... and Burn

My senior year in college, three of my friends and I skipped our Friday morning classes and went to the very first screening of Gladiator in Syracuse. We had seen the trailers in the theater and ads on television, and it looked awesome. The four of us were convinced this would be the coolest movie ever.

About forty minutes into the movie, we were all laughing and cracking jokes at how terrible it was. Looking back, I think the people around us were getting annoyed, but we all thought the movie was so bad the idea that other people were trying to enjoy it never crossed our minds. When I saw Batman Returns in a packed theater, the whole audience was more interested in the commentary provided by a few random people scattered thoughout the theater (biggest laugh: Alicia Silverstone's character knocks on the door, and says something like, "Hi! I'm here from Oxbridge University in England." A guy a few rows above me goes, "England?" and starts laughing hysterically. The whole theater followed suit.) I figured Gladiator was the same way. (And yes, I am comparing Gladiator to Batman Returns.)

But so we get home and everyone asks us how Gladiator was. And we tell them. It's crap. And a few weeks later it's proclaimed to be the film of the year, and it eventually wins the Oscar.

So my point here is, Crash is an even bigger disappointment. God, that movie sucked.