It's good to know people.

Or, in this case, to be known.

Fellowship of the Ring was showing at 19:30. Youngest son and wife's godson wanted to be at the theater to get in line by 18:00. We beat that by about five minutes.

Also beat the theater staff, as the place was dark and the parking lot empty.

We waited.

One of the staff showed up a little after six, with the manager arriving just behind her.

He saw us parked in front of the doors, and came over to visit. They would open in 20 minutes or so to let us in.

In fifteen minutes he opened the doors and waved us inside. He couldn't open the register yet, as he still had chores to get done, but we could wait inside. (He also wanted to talk about his son's Boone & Crocket antelope this fall.)

He let us wait on the benches inside, by the concessions. He'd get our money for tickets later.

Godson asked about the pins.

The newspaper ads had said the first 50 ticket buyers got commemorative pins. Apparently this was a promotion for bigger cities where they actually let you buy your tickets in advance (not here). But he did have the pins. And we got ours.

Can't speak for anyone else.

So after buying popcorn, drinks and Skittles, we had exactly an hour to kill in the theater before the show. And no one else there.

We found the exact center of the theater... 14 seats wide. Thirteen rows, but with space for five rows between the front seats and the screen (I paced it). So the middle is seats 7 and 8 of either row 4 or row 5. Locations of the speakers make row five the best bet.

We opted for 5. And shifted to the left when some people sat in front of us (yes, the theater was more than half empty... Chuck said he only sold 80 seats).

Only fifty minutes to go...

Tried playing a game of mental chess with godson, but he gave up after the second moves. Takes some concentration. So we settled on "20 questions", which only the wife had ever played before.

Great time killer.

Will not waste time with a movie review. Excellent, but I wish I had not seen all the promos and talk show interviews ahead of time. Whenever they pulled back for a distant shot, I kept thinking "So, that's what New Zealand really looks like." Or trying to classify the plant life.

Cannot compare the film to the book. Been wayyy too many years between the two, and I'm not even sure if I finished the books. I remember the animated version more than anything. Also cannot fault any of the settings, whether real, fabricated or simulated.

That is exactly how I imagine elvish communities to look.

Chuck was kind enough to let us get through most of the credits before turning the lights on. We weren't the only ones that stayed until the bitter end this time.

Godson and youngest son plan on returning for tomorrow's show. And Friday's. And on the weekend if we are still around.

And if any of you read Maori, please send me a translation of the few lines in that language near the end of the credits.