Highlights: 2012's Most Memorable Personal Experience...

... is my screening of Killer Joe.

This story perhaps isn't as exciting to anyone who wasn't present when it happened or to anyone who enjoyed Killer Joe more than me (which is to say enjoyed Killer Joe even one tiny bit). My friend and I went to the theatre with the promise of something bold and exciting awaiting us, only to face William Friedkin's incoherent, senseless, oversexed and tedious exercise is pretending there is any way to go but down from Gina Gershon's vagina.

As the film progressed, we both became more and more restless, checking our watches, nudging each other and pointing to the door several times, only to stop ourselves at the last second. I've never walked out of a film voluntarily before and preferred to keep it that way. About ten minutes before the film ended, the screen went dark without any interruption to the sound. In my naivete, I assumed that the sudden cut to black was just another antic by Friedkin but then one second turn to a few seconds and then many seconds and then quite a few minutes until the theatre manager came in with a bunch of tickets in hand, apologizing for the technical difficulties. With our free tickets for future films, we ran away from the cinema as fast as we could.

It was a pretty sweet deal but it makes future horrible films even more excruciating. I can't help but dream of a world where every awful experience is rewarded with extra tickets.


All 'Best of 2012' Entries...