Movie events
 

Is it just me, or are there no more movies, that feel like events? The last movie that felt like an event, to me, was Saving Private Ryan, 8 1/2 years ago.

I miss a time, when even movies that wern't that big, felt almost event-like. Hard to explain.

Last "event" movie, for me, was Casino Royale. Everyone I knew saw it or planned to see it within the week, even people who only go to movies once or twice a year.

Before that, Borat. Among a specific age group and/or fanbase, it was very much an event. My regular theatre is about 15 minutes away from the state university campus (by car) and the amount of college kids going to see it was incredible.

Before that, it was Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. I am not exaggerating when I saw every screen within 50 miles of me was sold out. When I went, a father and son came with the son (about 6 y.o.) dressed as a buccaneer.

Then you had the Star Wars movies and the Lord of the Rings movies, and Passion of the Christ.

But I can sort of understand what you're saying. To me, the last real big event movie was Independence Day. I know it didn't open real big but few movies make magazine covers all the time. Independence Day, to me, was also the last big "special effects" movie where people went knowing they didn't need to expect anything besides spaceships and explosions. (That's one trend I'm glad we've mildly moved away from: relying solely on special effects).

But I hear you.

Yeah I was going to say Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. That was the first time in a while that i had been to a sold out show, AND there were multiple people there dressed up like pirates. It was quite the event.

I went in to that film (I was 14 at the time) wanting to see two things:
Will Smith (because his show Fresh Prince ended two months earlier) and the big disaster stuff, but I was not only entertained by the 'eye candy', but I genuinely liked everyone in the film. The characters were all so likeable to me, so I cared about what happened to them.
This film was the biggest 'event' I've been a part of, and is one of my favorite films.

This film also did two things I am forever grateful for:

-Finally understanding the benefits and importance of the widescreen format (when I got the VHS with the holographic cover card I noticed how cramped everything looked on TV compared to in theatres, corrected with the purchase of the "Widescreen Series" VHS months later which had a featurette explaining why wider is better)


-Turning me into a film music fan with its incredible score by 007 composer David Arnold

The last "event" movie (for me) was SUPERMAN RETURNS. I'm guessing for most others it was POTC2.

For me, the next "event" movie is ROCKY BALBOA. For most others, it will probably be next summer's SPIDER-MAN 3.

But I agree, nothing today feels the way it did when EMPIRE STRIKES BACK or SUPERMAN II came out...but that may be due to the fact that very few had home video recorders in the early 80s, and missing something in the theater meant you'd have to wait two years to see it on HBO, IF you even had cable. You miss something today, and it's out on DVD in three months (or less).

I think there are degrees of an event film, Borat was one for me personally, but I don't know if it was as universally exciting. The real last "event" film that I can remember where EVERYONE was talking about it was Jurassic Park. Not to say most of these movies mentioned weren't huge, but Jurassic Park seemed like a cultural phenomenon at the time, but it's been a while now.

Event movies are what you make of them.

For me, no other film beats Snakes on a Plane. Everything leading up to it, and the sheer audience experience of it was absolutely priceless.

As for "ZOMG! WE HAVE TO SEE THIS MOVIE!" on a big scale.. I dunno, uhm, I can't name one.

I know this won't be a popular choice but my last movie "event" was the midnight showing of Revenge of the Sith. There were so many people camped out most of the day... it was a blast.

I think the last event movie most would agree on was Pirates 2. To me, an event movie is the kind that gets everyone to the theater, especially the ones who only go once or twice per year.

Kill Bill for me.

Tarantino making a movie with Sonny Chiba and Gordon Liu in it? That alone made this a mega-event for me.

I go to about 50 movies a year, and still haven't seen Pirates 2. But I hated the first one, so there's a reason. :)

Nothing feels like an event to me anymore. Any big budget blockbuster is just one among many and they all just get lost in the shuffle. Partly because the studios have cut back on the number of films to concentrate on fewer, bigger movies and the multi-plex.
The last movie that felt like an event to me wasEmpire Strikes Back . One screen for an entire metro area, lines around the block for at least two months, movie plays for 4-6 months.
I grew up in the era of large single screen theaters. Never even heard of or set foot in a theater with more than one until my teens. Most of the BIG movies were released at Christmas and still showing to sold out crowds in Feb. and March. The Sound of Music played two years straight at a theater in our town.

Yeah, it's just another casualty of the way our entertainment dollars are spent these days. It's like how they say there are no epic miniseries or other TV events now, because you don't have that huge audience share like in the old days. People are too busy with things like the Internet, video games, DVDs, DVRs, etc. for one movie to feel like an event.

A movie may open big on a lot of screens, but after that it tends to die down and make room for another one; you don't movies staying in theaters for months like back then. The last one among those lines may have been Titanic, which not only sold a lot of tickets, but actually stayed in theaters for several months. Star Wars: Episode I came close as it was highly anticipated, but it didn't quite have the staying power that Titanic did.

I don't see how you could have a bigger event than Lord of the Rings. It was an epic, three-part, theatrical miniseries, and it was all the buzz for a few years there.

I guess from reading these comments, an event movie, is all in the eye of the beholder. But I will say, the last movie that seemed like everyone was talking about/media obsession, was The Passion of the Christ. Even though, personally, it doesn't feel event-like.