The Twilight Zone

So I'm a Twilight fan.  It's no secret.  Although the books were originally written for teenage girls, women (and some men) of all ages have taken to the series.  It would be safe to say there are as many adult fans as teen fans.  I read the books when I was pregnant with Arden; all four within a week's time.  They kept me enthralled during my 2-week power outage post-Hurricane Ike.  I fell in love with the characters and story-line and could not wait until the movie came out.  Of course the first movie was lame, but I think the actors have gotten a BIT (no pun intended) better over the course of the next movies.

Well last night was the premiere of the last Twilight movie, Breaking Dawn 2.  It was an eventful outing.

I made plans to see Twilight with my usual movie date, Amy.  I bought the tickets online three days before.  I tried to reserve seats for one of the reservation showings, but the only seats remaining were on the front rows.  We didn't want to watch Breaking Dawn with a crook in our neck, so I ended up buying tickets for a showing that didn't have reserved seating.  Hence, we showed up two hours early to stand in line.  Normally I wouldn't be one of those crazy fans, but I liked the idea of getting away to hang out in line with my good friend.  We are both busy with our families, so it's nice to have girl time.  Hunter, her fourteen year old, also joined us.  Hunter is a great kid, but he has hit high school, and now he is WAY too cool for us.  It has been a shock to see him transform overnight from a sweet little kid into a typical teenager.  Anyway, he wanted to see the movie, but he was less than thrilled to be hanging out with his thirty something year old mom and mom's friend at the movie theater where many of his high school friends work.  It was hysterical!  I told him he was in the company of two of the hottest chicks in the theater, but he didn't buy that.  Amy and I had a great time embarrasing him.  It didn't take much to make him cringe.  For example, Amy and I were trying to get a Facebook worthy picture of us.  We made Hunter try to get a good pic, but none of them were coming out cute.  He kept rolling his eyes as we made him repeatedly snaps photos.  He was trying to do it fast since he didn't want his friends seeing him take pictures of us, so of course they came out bad and blurry.... which made him have to take them again.  The lack of pictures on this post should tell you that we never got a good shot. He was then especially annoyed when his mom made him fetch us popcorn and coke.  Ha! 

Since we arrived two hours early, we had a good place in line.  We were probably about forty people away from the front; definitely in good enough standing to get a great seat.  Amy and I decided it was safe to leave Hunter in line with our two purses to get some drinks.  When we returned Hunter was still standing against the wall with our two purses (which we left behind to save our place).  Except there was no more line!  "Hunter, where did everyone go?"  "I don't know, they all left."  We race to the now open theater to find everyone that was in front of us... and behind us in line were already seated!  The only seats available were on the front rows.  Doh!!!!  Our long wait wasted!    He said he was waiting for us to return.  Seriously?! Now Hunter is a smart kid. I would probably go as far as to say he's a genius. I mean the kid is a freshman in highschool and is already taking AP classes.  Why Hunter didn't go into the theater to secure us seats I may never know!  So we reluctantly take seats on the second row.  A frustrated Amy went up to the top to try and find single seats for us.  Better that we split up then end up with a splitting headache.  As it turns out, some lady cut the entire line once the theater opened and tried to save ten seats.  The Twi-hard fans that saw her do it reported her and she was kicked out.  The vigil antes didn't even want the seats, they just wanted to see justice served. Don't mess with these women when Edward and Jacob are involved! We lucked out because we snagged a group of those primo seats just in time.  Whew!

So we are now in great seats and there is an empty chair next to me.   Enters 40 year old 350+ pound man. He could best be described as a younger, larger John Goodman during his Roseanne days. Now remember this is a Twilight movie.... the only men in the theater are those boyfriends and husbands that were drug along by their wives and girlfriends.  I know a lot of men that secretly like Twilight (COUbrianGH) but they wouldn't dare see it without a female companion.  Amy and I decide he was probably a dad keeping an eye on his teenage daughter while she watched the movie with friends.  But I'm still curious and want to know his story.  So I ask him.  Nope.  No teenage daughter.  He is there ALL BY HIMSELF!  He proceeds to tell me that an ex girlfriend got him hooked on Twilight, and he just couldn't wait to see the last movie.  I then see him take a monkey-arm photo of himself and post it on Facebook.  I was dying laughing on the inside that a big, burly, heterosexual, single, middle-aged male was flying solo at a Twilight movie. 

We get settled in and all of a sudden we hear screams a few rows in front of us.  Some girls were screaming that there was a mouse!  No one dares to leave their seats though, because they worked hard to get them.  I saw teenage twi-fans at their ultimate bravery.... willing to withstand a mouse on the loose in order to preserve their seats for a Twilight show!  I'm not sure where the mouse went, so I made sure my purse was closed and my bucket of popcorn guarded. 

There was so much excitement and anticipation in the air for this Twilight Saga finale.  It was probably a mixture of teens past their bedtime, the cool air, one too many cokes, the long wait, and estrogen.  As soon as the PREVIEWS started rolling, the crowd was cheering.  And lets not talk about when Jacob made his first appearance.  The crowd went wild.  So funny.  The movie was great to watch with all of the other vampire loons like me.  It was enjoyable to listen to the audience laugh at the faintest bit of humor.  A regular viewer might not have even cracked a smile, but this audience GOT it.  These fanatics have all read the books and know these characters through and through.  So much better than watching it with all the crazies than with half-hearted viewers who don't fully understand the movie.  And the twist.... oh gosh!  People were yelling at the screen because they were MAD!  I was mad!  The movie had the audience in an uproar.  It was good, though!

I was sad when the movie was over.  It was so good and I was sad to see it end.  With my full 40 ounce souvenir cup in hand, I head to my car.  My phone is dead and immediately plug it into my phone charger.  My cup to too big to fit in the cup holder, so it teeter totters on the holder while I reverse.  The next thing I know all forty ounces spill onto the bottom of my middle console area and onto my phone charger.  Aghhhhh!  I have nothing to clean it up with, so I try to scoop as much coke as I can out with the cup.  I then use the sweater that I'm wearing to sop up the remaining 20 ounces or so.  What a mess!

Between the long line, the lost spot in line, the score on the best seats, the excitement in the air, the burly fan, the annoyed teenager, the mouse, and my spilled coke, it was a memorable night!  I can't wait to see it again!