Jul. 19th, 2005 @ 01:29 pm Serenity Tickets: a Do-It-Yourself Kit
Current Mood: dorkyacademic
Well, the Browncoats boards are once again abuzz with the news of a potential _Serenity_ screening.

The only catch is: I can't go.

<darth>
NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
</darth>

It's apparently on July 28th. Which is the day I leave for Buxton. I'll be sitting on my flight thinking, "I could be watching Serenity RIGHT NOW." Which sounds like so much fun. The only consolation will be that [info]aeonata will be with me and we can commiserate. (Well, that, and, you know, that I'll be going to England to take a principal part in a production at an international arts festival. That might make it slightly better.)

But enough about me. I'm sure you're all saying, "yes, yes, that's very nice, but who cares if you're not going as long as *I* get to?" And there is a certain amount of validity to that. Not a lot, really, from where I'm sitting, but a small (...very, very small) amount at least.

So, with that in mind, I've decided that it is something approaching my civic duty to share some of my l33t ticket buying skills with certain selected members of the public, i.e. all of you guys. So may I present (under the cut tag to spare those of you who are totally uninterested in this sort of thing):

The Dsgrapeson Guide to Life as Represented by Acquiring Hard-to-get Movie Tickets on Fandango

Step One: Confirm that the showing is actually happening!

As applies to _Serenity_: well, this is a bit of a tricky one. Official word on www.cantstopthesignal.com and/or a post by Joss on the Browncoats boards doesn't usually go up until fairly late in the game. So late in the game, in fact, that if you wait for it, you may already be out of luck. So we must investigate alternatives to the official announcement.

As in: the frenzy this time was touched off by this website: Fandango, Las Vegas theaters.
Now, that's the same title ("Special Advance Preview") and code (91276) that was used for all three of the previous screenings. Plus, it's on a Thursday at 10:00, which is also consistent.

BUT. That code/title could easily be Universal's code for ALL their pre-screenings, not just of Serenity. So maybe they have another movie showing in that timeslot.

AND. All word that we had gotten from theater managers-- including the one in Las Vegas-- was that the July screening was cancelled.

BUT... That information is a couple weeks old by this point.

SO: the thing to do at this point is to talk to the theater managers again. I believe some of the Browncoats have calls in to Vegas already. (One can monitor that here.)

As far as DC is concerned, our theater is Loews Georgetown 14. The number is 202-342-6033. Have at it. But please, be nice to the manager, as he really is a nice guy and helpful and remember that he may very well have been fielding calls from crazed Browncoats for the last several hours now.

(...Holy cow, this is going to be a long entry. Ah, well, soldiering on...)

Step two: Be ready for when tickets go on sale!

As applies to _Serenity_: last time, online tickets sold out in a matter of MINUTES. Three minutes, to quote the estimate that I think is closest to accurate. People who paused to refresh webpages were sunk. So what one has to do is pull up the Fandango (or Movietickets...with which I am not familiar. All advice in this entry will be Fandango-related. Sorry.) page so that it is open on your computer and ready to go. AND MAKE SURE YOU'RE SIGNED IN. That means that instead of having to fumble for credit card numbers and expiration dates, you type in your e-mail address and password and you're good to go. If you don't have an account, well, then create one now! (I mean, what kind of a fan are you?)

The pages in question for DC are the movie's webpage, found here: http://www.fandango.com/MoviePage.aspx?date=7/28/2005&mid=91276&location=20003 (note how this URL was gotten merely by changing the zip code from the Vegas site, above; URL-modifying is a time-honored way to solve puzzles like this) (20003 is the zip for the Georgetown theater, btw) and the theater's website, found here: http://www.fandango.com/TheaterPage.aspx?date=7/28/2005&location=20003&tid=AAQPV .

For other cities, you can check this thread at the boards, which has a list of all websites for theaters that have held screenings in the past.

So now you have pages to monitor. On to:

Step Three: Wait, refresh, wait, refresh, wait, refresh, wait...

As applies to _Serenity_: Tickets last time went on sale shortly after midnight on Thursday morning. So that would be tomorrow night... except that I don't think that that's a pattern we can hold as consistent. For starters, last time tickets were on sale by the 9th of the month. So we've already blown that deadline. The 9th also happened to be exactly two weeks before the screening. But we've passed that date too. So at this point, who knows? I'd say midnight is still a distinct possibility (or slightly after-- I believe it was 12:07 last time), but I wouldn't care to hazard a guess on the day.

Which is where URLy Warning comes in. It's a monitoring program, found here. The demo version lets you monitor one page for free, and you can set it to monitor changes every minute (recommended for this-- did I mention how quickly the tickets sold out last time?) and to sound an alert when it detects changes, which means you can actually step away from your computer for a few seconds without missing anything. I also recommend monitoring the theater's website rather than the movie's website since the former will give you a direct link for tickets while the movie's may require a choice from a drop-down menu first. (Well, it *shouldn't.* But it *may.*)

Also good to keep an eye on: the oft-mentioned Browncoats boards and other fan sites like Whedonesque for the latest news.

And then it's just a matter of pouring in tons of free time (or possibly even some I'm-supposed-to-be-working time) to sit at the computer. Yes, it helps not to have a life. But one can manage it even when insanely busy-- as long as one is prepared to drop everything when the alert sounds. :)

So there you are! A terribly simple yet unbelievably long-winded guide.

And if you manage it, then why not reward yourself with the T-shirt? :)
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From:[info]greywingnut
Date: July 19th, 2005 08:12 pm (UTC)
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So tempted to use these shiny skills. But Kim and I will be on our way to the beach next Thursday night, and I don't think I could convince her to wait until past midnight just so I can see the BDM again.
From:[info]dr_daly
Date: July 19th, 2005 08:17 pm (UTC)
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Oh well, look on the bright side: at least the airline is sure to show you some work of contemporary cinematic genius on the flight — a film at once clever, subtle, insightful, erudite, and original. You know, something like that one they showed me once about the volcano erupting.
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From:[info]dsgrapeson
Date: July 19th, 2005 08:36 pm (UTC)
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well, the website has the films listed as Sahara (of which I have never heard and for which the imdb delivers the following tagline: "Dirk Pitt. Adventure has a new name.") and Fever Pitch, featuring that immortal actor Jimmy Fallon.

Please, kill me now.
From:[info]dr_daly
Date: July 19th, 2005 09:05 pm (UTC)
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Phsaw. That's nothing. The volcano one wasn't even the worst; I once had to sit through Rhapsody in Bloom, a movie of which I thankfully have no recollection at all aside from the title — but of course that title alone was enough to arouse envy for the guy who got locked into the bathroom and had to spend the entire flight there.
From:(Anonymous)
Date: July 20th, 2005 03:29 pm (UTC)

Sahara

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Oooh! Sahara..... just think of National Treasure with an extra helping of cheese (and much better sidekick comments)

aab
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From:[info]dsgrapeson
Date: July 20th, 2005 09:30 pm (UTC)

Re: Sahara

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oh... well, now I can't wait to see it! Yay! :)
From:[info]dr_daly
Date: July 19th, 2005 09:42 pm (UTC)
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But enough about me. I'm sure you're all saying, "yes, yes, that's very nice, but who cares if you're not going as long as *I* get to?" And there is a certain amount of validity to that. Not a lot, really, from where I'm sitting, but a small (...very, very small) amount at least.

Actually, by the way — no, I was saying just the reverse: yes, yes, that's very nice, but who cares if you're going as long as *I* don't get to?
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From:[info]jesterdel
Date: July 20th, 2005 04:20 pm (UTC)

Theme music

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Off topic, but who cares...

Your avatar rocks. I want my own theme music!! (Shades of Family Guy, where Peter wished for his own soundtrack.)

I'd go for something like the theme to "Shaft"...but would be more likely to get "Sanford and Son." (Grin)
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From:[info]dsgrapeson
Date: July 20th, 2005 09:32 pm (UTC)

Re: Theme music

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ah, that would be from www.livejournal.com/users/iharthdarth , one of my new favorite websites. It's loffly. (And thanks to aab, above, for pointing me to it.)
From:(Anonymous)
Date: July 20th, 2005 05:18 pm (UTC)

August

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Out of curiousity, will you be managing things for a late August showing? Also out of curiousity, would you allow a former roommate and a recent PA resident (who is also a newly minted Target employee!) to come along?

-brrd
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From:[info]dsgrapeson
Date: July 20th, 2005 09:36 pm (UTC)

Re: August

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If I am in town when the tix go on sale, then I will be happy to manage. And certainly all are welcome who wish to come, including ex-roommates and ex-Baltimoreans. Especially if they bring us shiny presents from Target purchased with their employee discount...
From:(Anonymous)
Date: July 20th, 2005 07:42 pm (UTC)

Fever Pitch

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I was stuck on a plane from denver to BWI watching Fever Pitch. It is formulaic, silly, painful, and predictable. But I (half) watched it anyways because Drew Barrymore had good hair. i trust the buxton experience will outshine the movies. -mandy
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From:[info]dsgrapeson
Date: July 20th, 2005 09:41 pm (UTC)

Re: Fever Pitch

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Well, I now must see Sahara, but I will probably take your advice and opt for the nap during the second film, then. (I dislike Drew Barrymore. Not to extremes or anything, but certainly enough that her hairstyle- no matter how good- would not keep me riveted. :) )