The Midnight Premiere of The Dark Knight:
A timeline of the Greatest Movie Experience...ever?

It's July 17th, 2008. A beautiful summer day that reeks of suburbia. In Londonderry, New Hampshire (along with the rest of the world) fans and moviegoers alike wait impatiently to witness the biggest pop/folk/high/mass cultural event of the decade: The premiere of The Dark Knight. This is that event through my personal experience......

-7:00am-3:30pm: The longest work day of my life. I wait with anxiety for the clock to strike 3:30pm and for Vincent Pisacane (of Suffolk University's The Casey LaMarca Show featuring Vincent Pisacane) to arrive into town.

-3:31pm: Leaving work now. Just talked to Vince. He'll be here within the hour.

-3:57pm: Vince arrives. We sit outside by my above ground pool. 8 hours remaining...

-4:30pm: My brother Ryan joins us along with my life long friend Lindsay. Let the movie debate begin...

-6:35pm: More people show up. Over 20 of us will be sitting together at the theater.

-7:58pm: Ryan's box-office prediction for the opening weekend of the film: It will beat Spiderman 3's opening weekend of $151 million. My prediction: No, it won't.
(Actual outcome: The Dark Knight opens with $158 million. I will happily admit I was wrong. Spiderman 3 is one of the worst films ever.)

-9:25pm: A small group of us leave for the theater. There is no way we were going to be late. Well that and we just wouldn't wait any longer.

-9:41pm: We get to the theater. We are the second group in line.

-10:15pm: The line is out the door. Because of our Dazed and Confused like atmosphere (where everyone knows everyone) I know everyone in line.

-10:16pm: I start quoting Dazed and Confused. Vince laughs at first, but I continue to quote the movie and he tells me to shut-up.

-11:01pm: THE DOORS OPEN...

-11:02pm: We take our seats...

-11:03pm: I'm thinking: "These next 57 minutes will be the longest of our lives."

-11:15pm: I'm surrounded by all of my friends in a packed movie theater anxiously awaiting the film of all films. "Is this heaven?" I ask myself. My brother's response would be "No, it's Iowa!"

-11:59pm: A minute that will live in infamy.

-12:00am: Yes! Oh wait, previews. Damn...

-12:08am: The Terminator Salvation trailer premieres. It looks awesome. Little sad they didn't have Christian Bale's soon-to-be-infamous rant.

-12:12am: AND NOW, YOUR FEATURE PRESENTATION.

-12:13am-2:46am (roughly): Please stand by as Casey LaMarca, Vincent Pisacane, Ryan LaMarca, and the other hundreds of moviegoers witness the most surreal and unprecedented film....like....ever.

-2:47am: How was The Dark Knight? Well, to quote Harold and Kumar: "Remember the Holcaust? Picture the exact opposite of that."

-3:00am: After ten minutes of standing around praising the film, we leave the theater.

-3:15am-7:30am: We stay awake due to post traumatic Dark Knight syndrome. Vince leaves at roughly 7:15am.

-8:00am: After it all ends, Ryan and I continue our insomnia and head to the Big Apple.

THE DARK KNIGHT MIDNIGHT PREMIERE: Greatest Midnight Premiere....like....ever.