Friday, July 20, 2012

Dark Knight Rises Review and Customer Service

First, I am going to give you a review of The Dark Knight Rises, then I have a customer service story for you about the theater I was in.

Of course it is opening day that I choose to go see the latest installment of The Dark Knight trilogy.  The movie was GREAT, action, a story line, great use of music.  The times that Mr. Nolan uses silence in the movie really adds a great depth and angst to certain shots.  Micheal Cain adds the human element and emotion to this flick while Bale adds his usual charm.  I wish I could have gotten more of Cat Woman in this show, but leaves more for another movie maybe.  I even think that the ending wrapped up the trilogy well.  There are lots of new toys for Batman, and Bain... he is a character that I was kind of rooting for after I found out his back story.  There is even a little Easter egg at the end that represents The Boy Wonder.... See if you can find it!  This is definitely a movie that I will own when it hits DVD!

Does it bother anyone else that they city is referred to as Gotham even thought it is blatenly obvious that it is New York.  I mean they even showed Saks Fifth Avenue in a shot!


Customer Service:

The theater is hectic, I mean it is the biggest movie of the summer AND opening day (The Dark Knight Rises).  I drop by the theater at 5PM to purchase a ticket for the 8:40 showing. (It is showing on 5 screens here)  I had no problems getting a ticket, wait in the line was less than 5 minutes due to the fact that they had multiple lines open for such an occasion.  I show back up at the theater at about 7:15 thinking that there might be a line.  There was a small line started so I used the time to get a soda and fruit snacks.  Again, wait in line was minimal and cashier was very friendly.  I proceeded to the waiting line for my theater showing.  The crew was prepared with velvet ropes and they were ushering patrons to the correct line to wait for the previous movie goers to vacate the theater.  I waited in line for about 20 minutes (not bad) while the theater was cleaned.  I walked into the theater about 8PM and took a seat on the far right side (not my usual center due to what happened last time *see last blog update) The previews started and the theater fell quiet, no cell phones, no crying babies, no talking... just silence... glorious silence.  When about 20 minutes was left in the movie I thought it was starting to get warm in the theater, I contributed it to being summer in TX and over 100 people packed into a theater.  I thought no more of it and it did not hinder my movie watching.  Movie was over and I am in the first 5 to exit the theater, to my surprise there are ushers waiting at the door.  They are handing out FREE passes and apologizing for the air conditioning.  This speaks volumes to me about their customer service.  Someone noticed that something was not right, and management had an apology and gift waiting for each person in that theater.  I don't think it was needed, but much appreciated.  I will go out of my way to watch EVERY movie at Cinemark theaters!

Thank you to the crew and management team to the Tinsel Town Theater in Grapevine, TX.  I WILL see you again!

(I usually don't write about a company unless it is a sponsorship, but no good deed goes unnoticed in my book! Thank you!)

My heart goes out the wounded and perished in the Aurora CO incident.  It pains me that there are sick people in this world that can justify the taking of innocent lives as they enjoy one of my favorite past times... something as harmless as going to the movies.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Movies!!!!

If you watched my last video then you know that I am still on a business trip, so on my days off I have lots of time for movies!

(Spoiler alert)

Spider Man 3D
This movie was AMAZING!  I watched it first, then called for my parents to take my little brothers to go see it the next day.  BTW... Mary Jane is not in the movie!  Emma Stone is the new love interest and I am now in love with her!  Special effects are great.  Andrew plays a better angst teen than Toby in my opinion.  There were only 2 things that kind of bothered me: first as a biology guy there were a few things that didn't make sense, second, Why does Peter Parker tell nearly every main character in this movie that he IS Spider Man?

Prometheus
A Great Sci-fi flick from Mr. Scott.  The opening scene with the "Engineer" with the amazing world behind him as he becomes the DNA of the new planet is AWESOME!  BTW, the amazing world is none other than Earth!  One thing that puzzles me is why the humanoid robot kills the male scientist?  I don't think it was needed.  I am also excited by the ending, it looks like it could be a prequel to the prequel of an "Aliens" reboot!

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Don't waste your money on a movie ticket for this one, wait til it comes out on disc to rent.  How in the world can you relate one of the most iconic presidents to being a vampire slayer.  To try and convince the audience that the Civil War was about Vampires wanting to rule the U.S. is almost comical.  Oh yeah, the confederate army was made up of Vampires at the battle of Gettysburg.  Vampires can now go out in daylight, and vampires are not allowed to kill other vampires.  Look out Blade....  You cant do that anymore!

The Help
I told you I was in love with Emma Stone now.  I watched this movie thinking that it was just going to be another chick flick.  But it really does touch you, you feel the emotions of the ladies in this movie.  Don't get me wrong, there are some very funny parts too, especially when this very snooty white women eats a pie with human feces in it!  Or when Sissy Spacek says the line about the 2 things she remembers.  Emma Stone's character is dumped by her boyfriend in this movie, I just wish I was there to pick her up and be her shoulder to cry on (the rebound guy)  If you have ever had a nanny or long time babysitter when you were young, this movie will hit home.

Movie Etiquette:
If you are going to the movies, I think there are a few unofficial rules that you need to follow when there.
+When I go to the movies, I expect to be totally immersed into the story, I dont want to hear your conversation, so please, be quiet.
+Turn off your cell phone, this last time that I was there, the screen had a PSA asking people to turn off their phones, some punk-ass kids started holding their phones for everyone to see that they were still on and bright as possible.
+Don't take your infant child to a sci-fi movie, you know that a loud bang or etc... will probably make your child cry in the theater!
+Please be on time for the movie, I dont want to be 5 minutes into the movie then all of a sudden you and your entourage walk in and start pointing at empty seats and talking about which ones you want.  If you are late for a movie, wait for the next screening!
+When I go to the movie, I like to set dead center on the 5th row.  That way I can see nothing but screen and get a surround sound effect from the speakers.  During prometheus, I went to an early screening of the movie and there were about 10 people in this entire theater, so why would a guy come in and set directly to my right?  He didnt even leave an empty seat in between us.  About 3 minutes later another guy comes in and sits directly to the left of me without an empty seat as a buffer. WTF people!  I was so uncomfortable, I could barely enjoy the movie.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Video Interview of Travis Jensen: Male Model



Don't forget to follow Travis and I on twitter!
www.twitter.com/trvsjnsn
www.twitter.com/teejaytoday

If you know of anyone else that should be interviews by TeeJay Today, please drop me a line on my twitter or facebook page www.facebook.com/teejaytoday

The link to the "Carly" Song is to the right ----->