's quirks were relatively harmless. It's not like his wizard robes were made out of human skin or something.
Re:Triumph (Score:3, Insightful)
Spock flipping them all of was pretty damn funny too.
Re:Triumph (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm guessing he can get his share of wicca trim at a typical Ren Fest.
Re:Triumph (Score:3, Interesting)
I dunno, a lot of "embarassing stuff" other people find funny, I don't because it's painful to watch. Almost like I'm doing it. Same with rage. I watch something were someone is screaming and my body gets all worked up like I was mad, but I'm not. I watch someone holding their breath underwater and my breathing just tapers off. Maybe I'm the weird one
Re:Triumph (Score:5, Interesting)
This function of the way our brains are wired is what allows us to feel empathy.
The corollary to this phenomenon could also be the reason why voyeurs often become crossdressers.
Re:"nerd-hags" (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Triumph (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Triumph (Score:5, Funny)
All I could do was chuckle to myself while he read proclimations from scrolls.
HERE is Black Wolf the Dragon Master's website... (Score:5, Informative)
http://web.archive.org/web/20040921083255/http://
Enjoy. This guy was insane.
Here's a few other links:
Re:Triumph (Score:3, Informative)
Intro to Blackwolf's Dossier. [geocities.com]
Re:Triumph (Score:5, Insightful)
When Empire came out, people waited in line days in advance because it was the only sure way to get in on opening night.
Today, you can buy your tickets on-line in advance and show up just as the previews are starting. There is no reason to camp out for seats other than pretending to be as "hard core" of a fan as those who slept out for the original movies in '77, '80 and '83.
Hey, you in the Jedi robes! Here's a clue: Real nerds will have already seen the illegal torrent file of the movie before you even get in the theater anyway. There's no geek-cred to be won simply by being the "first" to see the new movie, and all of the prequels are lame anyway. Go home and take a shower.
Re:Triumph (Score:5, Insightful)
> There is no reason to camp out for seats other than pretending to be as "hard
> core"
Except, you know, because they want to socialize with Star Wars fans and play with lightsabers, and they think that's cool, despite the fact that it's not cool to the rest of us.
News flash: "geek cred" is a worthless currency, and has been ever since the dot-com bubble burst. It's now back to just being an oxymoron. You've reached a crossroads: If there's a group deriving value and status from somthing that you deem worthless, and then you proceed to deride them for not sharing your sense of what's worth doing -- then congratulations, you're no longer a nerd. You're a cool person.
> Go home and take a shower.
If I stay home and torrent the prequels I already know I'm supposed to hate, why bother showering?
Re:Triumph (Score:4, Funny)
Nope. Sounds like you got fucking pwnxx03rd.
ggnorekkthx.
Re:Triumph (Score:4, Funny)
According to the article, these fans are more interested in standing in line than seeing the movie itself:
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have found the Comic Book Guy!
Re:Triumph (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Triumph (Score:5, Funny)
Hey, don't sell yourself short. You can be both.
It'll still suck. (Score:4, Funny)
--grendel drago
Nerd (Score:2)
Don't understand why people find it so strange (Score:5, Insightful)
Still, I don't understand why people find it so strange that a small amount of hardcore fans dress each two years like their favorite hero but then, never make fun of the thousands of stupid jocks that paint their faces and go dressed in a clown looking way to their favorite football game every Sunday.
Suckers (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Suckers (Score:2, Funny)
pssst... having a boyfriend, while technically correct, does not count.
Re:Suckers (Score:2)
People think geeks aren't social, but it's absolutely not the case. Why else would standing in line be more important than the thing you're standing in line for?
TW
Re:Suckers (Score:3, Insightful)
Nerds are the Slashdotters who put on their D&D dungeon master rode to feel empowered as they post on Slashdot and call everyone else in the world losers but themselves. I like geeks and dorks, I can't stand nerds.
Re:Suckers (Score:3, Insightful)
A Geek is an engineer, or, barring that, one who obsessed with obtaining skill in something that really has no real world relevance, but sucks up time from interesting problems as a means of illusionary social superiority. These skills are mainly trivial, done by countless others, and are done in a way that collaboration is almost completely shunned. Examples are D&D, pseudo-religious flame wars (kind of like this), system administration, obtaining an MCSE,
Re:Suckers (Score:5, Interesting)
Pundits and observers dispute the relationship of the terms "nerd" and "geek" to one another. Some view the geek as a less technically skilled nerd. Some factions maintain that "nerds" have both technical skills and social competence, whereas "geeks" display technical skills while socially incompetent; others hold an exactly reversed view, with "geek" serving as the socially competent counterpart of the socially incompetent "nerd", and call themselves "geeks" with pride (compare Geekcorps, an organization that sends people with technical skills to Third World countries to assist in computer infrastructure development).
Some regional differences may exist in the use of the words "nerd" and "geek". Some claim that on the North American west coast the population prefers the term "geek" to "nerd", while the North American east coast prefers the word "nerd" to "geek" (see Ellen Spertus's page on The Sexiest Geek Alive (http://www.mills.edu/ACAD_INFO/MCS/SPERTUS/Geek/) [mills.edu]). Others on the east coast dispute this, claiming that they have always found "nerd" used disparagingly and "geek" used in a positive light. In Britain, this latter view tends to apply -- "nerd" has more offensive connotations than "geek", which speakers of British English often use affectionately. Compare anorak.
Nerd appeared earlier and at a time when being good at school was not seen as "cool". Therefore nerd is a derogatory word (although some people now consider it a compliment), while geek appeared later and has thus avoided many of the negative conotations. Geek is a milder version and is also applied to to people who are socially insignificant, while nerd is used more with people who are socially inept.
Re:Suckers (Score:2, Insightful)
I would rather spend some time with my wife, who has been abroad for two weeks on business. When she got back on Monday, we really enjoyed being back with each other.
Even if someone GAVE me a ticket to watch Starwars on a preview, but would clash with the time my wife returns from her trip, i would not give up being with her.
The way I look at it, Starwars is a plain story, a f
HA! (Score:3, Funny)
Not virgins... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Not virgins... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Not virgins... (Score:2)
Hell, quite a night when you play Luke for your gal while she playing Leia
Re:Not virgins... (Score:2, Funny)
Um, you have incest fantasies? Ewww.
Re:Not virgins... (Score:5, Funny)
What people do at home is their own business.
Hopefully your self-esteem can handle it when she asks you, "aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?"
Considering... (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Not virgins... (Score:3, Funny)
Hopefully your self-esteem can handle it when she asks you, "aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?"
Or it could get worse! "she" could make a comment along the lines of:
I see that your schwarz is as big as mine!
oh! wait a minute... wrong movie! Sorry about that. Nothing to see here... move along... move along.
Re:Not virgins... (Score:2)
Re:Not virgins... (Score:5, Informative)
The conception of Jesus was not the "immaculate conception"; the conception of Mary was; even though she was conceived through normal means, the Catholic Church decided that she'd been given a singular gift of Grace, making her the only person ever born without the stain of Original Sin, to explain how she could possibly be a suitable vessel for Jesus before he died to forgive that sin.
Re:Not virgins... (Score:5, Funny)
And does this mean the Catholic Church made the first and most widely spread retcon?
Re:Not virgins... (Score:5, Informative)
It's also a typo. In the original Hebrew, the word used meant "without child" or "young girl". Basically, "not a mother", nothing to do with "not had sex", or "a regular on slashdot". So, one of the cornerstones of Christianity is a translation error.
Makes you think...
Re:Not virgins... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Not virgins... (Score:5, Insightful)
Being modded as troll, but he's right. If you disagree, trace the the origins of the revision of the bible and you will see. Prior to the translation from Latin (King James version), only the elite could read the scriptures. When they translated them, they were the sole purveuors of religious thought in the UK. They were also men, bound by the weaknesses of men. They left out entire sections that they disagreed with, e.g. the book of Mary. Men at that didn't believe women had a place other than in the kitchen.
Each translation was an attempt to make a bible for the local population, written with the current environment in mind. If the exact same people were to sit down and do a translation today, it would be vastly different. It scares me that most religious people aren't open to the fact there are several hundred different versions of the bible. The one their church uses is the correct one, and that's the end of the discussion as far as they are concerned.
Re:Not virgins... (Score:4, Interesting)
Simply not true...and if you had actually read the Bible (in particularly, the Gospels) you would have seen that this was not true.
From the Gospel of Luke:
"As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. 40But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
41"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, 42but only one thing is needed.[f] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." "
I mean, really, if all that the men were about were making sure that women stayed in the kitchen, wouldn't they have had a little bit more creativity here? Jesus would have told Martha that she was absolutely right and that Mary should get her lazy butt into the kitchen to help with preparing the food.
Re:Not virgins... (Score:3, Insightful)
She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. 40But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" 41"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, 42but only one thing is needed.[f] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." "
That's pretty weak though, j
Re:Not virgins... (Score:4, Interesting)
There are 5,000+ unique manuscripts of the new testament, dated to between 50 to 225 years after the NT was written. So no, it wasn't spread by word of mouth for 1,000 years and got corrupted that way. According to this source and numerous studies, based on just the new testament, 5,000 different (greek!) manuscripts corroborate to an accurancy of 99.5%. (Strobel, Lee. The Case for Christ (Zondervan Publishing House, 1998), p. 83-85). Feel free to take an issue with that.
They were also men, bound by the weaknesses of men.
Agreed, of course. Men aren't perfect. But the book of Mary wasn't even written by Mary, nor could it have been proven to be true. All of the books in the modern bible have been corroborated -- hundreds of separate manuscripts... not decided by committee. See The Da Vinci Deception by Erwin W. Lutzer.
Each translation was an attempt to make a bible for the local population, written with the current environment in mind. If the exact same people were to sit down and do a translation today, it would be vastly different.
It would only be different in the sense that the words they would come out with from the original Greek translations would be different. There are a few dozen different versions of the Bible out right now. Some a sixth grader could read. Some I can't read aloud. Some have had the modern language applied to them. When you have greek words that can turn in ways more subtle than the modern English language (you know, like how eros, agape, and philia all mean "love", but agape is far more encompassing), that's going to happen.
It scares me that most religious people aren't open to the fact there are several hundred different versions of the bible. The one their church uses is the correct one, and that's the end of the discussion as far as they are concerned.
I have a preferred version, but I have a couple of others as well. Yes, the Wisconsin Synod of the Lutheran Church uses solely the King James Bible, as far as I know. There's no biblical precedent for that, nor do I recommend it, and it is dangerously narrow-minded.
But there is also a difference between using just one Bible and going to another source (the Book of Thomas, the Book of Mary, the Apocrypha) that may not be as "proven" (through the manuscripts of old) as the 62 books that are there.
Keep in mind there is nothing banning you from reading any of those books. There may even be parts that are helpful to you in the study of 1st century Judaism! They just aren't counted as "the inspired Word of God", given that some of the parables related in those books are clearly unbelievable (as opposed to the corroborated (I cannot emphasize that enough) miracles in the Gospels).
Got a link? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Got a link? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Got a link? (Score:3, Interesting)
What happenend was a little translation error: the text translated from said something along the lines of '...and Moses came down the mountain with fury...' because he saw that his people where worshipping golden idols. But in hebrew, the word fury [or 'scorn'...I don't remember the exact word] and
Re:Not virgins... (Score:4, Funny)
Star Wars Kid (Score:3, Funny)
In other news... (Score:5, Funny)
In other news, 600,000 Catholics are in line at the wrong basillica....
I feel a great disturbance in the force... (Score:2, Funny)
Shortest reigning pope in history... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Shortest reigning pope in history... (Score:3, Informative)
The tradition of popes taking names from predecessors dates to an early time in the Church when a certain man named Mercury became Pope. As he thought it inappropriate to have the head of the Christian Church named after a pagan deity he took the name of a predecessor. The tradition stuck.
So a pope taking a name such as that would be rather preposterous.
Re:Shortest reigning pope in history... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:In other news... (Score:3, Funny)
Of course they are! Everybody knows this guy [wikipedia.org] is the real pope.
Re:In other news... (Score:3, Funny)
haha (Score:5, Funny)
... so wait, are they still waiting?
The funniest bit (Score:5, Funny)
Not only does he have a bit of a geeky tag, the reason he's waiting isn't to see the films but, well, to wait.
Re:The funniest bit (Score:5, Funny)
Either he's a doctor of the female arts and nerd...
Or else he's a nerd +5 with absolutely no hope of ever glimpsing what a Doctor of Obstetrics and Gynecology sees all day long... ObGyn indeed!
Nice job getting his handle into print though!
Re:The funniest bit (Score:3, Insightful)
People who wait in line outside the Chinese for the (shitty) prequels are doing so for the exact same reason kids went to "Woodstock 2" in spite of the fact that nearly all of the bands at the show sucked. They want to feel somehow connected to the phenomenon.
Am I a bad person, (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Am I a bad person, (Score:4, Funny)
-John.
Makes you wonder... (Score:5, Funny)
And then what type of a fit will they throw when they go to the correct theatre and there's already a line.
It's the experience that's important! (Score:5, Insightful)
I saw Episodes 1/2 on opening day and waited in line about 6 minutes combined. So it's not like they NEED to camp out to get tickets. Which come to think of it makes the whole idea of them standing in line for tickets anywhere, let alone a theatre that isn't even showing the movie... downright sad.
What I'm looking forward to more than the movie is the comedy bit where Triumph the Insult Comic Dog shows up and tells the line camping nerds how nice they are... FOR HIM TO POOP ON!
Not just the wrong theater... (Score:2, Funny)
Almost, because God help me, I'm looking forward to this one too.
Hey, wait a minute (Score:3, Funny)
Uh, hello, Kettle? This is Pot, returning your call....
Re:Hey, wait a minute (Score:5, Informative)
(323)462-9609
This is the number to the payphone outside of Grauman's Chinese Theater.
Enjoy.
Re:Hey, wait a minute (Score:4, Interesting)
It was pretty funny. Basically the guy was just telling me that they're not losers and that they have an organization for this kind of thing. They have a system of signing in and signing out and the amount of hours they accumulate indicates their position in line.
I still think they're a bit freaky, but whatever you find fun, you gotta do.
Re:Hey, wait a minute (Score:3, Funny)
Good to know that they have created a Star Wars Episode III Queue Ranking Organization using time accumulation to determine the rank, and aren't geeky at all!
Re:Hey, wait a minute (Score:5, Funny)
Movie's already released... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Movie's already released... (Score:2)
Don't leave me in suspense... (Score:5, Funny)
Haha (Score:2, Funny)
Han SolOWNED
Completely Sensible Behaviour (Score:5, Funny)
rotflol (Score:3, Funny)
Are you sure the Chinese theatre wasn't showing Space Balls or something??? I mean, really, this is something QUITE obvious. You'd think these people would at least make sure they're at the right theatre!
{shakes head} Damned Lemmings...
STFU (Score:3, Interesting)
Please RTFA.
The Chinesse theatre has shown all of the previous star wars movies. When the last movie came out there were rumors it wouldn't be playing at the Chinese theatre, but it ended up premeiring there despite those rumors.
AFAIK, the Chinese theatre is a single screen theatre a few blocks away from a huge super-mega-multi-omni-ultraplex. Said plex is trying to work a deal
It's sad... (Score:5, Insightful)
erm (Score:3, Insightful)
If this is the case then please fuck off to somethingawful or whatever the hellhole is you hang out because here we're beyond judging people on how many women they have fucked or gone out with.
Re:erm (Score:3, Insightful)
People have a fucked up idea of who to slag off.
Re:erm (Score:4, Funny)
Yes.
Re:erm (Score:5, Insightful)
This is really a sad commentary on the position of slashdot readers in the social order, and I'll illustrate why with a anecdote from middle school: At recess I often used to watch the field behind the soccer goals, because it's where the social outcasts would go to pick on each other. Day after day they would battle to determine the pecking order of the bottom 5th percentile. Fights like those didn't go on in the upper levels, where looks, money, and prestige determined social rank. It was fascinating, and tragic. In the end, the winners gained nothing, and the stuggle only served to make their lives that much more miserable.
Now for those that didn't understand the moral, here it is; If you pick on the weakest people you can find, it is because you are yourself weak. If you are actually important or noteworthy in some way, you wouldn't have to point out failings in others to try and aggrandize yourself. Hugh Hefner doesn't need to scoff at other's sexual exploits, because he is legendary in that regard. If you do, you are obviously not.
So for everyone out there who felt the need to say, "har dee har, at least I'm not those guys", congratulations, but recess is over. So point your eyes back down at the floor and don't bump into anyone in the hall, because to everyone else, you're still at the bottom.
Re:erm (Score:3, Insightful)
It's funny that they could do so much planning to go see a movie, and completely fail to check to see if the movie was showing there. It just is.
Oops, everyone laughs, and if they have a sense of humor, they will laugh as well and move to the right theater.
You'd probably be right there to make it a big f'ing deal though, and try to throw your baggage on top of them.
You think the people waiting for months out
Re:erm (Score:4, Insightful)
Nerd bashing on Slashdot? (Score:4, Insightful)
Line Films (Score:5, Informative)
The line is more fun than the movie, by far. Everyone out there is there because they're dorks, nerds, geeks. They enjoy Star Wars, and a film premier is likely one of the few times they get to gather with other fans and geek out about their hobby. It's always a good time with people sitting around playing cards, eating pizza, drinking soda, playing board games (video games one year when the theater owner rolled out a TV on a cart for us to use) etc. Essentially the line ends up being a day or two long party.
So many here love to mock the line goers, but how many of those people have been to a Linux, gaming or hacker convention? How many have gone to some sort of industry conference? It's the same thing. Lots of geeks gathering in one place to talk about the stuff they enjoy.
The line is more fun than the movies ever are. By the time the opening crawl starts on the screen, I've been awake for 2-3 days and soon I'm nodding off. I don't care though cause I know I'm not missing anything, I already experienced the most fun part.
While I won't be in line this year, I will be thinking of my friends back home who will be.
C'mon, it -has- to be said... (Score:5, Funny)
Cheers,
Ian
Re:C'mon, it -has- to be said... (Score:3, Funny)
hmm (Score:3, Funny)
Their response (Score:4, Informative)
This is not the premiere you are looking for (Score:2, Funny)
pictures of the fans waiting in line (Score:4, Informative)
You might be a complete geek if.... (Score:4, Funny)
-While you're in line, your mom is just glad to have your ass out of the house so she can fumigate your room.
-In your zeal to be "first" (you're probably the same geeks that post "first post" trolls on
-Even slashdotters make fun of you.
Not so bad (Score:5, Funny)
Saw Ep IV Premier at the Chinese (Score:4, Interesting)
I saw Episode IV (the first one, at the time just called Star Wars) on its premier at the Chinese Theater (then called Mann's before the name went back to Graumann's). We didn't camp out but we did spend a couple hours in line.
Science fiction wasn't a big deal in those days. Probably the biggest sci fi film previously was 2001 from almost 10 years earlier. The last "line around the block" movie was Love Story. I was hoping it wouldn't be too crowded, but the weekend before it opened Time magazine had a big spread on the movie, with pictures that made it look fantastic. So we did have to wait pretty long.
But we got good seats, and as the lights went down I heard a couple of guys talking in the row behind us. Apparently they were in the industry and had already seen the movie in pre-release.
"I really envy the people here," he said.
"Why?" asked his buddy.
"Because they're about to see Star Wars for the first time."
Re:Saw Ep IV Premier at the Chinese (Score:3, Interesting)
Chinese Menu a Mixed Combination (Score:4, Interesting)
The one downside is, sometimes they book utter crap onto their main screen. A showing at the Chinese should be about spectacle. It's not where you want to see a small, intimate romantic comedy. It's where you go when you want to see things get blown up and have the speakers blast you out of your seat. As much as the Arclight tries, it really doesn't have the same impact as the Chinese, IMHO.
If Paramount is indeed a co-owner of Mann's, as the article mentions, that might explain some of their poor booking choices. No, I'm not in line, but I kind of agree with the guy interviewed. If it's not going to show at the Chinese, why bother seeing it on the big screen at all? Any other theater would pale in comparison and not be as enjoyable a movie-going experience.
Re:Star Wars geeks (Score:3, Funny)
As a "Deep indie" roleplayer who makes fun of D&Ders, I think you're on to something, but *everyone* makes fun of LARPers (except furries, of course).
Here's a detailed chart [brunching.com] of the Geek Hierarchy, for your reference.
Re:Geek, nerd, etc. (Score:4, Insightful)
Geek: very smart with good people skills
Nerd: very smart with poor people skills
Dork: dumb with poor people skills