haha, fantastic!
I love midnight showings, but the movie has to be epic to warrant it. I haven't been to one lately, as the last two or three films I have gone to midnight showings of have not drawn much of a crowd. Some of my most memorable midnight premiers though have been The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring; Return of the King; Star Wars: Episodes II & III; 300; The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; Prince Caspian; Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End; The Dark Knight; and Watchmen.
The common trait threading all of these events was the atmosphere. Each premier was alive with excitement and anticipation. From waiting in line to waiting in the theater through enjoying the movie, there was a pulse all through the night that just thrilled me. You can't be around so many passionate people and not be invigorated and excited. The comparison was made before and it's very fitting: midnight premiers are like mini-conventions. We all feel very strongly about these movies and when you got a ton of these passionate people together...it's like a powder keg of awesomeness and fandom.
The Lord of the Rings films, Star Wars, and The Dark Knight were probably the most memorable for me, as the draw for these movies was just monumental. Cosplay all over the theater, scene performances and re-enactments while waiting for the film to start. I'm pretty sure it was The Dark Knight (or maybe Watchmen) that I coincidentally ended up sitting about two rows in front of and behind a horde of Kumoriconsters (including Nikkiolie). This is what I mean. The people midnight showings attract make for such a party/family reunion/super awesome fun time...how could you not love this?
And of course staying up late builds the anticipation and just makes everything exponentially more exciting/lovely/fantastic. Kahlan made Watchmen cookies for the Watchmen premier, which we proceeded to share with a bunch of strangers, which is awesome! Where else do you get a chance to do this?
Midnight premiers are great. I love them, when the movie justifies it. Like I said, it needs to be epic, and the crowd has to be respectful (which fortunately with one exception they have been). Haven't been to a good midnight premier for a while, but I'd love to get back to a memorable one.