Stranger Things At A Theater Near Me

 

When the Duffer Brothers said they wanted to show the final episode Stranger Things in theaters, some people weren't surprised since some episodes were long enough to be movies. Happens all the time on Game of Thrones. 

Showing the last act, "The Right Side Up", turned out to be a good idea. It packed Reno's Cinemark Century Park 16 on New Year's Eve MANY times, and did the same on New Year's Day despite competition from college football. 

The other reason:  tickets are 20 bucks but it winds up being free. It's almost as good as watching at home, only bigger speakers and free snacks. The voucher's not THAT much, but if you calculate it well, it's great. Just think outside the need for popcorn.

There were fans ready for the experience...

Now BBC America used to show Doctor Who episodes in theaters, like "The Husbands of River Song", but they didn't exactly pack houses. Netflix really threw the dice thinking Stranger Things could pull in fans away from TVs at towards theaters. It's also proof Netflix is NOT to blame for fewer people going to theaters. It's medium popcorn for eight bucks. That's why they have to go to drastic measures like Marty Supreme popcorn buckets. 

So, how was the finale?
Here's what Entertainment Weekly thought of it, but I thought it was a solid finale. I would have preferred certain things happen, like Dr. Kay gets eaten by a Demogorgon (it could still happen if there's occasional follow-ups like Nancy Wheeler as the new Kolchak).
They added a surprising insight on Vecna, but he also winds up clashing with karma. Just see the episode, you'll know.

The biggest debate was what really happened to Eleven. The Duffer Brothers set it up for the viewer to decide, but she made sure crazy scientists with mutated definitions of patriotism (hello, General Shaw) won't try to remake her. If Netflix and the Duffers want to "continue" the story, they have a loophole, but it still has to be temporary. If El is somehow still around, she should get ONE curtain call and that's it. Also, have her prove she can do more than telepathic powers. If she wins without it, that's her mic drop and farewell.
Besides, Holly is clearly the next leader.

Anyway, the Duffers have their take courtesy of Variety.

Still, it makes you wonder why HBO didn't try this for the last act of Game of Thrones...or if anyone can do this again. It's not like Netflix premiering a movie then showing it at the streamer a month later.
Maybe Hulu can show the first Buffy revival episode in theaters then on Disney Plus/Hulu a week later.

In any case, it was a great way to spend part of New Year's Eve.
Now comes awards season, which should boost ticket sales thanks to movie fans who need to catch up on seeing nominated movies.

Rifftrax Tries Live Online Riffing, Gets Stuck In Upside Down For A While

After the country was overrun by the coronavirus, media companies have been forced to provide us with entertainment through cable or streaming channels. That's why we got several concerts or Zoom gatherings at first, followed by more complex events.

Since Rifftrax's theater events have been in limbo thanks to the pandemic (we're still waiting for Hobgoblins, which will be shown in theaters just before Halloween...we hope), the gang decided to experiment with something called Scener, where a couple thousand people can see the same screen and respond with others. The idea was to have Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy riff the first episode of Stranger Things while the viewers also rant via text. It was similar to The Mads doing an online riff on Glen or Glenda recently. The viewers were mostly either backers through Kickstarter or Patreon.

It was a rough first voyage for the crew, more glitchy than the live broadcast of MST3K's final day of their Kickstarter campaign. It started about five minutes late, and the tech crew had a tough time trying to get all three riffers online. At one point, Bill's mike was down and Kevin and Mike had to reboot like crazy to be heard. It was something to see.

Also, Mike was singing like Bing Crosby while coming up with puns. For example, he thought about a broken golf club that was "Stranger Pings" or how Chandler from Friends would show up in a spinoff called "Stranger Bings". This was while he couldn't hear or see anything else.
Ah, bloopers.

Once they got past the opening credits at around 6 PM Pacific, it worked very well. All three riffers were online, the video lagged a bit, but it worked great.
This shows Mike and the guys should try a couple more "beta tests" before making this the alternative to Fathom Events shows since nearly all theaters are closed for now, They have riffed on Game of Thrones, Westworld and Walking Dead's first episodes. They can use those for future beta tests or maybe a chapter from the Batman serial.

OK, now, how about the riffs?
They were rather 80s-centric, even commenting on what songs were being played in the background.
Again, they got much better once the Scener process worked better.

Now, let's list a few:

A scientist at the Hawkins lab runs into an elevator after something goes wrong (natch)
The elevator blood from The Shining is very late today.

Chief Hopper makes his first appearance
My Joe Don Baker Detector is going off the charts

The scientists at the lab get into hazmat suits before they confront the Upside Down
They're going to the grocery store in 2020 (only current riff)

Hopper talking to Will's friends:  One at a damn time
My personal feeling about Marvel movies

Eleven stares at a fan and makes it stop
Kubrick stare. Everybody duck!

Joyce, Will's mom, answers the phone, hoping for news
Do you like scary movies? Oops, sorry, wrong number.

This version, different from the "Just the Jokes"version, also included riffs on Toto, Molly Ringwald, Schlitz, Delaware, and Stand By Me.

The riff for Stranger Things is available now at the website. It can be downloaded into the app, and people can synch it up if they see it on Netflix, or have the download or the DVD set