My boss treated me out to Star Wars this morning. Hey, who needs to work for Google? (Which, I am informed, packed the theater next door to us.)

First, the pre-show entertainment... that is, three-hundred-plus geeks in a packed space with nothing to distract them but advertisement slides. Naturally, the traditional beachball had to come out. We got a bit more action when someone knocked it back to the best costume in the house: a really well-done wookie in the back row. He hammed it up for a moment to cheers before tossing it back (which may have been a mistake, because he got targeted more than anyone else over the next hour, just to get him to stand again).

Previews came up. Fantastic Four, Mr. and Mrs. Smith. War of the Worlds. The Adventures of Shark Boy & Lava Girl, which I can't imagine would get advertised on any other PG-13 movie. No Serenity, unfortunately. But then came a trailer with four British kids, and as people started recognizing what they were seeing the first glimpses of... well, when the wardrobe opened, I swear it got more cheers and applause than anything in the actual movie.

( Here come the spoilers!Collapse )