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Star Wars Early for the Rich
OG writes
"If you have $500 burning a hole in your pocket (plus
cash for a plane ticket to Denver or one of 5 other
cities), you can see The Phantom Menace 3 days before anyone
else. " The strange thing is that although I've
been waiting years and years, those last 3 days are going
to be the worst. Never seen The Daily Buzz before either.
Pretty sweet site. Oughta make a Slashbox for it *grin*.
Mania's an extremely good comics news site (http://www.mania.com/newsarama/index.html). Movies / television and the like are okay, but generally won't have anything that similar news sites won't have as well, so far as I can tell.
Hey, all you have to do is come up with 100 friends to give you $5 each :o)
:o)
You could run it like an online telethon.. "send an underpriveliged geek to see Phantom Menace, and your contribution will go to another charity."
I'll start by being the first pledge (under the condition that you actually get the other 99 people to send you the money first
I know it's not likely to happen, but I think it would be hilarious if all these dangerously fanatical Star Wars freaks paid big travel expenses to trek their way to Denver etc., drop $500 to see the movie 3 days early, and it was "just OK" or better yet, sucked.
Well, atleast you'll know your money went to a good cause.
Supposedly, the most technologically advanced movie theater in the country is in columbus, OH. Perhaps one of the showings will be there?
boston, sanfran or chicago (maybe dallas)
I would think these would be the other logical options.
This movie falls somewhere between Return of the Jedi and Empire Strikes back. I guess I'm too old. Too much kid appeal, but not as bad as e-woks.
Sure, it would be kind of funny. But I have a friend who's just that crazy (and just that loaded)... these folks can justify *anything* to themselves, and having that children's charity there to slough off the guilt is a bulls-eye. I mean, people will pay. Superstars, newspapers wanting to review it early, BILL, and other people to whom $500 is an okay price to pay--they'll all slap down the dough and go see it. There's no such thing as a movie worth $500 a ticket. But George Lucas is one of the only people in the world who could convince the super-rich that maaaaaybe this was the one, and hey--if it ain't, kid's charities, right?
So smile, and laugh at the 'irony'--it *can't* be good enough for the sticker price, but multiply $500 by a 200-seat theatre, and someone is going to be very happy with Mr. Lucas.
Later,
Doug
hello! you think the shareholders and CEOs care
about some stupid kids shelter? they will put on
a show because it makes them look good and increases
profits, but other than that the studio is about
making M O N E Y not about building a better society,
not about being nice to kids and old people, not about
caring about peoples feelings or any of that other garbage.
its about cash, dollars, value, stock price, power,
etc etc. dont forget that.
It's only the greatest city in the world, and a hackers paradise to boot.
I thought the special effects definitely put it above ESB. Plot wise it seemed a little more targetted at the mainstream audiences, with a lot of (IMHO) useless romanticism thrown in to satisfy all the geek girlfriends who will be dragged in to watch it 3 or 4 times.
Would you be happier if they didn't give any money away at all? How much have you donated to charities Mother (or Father) Theresa?
The benefit of things like this, is although corporations live off of money, they have to satisfy their customers (like watering plants) in order to get something back. This is almost an extra bonus for both their customers and those with a real need. Whether or not they're a major corporation or not, it's a "good" thing that lot's of money is being donated that just wouldn't have been able to be donated before. So far no corporation or CEO has been a saint and contributed most of their profits to charities, but this is still good. There is a thing in psychology that has proven that punishment is less effective than reinforcement. What this means is when someone (corporation) does something that is good, you reward them in some way (and offer some more feedback) and they continue the good deed and do more.
Punishment (such as complaining the corporation sucks and you hate their guts and they're so evil, you won't touch a thing they buy...) when they do a "good" thing will discourage them from doing the good behaviour if they get negative feedback. Even though you think your complaining and refusing to use their stuff is encouraging them to go further.
Probably not the Death Star.
Opening day is the best day to go. You get the most excited fans on that day, and in that last hour before the show starts, everyone is on the verge of exploding from anticipation. Everyone is happy, people crack jokes, people laugh when something is funny, they cheer when theres a heroic scene. You get a lively crowd. That crowd is fun to be with. It makes the experience all that more enjoyable.
-Restil
Make sure someone lends him so ultra-high quality bootlegging equipment....
HAVE YOU BEEN TO THAT THEATRE?!!...
The 3 Torus Houses in the Lennox 24 seem to be unmatched anywhere. I ask people from all up and down the Cali coast about such sized screens (2 stories high, plush++ stadium seating) and they look at me dazed.
It's sad when the nations best screens are in oHIo... almost makes me wish I didn't move away...
I didn't like that long drawn out death scene with the popcicle stick.
A friend of mine deep inside informs me that they're going to tie in that particular scene with Cheerio's somehow.
At least we know -- the SW universe has popcicles!
net at the same time as in the theaters.
they can me pay 50 dollars for the pgp pass
phrase they encrypted my copy with, if they want to be like that, i don't fsckin care.
once "everyone" has a thick net connection and a video wall (eta 2-5 yrs?) won't that make them a hell of a lot more money? no bullshit middlemen hawking foul popcorn.
don't bring up that retarded group experience theory. who needs the group experience of a movie theater anyway?
there is just no need to get snuggly with the tall ass fuglies sitting in front of you. if your date only likes to hang out with you in public, you've got problems anyway.
The net is so thirsty for this.
Why pay $500 just to see a movie 3 days before anyone else? Stupid richies! I will rent it 3 months later at a videoclub for not much than $2. Deal with it greedy bigots sucker!
take away my anger and how will i ever survive!
if i dont have anything to yell at i might
have to take responsibility for my own actions!
nooooooooooooooooooooooo
Hollywood is Hollywood; same 3 plots recycled over and over. See a foreign or indie movie!
And you Can't hear 1/2 the movie because of all of those fans. Most movieas are like that, you have to rent the damn thing 3 months later and watch by yourself to hear it all.
So they're giving with selfish motivation? At least they're giving. You could argue that the warm feeling volunteers get when volunteering is a selfish motivation as well.
Anyway...
The studio loses money, but everyone involved (who gets percentages of gross, not profit, unless you don't know Hollywood) gets lots. Yes, it's for tax purposes, because they don't want to be double-taxed. Since they escape corporate taxes, it frees them to be liberal/socialist and want high taxes on everyone else.
But what can you do if you, like me, have JunkBuster running great guns? Threaten to cut their advertising dollars by an insignificant fraction?
N.B. Anti-Apple, anti-Amiga, anti-hacker-subculture posts also fall off the pier. Anti-Linux stuff, oddly, lives forever.
Drop mad phat acid and watch Raiders of the Lost Ark on a big TV. Clever people's careers were peaking around the time you were born, and now is the perfect time to find that out for yourself. I don't know any original-trilogy three-showings-line veterans who even know when this movie is going to be released, though, so YMMV.
"I was born here, you know."
"You're going to die here, you know. Convenient."
Of course, my nephews have seen every episode of X-Files twice and can't figure out why those mean people in white suits keep killing them in Jedi Knight, so your mileage might TOTALLY vary.
A lot!
Or if you have enough bandwidth you can download the VCD about a week before it comes out. You gotta love the kiddies.
5 times atleast, the theater that I saw empire and jedi in both on opening night is still open, its not a nice theater but I will go after i go to a THX theater and see it there atleast once. I saw empire 6 times and return of the jedi 3 in the theater. was only 5 when starwars came out so I only saw that on tape untill the new release came out.
StarWarsFan
What is meant by rewarding when they do something good, is rewarding them when they do a desired behaviour/action. Complaints are fine, but complaining about every action, whther it's good or bad will lead to an undesired effect.
i wasnt talking about 'needing' microsoft or any
other big company...
i was talking about how to behave toward MS and
its ilk, since they arent going to disappear..
the positive reinforcement thing towards a company is sort of a new idea to me
i dont 'need' them any more than i need bill clinton
or any other power hungry type person
own stock in oil companies in nigeria?
buy slave labor products from china?
old money from the slave holding south?
Watching any StarWars movie on a miniscule teevee is a royal waste of time...
-jedi-
Nice try, Troll.
(So to speak.) I figure it's a natural.
Plus, there's all that geek money. They
could probably charge $5,000 in Silicon Valley.
Bah. I saw "Halloween 5" on opening day and I heard :-)
everything jusyt fine. I was the only person who
showed up.
Isn't that what the Superbowl is for?
I am definately going! I'm flying there and checking it out.
You're just upset because you're one of about a million lamer LinSux lusers making $10/hour! hahaha
I get the feeling that CmdrTaco's hopes are up so high for this movie that nothing short of a drug induced expierence could fit his expectations. With this in mind, I suggest that we put together a donation drive to send CmdrTaco to SW: Episode One 3 days early just so we can get his patented CT hates movies review out of the way A.S.A.P. and the rest of us can move on trying to have a fun time for our $6-8.
Hah I laugh at your puny theatres. You ain't seen nothin till you see SW on a 6 story IMAX
--Adam Sears, San Antonio
Not anonymous, not a coward
You think waiting three days is bad? SW-I isn't going to show up in Norway until late August :'-(
Those three months are going to be total hell...
Trond M. (trying to save up money for a planetrip)
: hello! you think the shareholders and CEOs care about some stupid kids shelter? they will put on a show because it makes them look good and increases profits, but other than that the studio is about making M O N E Y not about building a better society, not about being nice to kids and old people, not about caring about peoples feelings or any of that other garbage. its about cash, dollars, value, stock price, power, etc etc. dont forget that.
Whats wrong with that?
CmdrTaco? Is that you?
VENI! VIDI! VICI!
Posted by NJViking:
There's no way in hel I'd try to see Star Wars on opening night. May watch it a week after it vomes out. The movie theatres will be a mob scene!
-NJV
Posted by Assmodeus:
:) ...one of the benefits of being good friends with the theater projectionists.
oh well...ill wait the 3 extra days for my tickets which i already have reserved
I live in Denver. Maybe I'll find $500 lying around somewhere...
Let's try not to let fact interfere with our speculation here, OK?
How about Chicago? Need to have something in the midwest. Also probably some southern city -- Atlanta or Orlando maybe. And how about Boston instead of DC -- nothing ever happens in DC!
I'm guessing NY, DC, LA, but I'm at a loss to guess the other two.
The next Cmdr Taco duplicate will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and see it early!
what's your email address so I can email you a full transcript and capsule review the day after I see it?
These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
If the money is going to local charities, does that mean that your Star Wars movie ticket is tax deductible? :)
Shawn Asmussen
Geez... the round ticket to Denver will actually be less than a round-trip ticket to Denver from DFW. Maybe I should fly first class.
-trp
P.S. BTW, based on all the "how much I make" brags from Visual Basic consultants on Slashdot, I expect the theatre to be packed with them! On the other hand, they probably all live in the Bay Area, where $100/hr. is minimum wage. >:-).
I think there's montréal that will show the phantom menace the 19th
--
"Science will win because it works." - Stephen Hawking
Got mine yesterday. Little Darth is so cute!
STFU about slashdot bias.
Can you tell me which set has a lightsabre for Skywalker? Thx.
STFU about slashdot bias.
Dude... It's still this century.
An obvious choice is SF, lots of theaters with history and SF citizens spent more on average for movies last year than any other US city.
F /...
---
Openstep/NeXTSTEP/Solaris/FreeBSD/Linux/ultrix/OS
--- I do not moderate.
Of course, if "CmdrTaco's hopes are up so high for this movie that nothing short of a drug induced expierence could fit his expectations", then all we need is to add another $50 of 'expenses', and we can read a review that goes "Th3 (olors! The pre1ty pr5ty col0rs! Moing! ^ll over! Fantasticic!"
I'd pay. *grin*
Jeremy Lee | Orinoco
I saw Empire the first day it came out... I remember tagging along with my brother and his friends to see it. I forget, but I also think I saw Jedi the first day it came out, too. There's an added excitement, I think, in seeing the film opening day. You get to hang out, waiting in line with other fans. There's the anticipation of wondering exactly what the film will be like. That, and no one can spoil the surprises for you.
Not sure if I'll do it this time around. I tend to go to matinees more than anything else, since I hate crowds. But there's still something to be said for the energy of an opening day...
shit!
maybe we need microsoft for something after all?
dammit!
"Computers will never truly be free until the last windows user is strangled with the entrails of the last mac user."
ah! but i am make an amazing simulation by putting my clock ahead!
bah, who needs time travel.
"Computers will never truly be free until the last windows user is strangled with the entrails of the last mac user."
man, you just goto the place and watch it 5 times.. then you get every little bit of it
plus the wild crowd =P
hell, i'm gonna go 5 times at least.
"Computers will never truly be free until the last windows user is strangled with the entrails of the last mac user."
At least it's not a money grab by the studio. I wonder if they'll include those showings in the official box office totals?
Seattle should have it. It was given to children's hospital.
I can't pay the whole ticket but would be glad to put a few bucks into the pot...Under condition that he not be allowed to sleep afterward until he posts a full review.
Naturally, Rob, something longer than "woo hoo" would be deeply appreciated....
...Open Source isn't the only answer -- but it's almost always a better value than the alternatives...
Since I live in (well, near) Denver. But $500 is a bit steep even by today's ticket prices.
:-)
Tell ya what -- any of you out-of-towners who are coming in to see it: spring for my ticket and I'll let you sleep on my couch.
-- Alastair
Don't you get it, Crow? Corporate philanthropy is like mainstream nihilism: it can't be trusted. Let's analyze what these fruitcakes get for giving a bit of money to charity, shall we?
1. Free publicity with the glitterati. After all, who has $3000 (price after airfare and hotel, my estimate) to spend on a movie ticket? That's right, celebrities. Which of course means E! and friends will show up, yammering about how wonderful it is that hollywood and the studio care this much blah blah blah.
2. A big tax write-off. The biggest inspiration for corporate charity is the IRS. After all, after the lawyers get through with it, it'll look more like several million dollars of charity...
I actually think this is the reason that we hear about studios losing money: a tax write-off.
So that's my analysis. If I kick my snideness and cynicism up a few more notches, I can start submitting to Suck.
> The movie theatres will be a mob scene!
The company I work for is actually thinking of buying out an entire theatre on opening night so we can avoid such a thing. Then our whole company would go to see it and we'd bring our clients and whatnot. At first I thought this was a great idea, but to be honest, I think half the fun of opening night is the millions of people you have to compete against to get tickets. Much satisfaction goes into that. Plus, who wants to sit and watch the movie with old people in business suits? I think I may take my chances going it alone.
But the mob is 1/2 the fun!
I can almost see spending the money on it. Of course I hate to go to movies alone so that's an expensive date.
This is my signature. There are many signatures like it but this one is mine..
This is going to be the Citizen Cane of the next century.
This is my signature. There are many signatures like it but this one is mine..
"or better yet, sucked"?!?! how can you wish such a thing for anyone? i agree, it would be ironic, but at what cost!? a whole generation would be deprived...
It would make sense for them to do this at the Coronet in SF. That's where they debuted Star Wars in 1977 and the re-release in 1997. That's where I'm hoping to see it, early release or not, because of the great seats and great sound system.
Brian
I got the Lego Landspeeder last week thanks to the nice folks at Waaal-Maart. The Lego Obi Wan looks strangely more like George Lucas than Alec Guinness, though.
And the X-Wing fighter rules, too.
At least it's not a money grab by the studio. I wonder if they'll include those showings in the official box office totals?
I'm willing to bet that after the umpteenth domestic million, a couple thousand dollars just won't mean much.
let them watch wing commander
-- your knees hurt, don't they?
Well at least you can get to see it in the best cinema in the world (I believe it is anyway). Besides, just think of the wait between SW-I and SW-II :o) That could be even more of a hell.
Reality is like a Suitcase, we only take it out of storage when needed. -penfold
you seem to be the type of person that hates rich ppl for the sole reason that they have more money than you... I happen to know alot of very rich ppl that give ALOT of money to groups for good reasons
one...my aunt happens to give over 10 grand a year to help out poor ppl what have YOU done! prolly not a damn thing but bitch about how ppl have more money than you.