Andy Chase

We've found all three of M. Night Shyamalan's major studio films so far to be consistently enjoyable, which is why we've been planning on going to see The Village on opening night for about a month now, with none of the usual reluctance or hesitation; it's as close to a guarantee of non-suckage as we could ever hope to get.When I was in college, I worked at a movie theater^[1] - as far as part-time college jobs go, it was a pretty good gig. I made some pretty good friends among fellow ushers, hung out with the projectionist a lot, and of course saw a lot of free movies. Really good movies, and completely forgettable pap... when it's free, it doesn't really matter, especially to a couple of starving college students.

That free movie thing will spoil you... ever since leaving that job 8 years ago, my wife (who was my girlfriend at the time) and I have been going to fewer and fewer films each year; given the choice between spending $25+ on tickets and concessions to sit in a sticky, torn seat to watch 20 minutes of previews and commercials followed by a scratched print^[2] of a shitty movie and waiting a few months to rent the DVD for $5 and watch it on my modest but perfectly capable TV and 5.1 surround sound system, the DVD option wins out just about every time. We really hate feeling like we have just wasted $25 and two or three hours of our lives watching a crap movie... and there is so much crap out there.

As a matter of fact, the last movie my wife and I saw together was Signs back in August of 2002, just a few weeks before leaving California for the east coast. I've been to a few thoroughly enjoyable films with other family since, but nothing with my wife. Few movies seem worth the investment of time, money, and logistics - living 1/2 an hour from the nearest movie theater adds some complications of its own.

We've found all three of M. Night Shyamalan's major studio films so far to be consistently enjoyable, which is why we've been planning on going to see The Village on opening night for about a month now, with none of the usual reluctance or hesitation; it's as close to a guarantee of non-suckage as we could ever hope to get.

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^[1] Formerly the General Cinema Pittsford 6... I see that it now has 9 screens, which means they probably chopped up screen 3, which was THX certified, equipped with a 70mm projector, and seated 400-plus people. Shame. That was a damn nice theater.

^[2] I don't know how many cities around the country have IATSE Projectionists' unions, but Rochester is one of them - and in most of the different theaters I went to, it showed; films in focus, prints not scratched due to improper threading, sound generally not too loud, etc. So impressed and delighted was I that I actually started getting some projection training from the union... nothing ever came of it in the end.