We had received a special invitation to preview a movie (of which we had no idea what we were seeing) which was to be screened at Hoyts in the Entertainment Quarter Moore Park - a fair hike from home, but we thought it would be well worth the travel considering it was:
a. a free movie
b. a movie that had yet to come out
c. a fun adventure
d. special father/son time
The invite was clear that we needed to arrive from 1.45pm and that the movie would start promptly at 2.30pm. Going to a kids movie with kids I figured that standing or sitting around for 45 minutes before a movie was slightly crazy. So instead arrived just after 2 and joined the line. The line snaked its way around the foyer and right up to the front doors and didn't move. I wondered what was going on but thought to myself that all would be OK. Then T started to freak. "When are we going to go in?", "We need to go over there or we will be doomed" pointing to the candy bar, "C'mon Dad, lets go". This was OK to handle for a couple of minutes. But we were standing there for 45 minutes in the same spot (opposite the candy bar!).
It was about the 30 minute mark that T started to crack and was going into full meltdown mode. And yes, people around were noticing. Some of the other kids were asking what was wrong with him - thankfully their parents had sensible responses like "He just doesn't understand why we have to wait" and "Waiting here this long, can you blame him!". Back to the timeline, 45 minutes waiting from 2pm takes us to 15 minutes past when the movie (still unknown) started. It was at this point in time that a person from the movie preview company and somebody from Hoyts came along and explained that we weren't going to be going into the preview. "The American's stuffed up (Read Warner Bros) They didn't think that there would be this sort of response". What the? Aussies + anything free = No brainer. We were invited, we came! They did however offer us tickets to go see another movie later in the day. T wasn't listening to this discussion. I had to break the news to him myself that we weren't going to be able to go in. Well that was it. No more needed to be said. He was beside himself. I sat down beside him on the ground and consoled him that all would be OK and that we would work it out. The movie that was offered in place of the still unknown movie was "The Smurfs" in 3d. Unfortunately, it wasn't scheduled to start until 3.30pm and this meant that it was going to be a really tight squeeze to get home in time to meet up with my Dad. What was I going to do?
Well, we decided that we would go and see the Smurfs and that we would just hope (and pray) that everything else would just fall into place. So when I went to the counter to get my tickets, the man behind the counter tells me in confidence that the movie preview was for Happy Feet 2, the movie that is supposed to be in direct competition with "The Smurfs". I recalled that T did not enjoy the original "Happy Feet" and the preview for "Happy Feet 2" was shown in the trailers to "The Smurfs".
T's reaction to the trailer said it all. Absolute boredom. The decision not to see the preview screening of "Happy Feet 2" was not ours, but I think that there was definitely a silver lining to this little grey cloud.
By the way, "The Smurfs" was a fantastic movie. I would definitely recommend seeing it whether you are an adult or a child. There is something there for everyone.
I did make it home in time to head up for the night with Dad to go see Don Walker live in concert. It was a great concert. Don's music is so varied, but my favourite songs of the evening were a solo version of Khe Sanh, The Good Book, and Eternity. A link to his website is here. http://www.donwalker.com.au/ and to some of the lyrics - http://www.mrdwalker.net/wagd.html
What a day, what an adventure!
My little Smurf
Don Walker and Band
Don Walker - Khe Sanh
