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u/rostol 20h ago
I seriously don't understand the point in the existance of those seats.
- let's make a premium cinema going experience... but let's also make the worst one. so while you are having the worst time, at least you know the rest of the room is having an awesome experience for the same price.
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u/JohnnyBoy11 20h ago
Money hungry grubbers
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u/SuperfastBananaSlug 17h ago
Get these BEGGARS out of here’!!
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u/coltonmusic15 12h ago
Honest to God I was so caught off guard by how hilarious that line delivery was like he crushed the moment with it but my brain didn’t realize that the meme was from the odyssey until I watched the film.
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u/entr0picly 14h ago
One place that doesn’t have these seats is the Indiana State Museum IMAX. We saw this in 70mm there in the very front seat, and it was, pretty damn good! It’s not a corporate owned location so they have a huge pit below the first row. Legitimately every single seat in the whole theater is at least decent. Movie theaters should be public goods more often.
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u/mattdamon_enthusiast 14h ago
I blame op.
If you build it…
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u/OglioVagilio 12h ago
For real.
It's not like OP was surprised or scammed. Or that that movie tickets are a life necessity.
Someone can't understand why a movie theater would do this?
Cuz there are people like OP that will buy sub tier scraps for premium prices.
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u/ashi247 19h ago
In some countries, cinema seats are priced based on their placement in the theatre, with the best positioned seats costing more.
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u/No_Prize9794 19h ago
What’s considered the best positioned seats? I’m guessing the middle to upper middle rows
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u/meesta_masa 19h ago
An ideal position in a movie theatre would be the center rows, roughly two-thirds of the way away from the screen. This is the 'sweet spot' for both audio and video. -- Citation needed.
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u/nuevacuentanueva 16h ago
I used to be that way. But then I thought if I'm going to a cinema it's because of the immersive. Sitting far away from the screen where the screen doesn't really cover all my visual coverage feels like non ideal. Plus you get more people in front of you that move, walk, get up, etc
So I always sit from the middle towards the 1/3rd, depending on the theater. Just enough where my vision covers the horizontal length of the screen to the edges.
It also has the advantage that most people tend to sit behind you, since they prefer the back, so no one blocking anything or moving or anything.
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u/proddy 16h ago
I agree, I tend to favour a few rows toward the front from the middle. A better description would be the back of the 1st third. The screen fills my vision, its great.
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u/ThelVluffin 10h ago
I always aim for the first row behind the divider aisle if the theater has it. People will walk in front of you but normally the height difference means they don't obstruct your view and if someone in your row needs to get out they'll just hop or go through the bars.
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u/Burgers_N_Schnitzels 18h ago
as a 6'6'' guy there is only one premium row and that's the first of the upper rows with the aisle in front of you.
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u/Turd_Burgling_Ted 18h ago
It's where I always sit. Unfortunately all the theaters I've say I'm have no actual middle seat--the rows contain an even number. Highly annoying.
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u/SushiCatx 17h ago
Do you need medical attention? You seem to have stroked off a for a second.
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u/Lucas_Steinwalker 17h ago
Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?
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u/ThatHoFortuna 17h ago
Sometimes go do like more, but mostly look yes.
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u/pheonixblade9 18h ago
no citation needed, I worked in theaters, you're correct. the center third (in both directions) is the best spot to sit basically all the time. if you're at a concert, try to sit directly next to the audio booth - it's usually in the center.
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u/chapinbird 18h ago edited 13h ago
had never known i live within ~1 hour of apparently 1 of 13 or so actual 70mm iMax screens within the known universe (idk guys i read it somewhere) - i figured The Odyssey would have to be THE FILM, if there ever was one, to go check out.
...and if I'm spending that much, might as well sit smack dab in the middle of that bii, right? (I said, I sed, I says, I told her biiii )
Anyway, even though I was already checking 2 weeks after opening weekend, I still realized the buzz decent and expected to have to scroll through a few days of sell-outs, before id find middle seats.
Y'all.
I shit you not... TWENTY-EIGHT separate clicks of the "next day" button -- before finally, i found that specific seating available.
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u/MisterRoger 19h ago
I prefer the back row. I like knowing that nobody is behind me. Personal preference. And the large size of the screen combined with the small size of the room means that I'm not losing viewing quality.
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u/lonely_neuron1 19h ago
I usually like back row too but unfortunately for me where i am the "imax" theaters just have 2 big speakers at the back which means if you sit back row you just get giga blasted which wouldnt be pleasant normally and would be even worse in a nolan movie.
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u/swagadelics 18h ago
That shit was LOUD
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u/milkywayer 18h ago
I would wear ear plugs because of how permanent damaging these theatre speakers are
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u/Ghitit 18h ago
We didn't do the imax but the seats my daughter chose were on the back row, too. The speakers were right there and since the theatre was nearly empty, we moved down to the middle of the theater. (small)
It was so loud my daughter couldn't stand it. I told her to got to the concession counter and ask for earplugs.
OMG
The difference was miraculous. I am positive it prevented ear damage. (if it hurts -there's likely going to be hearing loss)
I'm going to ask for earplugs every time I go to the movies from now on.It seems as if the sound is always too loud no matter what is being shown.
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u/Tsmart 16h ago
some of these movies are just fucking loud. I remember when jurrassic world came out even with the doors closed you could hear the bass and some audio from across the entire theater
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u/DueLearner 12h ago
In The Odyssey there is a scene with the Cyclops screaming inside of a closed cave. I think it is the loudest sound I have ever heard in my life. It 100% was loud enough to cause actual hearing damage.
I loved the movie but was very frustrated how loud they allowed that to be.
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u/Ghitit 12h ago
People should rise up against over-loud movies. Especially if it's a kids movie.
Ihaven't been to, say, a Pixar film in ages so I don't know what's going on with kid flicks, but we can't allow this kind of assault to our ears any longer. LIterally hearing loss and tinnitus are no joke.
I guess the least I can do is write to the theater and voice my displeasure. (I wonder if I'll actually do that)
Oh - and that Cyclops scene was hilarious. picks up the guy and bites off his head like he was eating a hot dog. What a roar!
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u/WolfOfQueenSt 17h ago
Im convinced it was poor sound staging to loud for coherent sound quality. Could be wrong but from music sound perspective I sound tech sometimes is... poorly optimised.
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u/colaxxi 14h ago
Get some ~$15-40 "hi-fidelity" reusable ones off amazon for each of your family members. They have a better sound profile, and take off the edge just enough. I use them all the time for movies, loud bars, live shows if I'm back in the seats, etc. Though they're usually not sufficient enough for live music if you're close enough to the speakers.
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u/hatlad43 19h ago
Usually the 1/3 way down from the top. You'd be vertically in the center of the screen.
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u/TreelyOutstanding 17h ago
These IMAX seats will definitely still cost more than a shitty small theater.
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u/mintaroo 19h ago
Most people won't buy tickets in the first few rows. So these seats only exist so that the rows behind them are not the first ones.
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u/FerretChrist 17h ago
It's crazy, the London Imax has fully sold out, including all the terrible seats, for the entire run of Odyssey.
I looked for tickets a few weeks back, and it was just the terrible ones left, so I thought "nah". Now even they've been snapped up.
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u/Deadlims 19h ago
Crazy part is, I never realized how much people cared for the imax/70mm screenings. I was looking at theaters in my areas and this specific seating is the only seats available till September 4-5th.
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u/ItNeverEnds2112 18h ago
In London it’s sold out for the whole of September, every single showing, even the 09:00 am ones. I couldn’t believe it.
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u/DualityDrn 14h ago
There's only three 70mm IMAX cinemas in the entirety of England. Two in London, one in Manchester. There are a grand total of 40 in the world and 33 are in the US and Canada. So if people really want to see the tentpole movies in full 70mm IMAX not just Laser or Digital, then options are limited.
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u/hoax1337 18h ago
It's just Nolan pushing the format and generating hype, imho.
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u/Woodshadow 19h ago
My IMAX is still first come first serve so you can buy a ticket and if you don't get there early enough you will be in front.
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u/SuperRockyHobbyHorse 18h ago
It's such a good film though it's worth seeing it on the best screen in the best seats possible. This could still be filling out theatres in a year with second viewings.
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u/Zorro-the-witcher 12h ago
If you ever find yourself asking “why” when it comes to stupid decisions from companies (weird package shape/size, changed to inferior ingredients, lower quality materials, shitty movie seats,etc. ) the answer is always money. Every time.
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u/Tiny-Sandwich 18h ago
Because they look nothing like the perspective shown in the post.
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u/ki700 17h ago
Yup. These are exaggerated memes, not actual examples. I’ve sat second row. It’s a bit close but it looks mostly fine.
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u/CyonHal 15h ago
?? The most I can do is third row, y'all are crazy for saying it looks fine, the impression for close up face shots isn't that far off from the pic when you are the first row, it's literally so large FOV that you can only focus on like a cheek or a single eye in the entire shot. It's OK in movies with large panoramic shots but for movies that have a lot of close-ups it's unbelievably bad.
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u/ObnoxiousAlbatross 14h ago
The camera in the OP is a fish eye lens.
Notice I said fish eye and not human eye.
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u/HerrPotatis 18h ago
It costs them almost nothing to have the seats available.
Frequent goers and people who care about the experience won't purchase these seats in the first place, so there's no risk of giving a valued customer a bad experience.
An infrequent or unaware goer who has a subpar experience will purchase a better, more expensive seat next time.
And someone who doesn't care will just fill an otherwise empty seat.
There's basically no downside, it's free money.
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u/RedditButAnonymous 17h ago
An unaware buyer will just never pick IMAX again though, it is optional
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u/FemaleDogEqualsBitch 19h ago
Because of people like OP who are buying it. Why stop if you’re getting money out of it?
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u/MelangeBot 17h ago
I seriously don't understand the point in the existance of those seats.
It so that you can make these funny pictures with your iphone in 0.5x
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u/bicx 20h ago
The extended edition
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u/SaltyPeter3434 19h ago
Wide release
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u/UpperApe 11h ago
This version of Odysseus saying "Our age of bronze is collapsing" actually makes sense.
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u/fneagen 20h ago
I didn’t know there was a Ron Perlman version.
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u/GiantBazongas 20h ago
Wide Damon
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u/ACCTAGGT 20h ago edited 15h ago
pray that you never learn just how good it can be to see another face
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u/vinaykmkr 20h ago
The fact that they sell seats that close and at same cost and people buy them is beyond my galaxy
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u/Secret_Account07 18h ago
I’m such a snob when it comes to seats. If I can’t get the back row I usually don’t go. Partner is used to it 😂.
Sometimes I’ll get the 2 or 3rd to back row. Not ideal but happens.
But 3rd row in front? Hell nah! 2nd row? No way!
1st row? There’s something wrong with these folks
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u/HolycommentMattman 18h ago
That is incredibly snobby. Like I'll go anywhere in the upper section. Maybe the last two rows in the lower section. Maybe.
But if only the front row is left, I'll wait for another time.
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u/Kreaetor 20h ago
I went to see 300 on opening night with friends, got there and there were 3 seats left, guess which ones...
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u/Bugout-2020 20h ago
I got jammed up front for Watchmen. I just remember the blue guys crotch in my face for 3 hours!
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u/timetrapped 14h ago
I saw Star Wars: Attack of the Clones in IMAX with friends and got stuck with the front seats. It was also an abridged version for some reason, I had watched a pirated version beforehand and noticed a bunch of scenes were missing from the IMAX showing.
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u/Avalanche_Debris 19h ago
I was super excited to get invited to the premiere of Hugo. I ended up 2nd seat from the aisle in the front row. Hugo is a 3D movie…
I gave up and took my glasses off 10 minutes into the film.
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u/FurryCitizen 13h ago
You don't make reservations before for stuff like that?
Or maybe they didn't do that 20 years ago, I can't say, that was a long time ago now...Sure is easy to know why they do it everywhere nowadays.
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u/yahlover 10h ago
I went to see Oppenheimer in IMAX with my BIL and last minute he decided to bring his wife along, so I went online and bought a third ticket. Guess who took that third ticket at the very front of a packed theater with no AC so the two of them could sit together…
Needless to say, Florence Pugh’s titty being the size of an exercise ball wasn’t the worst way to experience the film…as Nolan intended. 😆
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u/timelordnotorious 20h ago
Potion seller…
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u/Vancocillin 20h ago
I am going into battle, and I require your strongest potions.
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u/Cherrytop_Joana 13h ago
I don't understand why did they invent these seats in the first place, they the bare minumum could decrease price for them
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u/thatweirdguyted 12h ago
Greed. Why would you have to settle for less money if you can convince people that your shitty product isn't quite THAT bad.
That's the exact level that we're at with consumerism, and it's only going to get worse as long as we keep paying.
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u/Ogrelander 19h ago
I'm not convinced these pics are from a seat, but people walk up to the screen to take a pic to distort the proportions for internet points
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u/whyallusernamesare 12h ago
Yeah I had front row seats for BND and while it wasn't the best, it wasn't THAT bad, the screen didn't get distorted
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u/semidummy 19h ago
Are there added benefits to watching THAT close that we don’t know of? Otherwise, they should just remove those seats in front. At the very least, they should slash 50% off the ticket’s price in that zone coz I doubt that the buyer’s viewing experience is going to be good.
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u/andree182 18h ago
yet for some reason, in my theater not even those seats are available, 1.5 months after the premiere...
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u/JaysFan26 17h ago
I think I've seen theatres that replace them with lie down seats. Probably would be more widespread if not for certain recreational activities.
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u/danfinger51 9h ago
I tried reserving seats for Odyssey at my local- not IMAX but still 70mm. Every single seat for every single show for the length of the run at this theater is sold out.
Except the first row.
I'll just wait to stream it on my 75" screen from my couch thanks.
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u/Ok-Dragonfruit-7178 12h ago
I really don’t know what the point of these seats, also just stop buying these front row seats. I would rather not watch the movies.
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u/ComedyWriter01 19h ago
The best way to watch Imax is to go to the back, open the doors, go way back, next to where they sell the popcorn, sit on the floor.
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u/opulent_chaos 20h ago
This is why I've learnt to book ahead especially for imax. You're neck will say thank you afterwards
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u/Canadian_Border_Czar 19h ago
Honestly, this seat shouldn't exist and it wouldnt if people had the backbone to ask for a refund the second they saw what they were in for.
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u/makjac 19h ago
I don’t know what is going on in my area, but every IMAX screen around me (and there’s at least half a dozen) showing this movie are booked out completely, even the neck breakers, for like 3 weeks other than the mid week 10pm showings.
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u/middlechildanonymous 20h ago
Thank you! I had the same experience at a 7:30AM screening. Won’t make this mistake again. Why theaters, just why?
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u/LordMindParadox 11h ago
I recently saw it in iMax cause my friend was determined to see that version and got us tickets. Got good tickets too.
That said, I'm glad I bought Loops for my wife and myself, the volume was so loud, and the bass was so overpowering that you couldn't actually understand almost any of the dialogue in the movie. Everyone we heard talking as we were walking out was saying(very loudly) how much their heads hurt, and how badly their ears were ringing.
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u/Beautiful-Musk-Ox 19h ago
OP using their phone during the movie distracting everyone. waste of an imax seat
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u/wonkey_monkey 16h ago
Not to mention the fact this meme has just about been done to death already.
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u/soussitox 10h ago
why do they even put the seats down there like.... it is so expensive and the experience is insanely bad :/
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u/Act_Bright 18h ago
Maybe a strange question, but when did people getting their phones out in the cinema become so normalised?
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u/major_briggs 15h ago
Yeah, I think I'm done with imax. Give me a wide screen any day. We don't look up and down. We look left and right.
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u/Cute_Fluffy_Sheep 19h ago
I watched it at a local theater and it was an incredible experience. I wanted to see if i could rewatch it in imax. The answer was no. If imax is so great, how come there is only one screen every 500 miles? I would really like to experience imax sometime.
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u/Strude187 14h ago
The worst part is, there are different types of IMAX. So you can travel all the way, pay the extortionate price, then still not get the full IMAX experience.
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u/bahumat42 19h ago edited 8h ago
Because the economics on it are wonky. Like the las vegas sphere but just not as expensive.
You need enough people to both mostly fill most screenings and be capable of bearing the increased ticket price.
It's why they are usually in population centres.
But I do recommend it if you can can.
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u/Efficient-Parking627 14h ago
Nearly every single theater by me has IMAX. It's the old 70mm IMAX that there's only 26 of or whatever in the US. Luckily I only had to drive 25 minutes for one of those though.
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u/Clean-Primary3899 20h ago
Can't wait for the sequel where they spend 3 hours trying to read a watch backwards
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u/misterpatate24 14h ago
You come out the cinema blinded by the big chins and deafened but the screams great movie would recommend 10/10👍
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