Conversation and brief reflection on excitement as an adult, or: The Richard Armitage dopamine I want to have

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Last week I got my Hobbit premiere tix for a marathon of The Unexpected Journey at 8 p.m. on the twelfth and The Desolation of Smaug at midnight. The way the website was set up made it a kind of a struggle. It was a bit stressful because I couldn’t figure out the night before exactly which theater was going to have the marathon, and I was so excited that I tossed and turned all night. Then I had to get up off my schedule, and come to my office (the only really secure Internet connection I have) to make sure I’d have a solid datastream. Then, I ended up with four different tickets! And it took another three hours until the theater conglomerate straightened it out.

Obviously I didn’t die of it (laughs). But it’s been a while since there has been that much energy coursing through my veins. Probably August or something. I was reminded of something Calexora used to say: Doparmitage!

That night I was chatting with a fellow fan who asked me about my plans. I’ll call her WesternFan. She sent me a drawing that sent the corners of my mouth soaring toward the corners of my eyelids. Then she told me about her plans to see it with her family.

WesternFan: You got them?

Serv: I got my marathon tickets (AUJ at 8 p.m. followed by TDOS at midnight). Now I just have to make sure I’m there on time (it’s a long drive). But practically six hours of him!!!! In 3D HFR!!!! Can’t wait.

WF: I like the marathon idea … I would love to see AUJ in HFR, I missed it the first time around … not this time!  Like a long drive country-style or city style?

Serv: Oh, I meant, just to get home. I bought tickets for WI. It’s always a bit hard to predict how long the drive will take. But I have a number of different tickets for WI as well — 3D HFR marathon in one city that’s about a half hour to drive, but regular 3D marathon in the city next to my home town in case it’s snowing. You never know what the weather will be like. And the two single tickets for the midnight premiere in those two cities I got while I thought I was buying those tickets. When I get a chance, they told me, I can get the “extra tickets” refunded.

WF: I see… So you’re saying you’re not going to miss it. Period.

Serv: Nope, not if I can help it.

WF: I remember, last year, reading about you seeing it in an uber imax type of theater where it was on the ceiling? That was you right?  And how sick you were afterwards … will you be revisiting that theater?

Serv: Yeah, that was me. That theater’s about four blocks from my apartment, so I will probably go again, at least once. I’d love to see it in IMAX 3D but that means Chicago or else staying here over the break which I can’t do … I’ll probably see it several times anyway.

WF: That’s one thing I wouldn’t do, even for Thorin … a good dose of motion sickness.

Serv: It was better the second time. You have to sit high up close to the projector, which is (strangely) in the middle of the seats. Then you’re seeing the piece from the perspective of the eye that is filming it and getting jostled less, at least I think that’s how it works.

Then she sent me this pic, with the comment “This look.”

Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield, from the TH: AUJ extended extras, I assume material released by Peter Jackson in conjunction with the Hobbit live event, November 4, 2013.

Serv: WOW.

WF: I think it may be right after Bofur asks ‘where’s Bilbo?’ After the elves have saved them from the spiders? Can’t wait, Can’t wait! That made me think, he makes me feel like a kid again. So excited for a movie I can’t sleep the night before, like finding out at 45 that there really IS a Santa Claus and trying to decide what to ask for for Christmas this year.  Nervous, excited potty dance!

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I’ve been up and down on this movie — how not to be, given everything that’s happened in the last few months? On the one hand I’ve stayed out of the line of fire of the multiple iterations of trailers and television spots, which I think has kept my fire somewhat damped. On the other hand, I have participated in a few things (kibitzing the live event, for instance) and seen a few pictures that reanimated me.

What WF’s remarks reminded me of is, yes, as an adult, that kind of excitement is rare. It’s not that I’m never happy, but I don’t live a world where that sudden vision of Christmas presents or the wait for a birthday can present that kind of joy anymore. Not much truly surprises me anymore, and when it does, it’s usually not in a good way.That excitement is rare. But it’s here, now!

I’ve got it about this event — disrupting my sleep schedule, chasing down the tickets, and now the euphoria of getting to see it! The grin that creeps onto my face when I think about how great this movie is going to be! I need to hang onto that, the best kind of excitement relating to Richard Armitage, the incredible thrill of seeing a new piece of his work.

Can’t wait!

~ by Servetus on November 26, 2013.