lights, please.

Yesterday I went and saw My Sister's Keeper at the movie theater. The movie is based on Jodi Picoult's novel of the same name, which I read a couple years ago. I caught the matinee at 4:20. The theater was at the end of the hall on the left. When I opened the door, there was nothing but darkness. I thought my eyes would adjust to whatever previews were playing, but as the door shut behind me, I saw there were no previews playing. It was pitch dark. I couldn't see my own hand in front of my face. The glow of the EXIT sign made focusing even harder and I felt myself starting to panic a little. How many people are in here? Why is it so dark? What if I accidentally sit on someone trying to find a seat?

I heard some kids snicker in the back. One of them shouts, "Hi!" But I know he can't see me, maybe just my silhouette from the exit sign. I blindly fumble and slip into a seat on the aisle. I'm too close to the screen but there's no way I'm moving until I get some more light. The movie should start in a minute anyway. The kids get up and leave and I am the only one in the theater. My chair feels damp and smells like a fat, sweaty man sat in it. In fact, every chair in the theater seems to smell the same. I start thinking they should Febreze this place. I pull out my cell phone and hold it out to see the rest of the row, but I can't see more than two chairs past me. It's 4:30. The movie was supposed to start 10 minutes ago, and the previews haven't even started. The kids come back in and sit in the back and finally the lights raise just a little and I get up to move back a row and toward the center.

An older couple comes in and sits just as the previews start and the lights dim again. They're behind me also, so I kind of feel like I have the whole theater to myself, which is nice. I pull out a bag of sour gummi worms and a diet Mountain Dew from my bag. I stopped at a gas station on the way. Growing up, we always snuck our snacks in. Usually I'd go for something like chocolate covered raisins, but I wasn't hungry when I went to the gas station, and chocolate just didn't sound that good. The gummi worms weren't great.

The previews were too loud and pretty lame. My Sister's Keeper was good. The ending was different from the book, but it was still good. It'd be good even if you haven't read the book, but it's sad. If I'd been watching it at home by myself, I might have cried. Pretty good movie.

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