Black Cat Bone

Moments in films where the audience was completely at one.

From an idea by Quaco.



First up:

The Gimp. ‘Pulp Fiction’. Disbelief. Bewilderment. WTF. 25 years ago, no one knew what a gimp was. Of course, they’re everywhere now.

the scene in "Aliens" where Ripley, in her forklift suit, confronts the Big Mamma Alien and says "put her down you bitch" the audience turned into a great cheering mob. it was pretty great. I saw it twice more on it's first run in the theatres and this happened each time.

Watching Modern Times a couple of years ago at the old Loews Palace in Jersey City, the scene where Chaplin's roller skating while blindfolded, unaware that he's on the brink of a precipice.

A couple of hundred people sitting together in the dark, all laughing their heads off. Rarely have I felt more connected to my fellow man.

sneelock wrote:the scene in "Aliens" where Ripley, in her forklift suit, confronts the Big Mamma Alien and says "put her down you bitch" the audience turned into a great cheering mob. it was pretty great. I saw it twice more on it's first run in the theatres and this happened each time.

I am compelled to point out that it's "get away from her, you bitch!". Sorry.

But, yeah, incredible stuff. That whole stretch of the movie, from when Ripley tools up to the final battle is, hands down, one of my favorite things ever.

This would only work in Scotland. We went to see Gorky Park. In one of the smaller parts was a Scottish actor, Rikki Fulton. Rikki had a programme which went out at Hogmany and entered the Scottish psyche. He was also part of a double act Francie and Josie, which meant nothing outside of Scotland. Rikki was a brilliant comic actor but always hankered after serious roles and to regarded as a "proper" actor.

During Gorky Park, Rikki popped up in his role as a policeman and the whole cinema instantly burst out laughing. Not the desired effect I'm sure.

I've been to two movies where there was mass standing applause at the end and they were very different film genres but both with magnificent music throughout.

The first was Midnight Express and years later, Strictly Ballroom

sneelock wrote:the scene in "Aliens" where Ripley, in her forklift suit, confronts the Big Mamma Alien and says "put her down you bitch" the audience turned into a great cheering mob. it was pretty great. I saw it twice more on it's first run in the theatres and this happened each time.

Yep, same as!

Picnic at Hanging Rock, where Gary McDonald, a comedian, plays a serious role as a copper. The whole audience cracks up the first time he appears.

Watched a screening of Pink Floyd at Pompeii a couple years ago, and, for some reason, after the "Saucerful of Secrets" performance, the crowd just applauded. It hadn't been a rowdy crowd before that, and none of the other songs received any kind of recognition. I somehow think we are all so accustomed to rock things -- guitar solos, keyboard textures, what the Floyd look like, how they acted -- that when we saw something that was truly unique, adventurous, not to mention cinematically awesome, it just shocked us.

I've noticed audiences at the Glasgow Film Theatre applaud the most famous lines of old classics. 'you're gonna need a bigger boat' in Jaws got a big hand, and 'two coats!' in The Producers got a prolonged round of applause. I think it's wonderful - heartwarming, somehow.

The Velvet Underground wrote:I've noticed audiences at the Glasgow Film Theatre applaud the most famous lines of old classics. 'you're gonna need a bigger boat' in Jaws got a big hand, and 'two coats!' in The Producers got a prolonged round of applause. I think it's wonderful - heartwarming, somehow.

Sounds horrible! Like that's all they're getting from it. Like people who know to stand for the Hallelujah Chorus, but talk during the rest of it.

Yeah, I know what you mean. But they're a very appreciative audience. They laugh a bit too often, that's all (I often see that in evening showings - a great old Bela Lugosi film I saw years ago was ruined by idiots guffawing the whole way through)

CAN wrote:I've noticed audiences at the Glasgow Film Theatre applaud the most famous lines of old classics. 'you're gonna need a bigger boat' in Jaws got a big hand, and 'two coats!' in The Producers got a prolonged round of applause. I think it's wonderful - heartwarming, somehow.

Never had that happen when I've been there. Last two times were 2001 and Lawrence of Arabia, not a peep.

I'm not surprised

There are two that I can think of, with polar opposite effects
- Minority Report - an above average flick that had most of the audience in the theatre pretty gripped and interested...but then the absolutely shockingly bad happy ending (with Tom Cruise holding his pregnant wife or some other such crap) had the audience cry out in one incredible collective groan - never heard anything like it. I can imagine that watching the original Blade Runner and/or AI might have had a similar effect - the endings go so contrary to the look and feel of the movie up until that point, and feel so cheap.
- Spaceballs. There was nearly a riot in the cinema when I saw this. It just seemed to hit a perfect mark, with people crying and hollering with laughter through the whole movie. I remember looking around at people after this and feeling some kind of kinship with everyone over what we had seen. I'm not sure I have any interest in seeing the movie again but it's a great reminder that even pretty suspect movies can catch you off-guard in the right moment.

CAN wrote:I'm not surprised

Dont know why, there's a few iconic lines in both.

Yeah, but they're serious films. Silence = respect.

No?

Yes. I'll report back when i see a prole's film there.

I still remember the collective gasp when Ben Gardner's head popped out of that hole in the boat. I was ten!

A friend of mine tells the story of seeing Spellbound at the New Beverly Cinema, and when Gregory Peck first appeared on screen, the audience as one gasped, he was so beautiful. It's better when he tells it, but I have always loved that.