I woke up at 6 am this morning. (Yes, I was that excited. Don’t judge me.)
The movie started at 10 am and was held at the INOX in JP Nagar, which is only about ten minutes away from home, which meant that I had 3.5 hours to kill before we left for the movie. And even then we’d be super early. I didn’t want to go online – because I knew tumblr and Facebook would be filled with HP spoilers – so I ended up listening to the movie soundtrack on repeat while playing game after game of Solitaire.
Anyway, we finally left home, braved the Saturday morning traffic, and reached Bangalore Central by 9:45.
The theater wasn’t even open yet.
There were a few other families in the theater – I later found out they weren’t even here for Harry Potter; they were here for some Hrithik Roshan movie – but I managed to make my way to the front of the line. And I’m very proud to say I was the first one to go through the security machine, up the escalator, through the maze of stantions, through the second set of security machines, past the ladies with the metal-detector wands, and into the theater area. Woohoo!
Sidenote: Is it just me, or is that level of security slightly ridiculous? Even airports don’t make me go through two different security machines. And the ladies who checked my purse were ruthless; they took the batteries out of my camera and phone, and they confiscated my granola bar and cough drops!
Anyway, we finally went through the concession stand, got our drinks and popcorn, and made it to our seats. (After a slight mishap where we walked into the wrong theater and sat there for a solid five minutes until someone came and told us we were in there seats. It’s a good thing they were assigned, or we might have watched the wrong movie!)
So we finally made it to our (correct) seats, and to my surprise, the theater wasn’t even full! There were only two showings of Harry Potter yesterday, which means this was the third possible showing people in this area could go to. And I understand that 10 am on a Saturday morning is pretty early, and this wasn’t even a 3D theater, but where was everybody?! This is Harry Potter we’re talking about. People should be willing to queue for hours for even the chance to watch it.
After sitting through a few PSAs about wearing helmets and following street signs, a couple of advertisements for bleach and face cream, and absolutely no movie previews, the film finally started.
It was incredible.
From the first frame, I was completely sucked in. I was laughing hysterically or crying like a baby; I literally jumped out of my seat on more than one occasion.
And then, right in the middle of the Hogwarts battle, the screen went blank for an intermission.
AN INTERMISSION!!
This is the Hogwarts battle! I don’t care if you need to go to the bathroom or buy another samosa. You do not stop the movie smack dab in the middle of the Hogwarts battle. (I realize that pretty much the entire movie is the battle at Hogwarts. But really. Intermission not necessary.) Funnily enough, during the intermission, the guy sitting next to me asked if I was okay. I think my crazed emotions were starting to worry the people around me.
Anyway, the movie finally restarted, and I was able to watch the rest of the film uninterrupted.
Gosh, it was brilliant.
Sidenote: I was going to also include a review of the movie, but I don’t want to give any spoilers. (Though chances are, by the time I actually post this, you should have seen the movie already.) Anyway, if you want to know my thoughts, I’d be more than happy to ramble for hours and give you a scene-by-scene detailing of what I liked and didn’t like.
Because my opinions on this movie are probably even stronger than my opinions of Indian movie theaters.
-July 16th
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