Yeah there was no reserved seating at my theater either, so I had to orchestrate the best time to get to the cinema, based on my previous midnight premiere experiences. the previous year, i had done the same for Spider-Man 3 and had gotten great seats, so it all worked out in the end and it was the biggest screen in the whole theater too, so even though it wasn't IMAX, it was still enough. I still go to that same theater today, although it's no longer "showcase cinemas". there's a bigger showcase cinemas about 15 minutes away from that one, so during covid they closed it down, and then re-opened in 2022 under the name Apple Cinemas.
The closest IMAX is actually only about 15 minutes away in the opposite direction in Providence. I often didn't go because it's in a 3 floor mall and having to do that every time, and find parking, is just a mega pain. Luckily, I'll be doing it for Oppenhiemer tomorrow for that 70mm showing.
regardless though, even without IMAX, my first viewing of The Dark Knight was unforgettable. It's still, to this day, the greatest theater experience of my life. The energy in that room, I mean, you feel the sense of awe of what we were witnessing in real time. You knew everything had changed when it was over. I went with a friend who used pieces of tape to spell out "RIP Heath" on the back of his joker shirt, which I thought was super cool. I really miss those days, and I feel like it's just been lost with the amount of media thrown at us today. Waiting in line used to be so much fun, especially for a movie you were really anticipating. Waiting in line for Endgame was fun, but it just felt like a different vibe and I think the last time it felt really special was for The Force Awakens. I actually have nostalgia for Force Awakens hype now, which just goes to show how fast the years have gone by haha. TDK feels more like 20 years ago rather than 15.
