Seattle, WA Lining Up at the Cinerama

Hello all!

Obviously the line event is going to be nearly as great as it was for Episode II. Kudos to whoever orchestrated that! It was well planned out and organized.

I think this Line Event might be like Episode One, perhaps even not as great. It seems that the SSWS had disbanded and the Mos Everett group is going to the midnight showing in Everett. I have been anxious to be part of the third Line Event since 2002. I have taken time off of work to stand in line.

So my general question is: Is there anyone who will be standing in line for awhile? Any returning waiters? I know Jeff will be there, but anyone else? When do you think you will line up?

 

A bunch of us from the Seattle Star Wars Collectors group will be there, but I am not sure about lining up. I can check though. I am part of Mos Everett, but will be attending the Midnight show at Cinerama.
I will also check with Cinerama to see if there is any line organization going on for that show and if not, why not start something?

 

I think its rather strange that the digital version is showing at the Galaxy 13 and not at the Cinerama...Doesn't the Cinerama have digital projectors?

 

what time is the best time to start getting in line?

 

For anyone who wasn't able to get a ticket at the Cinerama, the Mos Everett group is going to see the movie at the Everett 9. We haven't made our final plans for when to meet yet, but if interested in joining us just post on our board. If also interested we are going to plan a trip with some of the Spokane fan force people to the Sci-Fi musuemn and the Cinerama for a day of science fiction in the near future. Any one who wants to is more than welcome to join us. Good luck to everyone who got a chance to see the movie at the first show at the Cinerama.

 

I hate to rag on the Cinerama, but I'm going to anyway. (Keep in mind this simply my opinion after years of attending large events at the Cinerama)

The Cinerama seems to have a rather undistinguished history of poor planning, bad business decisions and all-around general ****-ups. Large events preceding big movie releases typically go almost entirely unplanned by bumbling Cinerama staff (which seems to suffer from extraordinary turnover and incompetent management). Organization of big openings are often left up to fan-group planning that is uncoordinated at best and totally incompetent at worst (most notably the LOTR people). It's almost as if the Cinerama (abetted by Paul Allen's Vulcan NW) purposely ignores anything that goes on outside of the cinema doors. To their credit, the Seattle Star Wars people have generally done a good job with event planning despite almost zero assistance from the Cinerama management.

Jeff Tweiten, who has been waiting at the IMAX for the last few months, has been in recent contact with the Cinerama to find out when they will allow Star Wars fans to line up on Vulcan property without being thrown off the site by parking attendants. Lining up on public property is a no-go due to strict (albeit localized) enforcement of the no-sit ordinance originally designed to keep the homeless from bothering unsuspecting taxpayers. At this time, to my knowledge, they have not given Star Wars fans any information on when they will allow us to get in line.

If this communication gap between the Cinerama and Star Wars fans continues as we approach the release date of ROTS, it may be up to the fans to take matters into their own hands. There is safety in numbers and I believe that, while it may be easy for Vulcan to have one fanatic removed without incident, the prospect of press fallout from having dozens of fans removed from the Cinerama may cause hesitation.

So, if you are interested in partaking in the Episode III line event, my recommendation would be to get in touch with all of your friends and find out when people will start to show up. I plan on being down there Monday 5/16. I know some others that will be there the on Friday the 13th. I find if people just show up and start running the show, the Cinerama will pretty much go along with the status quo.

 

My friends and I have been waiting for this time for years! I put in for my vacation time a year ago. I was planning to get in line on Saturday the 14th. I have at least 2 friends who will be joining me that early. Four more friends will be joining me 1-2 day prior. I will be happy to help to organize a Line Event to ensure that those who have waited the longest will the the best seats in the theater.

For Episode II, I saw both the midnight showing and the 7:00pm showing. The organization that the midnight showing was excellent. We all had numbers and everyone kept their place in line. I think we were allowed to hold four places in line. I was #137 in line and then my friends were #138-140. However for the 7:00 show, it was pandemonium. I got in line at about 12 noon. At that time, I was number nine in line. But without the number badges to organize, each of those nine people were holding space for 10-20 people, so by 6:30pm, there were over 100 people in front of me!!! Which seemed very unfair to me!

So those number badges were a god/Force-send! It kept people organized and let those who had spent days in line priority of the seats inside.

As for camping out, I remember that John and Jeff were paying $12/day to camp in the parking lot. Is that still availble for us? I mean, sure, I'd like to pay $0 to sleep on the streets of Seattle (and I won't hassle the tax-payers, I am am tax payer myself!), but are we allowed to pay the $12/day and camp out? And do you think I can squeeze six people into one parking spot?

Le me know if there is anything I can do to help!

 

This will be my first midnight showing and I figured since tickets are already soldout why would people wait in line so early? For seats?

Sorry if it's a dumb question (first time going to first show). The idea of a ticket or something showing where in line you are sounds like a great idea (worked with marniers tickets@ safeco/mariners stores when tickets started to go on sale).

 

I along with other people from my work will probably be down there around 9:30pm or 10:00pm. This is the time I arrived down there for Episode II and I was #177 in line and got really good seats anyway. D0orD0not, if you want to hold me a space or want me to hold one for you, let me know. Not sure how early you were planning on getting down there. (BTW I am part of the Everett FF group). I feel it wouldn't make too much sense to line up earlier than that.

 

Since it sounds like some of you guys are skeptics/newbies, I'll just lay it out for you.

The line event is basically designed as an excuse to drink, smoke, **** and gamble.

That's right. There will likely be more than one full bar somewhere in the parking lot, your choice of leafy substances to toke, opportunities to gamble away your savings at day-long Texas Hold 'Em tournaments and plenty of chances to engage in random bouts of carnal debauchery with strangers. We may hide behind the guise of "getting good seats" but who's really going to believe that crap? If you are not a prude, geek, Republican or otherwise mind-numbingly boring person, you could quite possibly have the time of your life.

See you there. And bring a case of beer.

 

So, this is my first time a midnight showing, mainly because the first two times I couldn't my hands on tickets. I was thinking about being down there around 10 p.m. or so.

 

As dragonmar (Marlow) said Mos Everett is planning something at the Everett 9 (I know, lame-o theater, long story) if You couldn?t get your hands on 12:01 am tickets anywhere and you live fairly close to Everett, as of today at 4:20pm when I spoke to the box office people, they still have 228 available
Our planning thread is here if you are interested:
http://boards.theforce.net/Everett_WA/b10555/19517568/?0

 

I'm coming with 3 other people. However, due to work and schedule I'll probably show up during the late night time hours (9-10pm) on the day of the show. So, bobafett25 I'm not sure if I'll be the best person to ask to hold goods spots in line for since it sounds like we're arriving at similar times (sorry).

 

I'm also showing up with 3 other people and I'm not sure I can convince any of them to get there much earlier than 9:30 or 10.

 

I can see it now. Those of us that are able to get in line early are going to be pushed to the back by those one or two people that hold a space in line for there 50 friends. If you can't get to the theater early you should be SOL. Get to the back of the line!

 

YOU SEE! This is why we need those stinkin' badges!!!

 

Rumor has it that Vulcan will not be letting ANYBODY camp in the parking lot. Liability or some other cop-out BS. Whatever. If so, they may be in for a nasty surprise when we descend upon the Cinerama come a week or so before the show. I wonder how the SPD will feel about dozens of people crowding the sidewalk for a few days...

 

Thats odd. What was it you didn't like about the LOTR's line event?

I was there and all seemed to run just as good as ANY Seattle Star Wars Society event.

TexasTwoStep
aka: T2S





*** Organization of big openings are often left up to fan-group planning that is uncoordinated at best and totally incompetent at worst (most notably the LOTR people).

 

I'll be there about 2pm or before on the 18th.

I think it is one thing to hold a place for one or two people due to extenuating circumstances, but going from #9 to #100 is just plain ridiculous.

In the abscence of badges, there should be standards and common sense used to hold places in line. For example, my friend and I will be holding places for our wives and my sister, who have to come later due to picking my sister up at the airport around 10pm (she's flying in from NY just to see the movie with me). However I have 3 other friends that are going to come later due to their own planning issues and as far as I am concerned they get whatever place they get and am not going to let them cut in place.

If everyone followed similar standards it would go OK and the early birds would all get good seats. What sucks is when one person lets 5-10 friends cut in line.

Ah well, we'll have to play it by ear.

 

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but since Jeff Tweitan is now camping out at the Cinerama, even if you were to leave now and line up right behind him, you would be looking at getting through the door with about 20 some people ahead of you.

Jeff is/was part of the Seattle Star Wars Society, and by the time the doors open for the movie, you'll have 15-20 of Jeff's closest friends between your "second" spot in line and the door leading into the theater.

Thats the way its been since Episode 1 and I doubt its going to change.

TexasTwoStep
aka: T2S

 

But if you show up now with a bottle of Tequila, you might just become one of Jeff's closest friends!

 

I was watching tv today and on Channel 13 they said that there will be a 'special visitor' for the premier of EPIII. Does any one know who this is? They are gonna have a story about it on the 10 o'clock news tonight on Channel 13

 

can't remember which webpage i was looking at but it listed all the special guests for the charity screenings and for seattle there were two listed:

evening magazine's JOHN CURLEY (or whatever his name is)

and one other that i can't remember... another local media person i'm pretty sure... not anyone that is associated with star wars = (

there was also a special screening TONIGHT for the literacy foundation or something like that....wish i could have gotten in on that one

NWJEDI
dave

 

The Charity Premier was tonight. Yeah, John Curley was there and tried to interview one of our Alpha Base members and she chewed him out for revealing spoilers. He's not a celebrity as far as I'm concerned.

The film is absolutely awesome.

 

ugh

for some reason i thought the charity screening was going to be on a sunday...

i guess since the last two have been on a sunday my mind was thinking sunday, sunday SUNDAY !!!

and i didn't see any mention of the theater asking for anyone in costume = (

NWJEDI
dave