I have a confession to make- I snuck into a movie. Actually, I paid for another movie, but snuck into something I didn't pay for. And it was so totally worth it.

See, a friend and I went to go see The Ring last night. When we got there, we discovered that the movie was "Sold Out." Not knowing what to do and having to make a decision real fast, we got tickets to see The Transporter. Now, I really wanted to see The Ring cause the previews looked kind of cool, got good reviews and Naomi Watts is in it, but I in no way wanted to see The Transporter. I've already seen that movie a hundred times.

So we got tickets to see The Transporter, but, egged on by the erstwhile HomeFine, we snuck in to go see The Ring. I, of course, felt kind of scared and nervous, not to mention guilty, but as I really wanted to see The Ring, I went along with it. Piece of cake. Further proof that if you act like you're doing what you're supposed to be doing, nothing will happen to you. They even had a bunch of guys standing outside the theater trying to make sure only people with tickets got in, but only one of them feebly asked for our tickets when we rushed by them and didn't do anything once we passed them. I kept on expecting them to give chase, but no chase was given. I also had this fear that just as the movie would start, the place would be full and I'd see two sad looking people walking into the theater, unable to find any seats because we took their seats. But none did. Guess it wasn't that sold out. It was plenty crowded, but there was still seats available. Not good one's, but there were still empty seats to be had. We had to sit in the second row, which I really, really hate, but did I mention how much I wanted to see The Ring?

And how was The Ring? Damn scary and pretty good. It had everything you could want out of a popcorn thriller- tripped out scenes, a few good scares, a lot of false leads, tension-filled dread laden suspense, Naomi Watts in her underwear, and great audience participation. During the movie's big scare, as everyone in the audience was either screaming or laughing out of fear, someone behind me yelled out "Awesome!" the way you would when you're on a really great Roller Coaster and you're both having a great time but scared witless. During another scene, I heard a girl turn to her boyfriend and tell him that it was the last time she was gonna let him pick the movie. You could really feel the tension and the fear in the audience, as if it was a group event more than a movie that you watch and process by yourself. Which would be considered a pretty good sign that a movie's pretty good.

Afterwards, as HomeFine and I were leaving, I saw this guy dissecting the movie to the two women he was with. He was a typical film snot- a skinnier, nerdier version of the Comic Store Book Guy on The Simpsons. He, of course, had seen the original version of the movie, the Japanese one, and was sitting there telling his rapt audience how much better the Japanese movie was and how bad this version was. The whole time he was ruminating, however, he was slunk down in his seat, his jacket pulled over him like a sheet, like he was in bed and hiding underneath the covers afraid to come out because he was scared shitless. Wanker.

Oh yeah, saw another preview for The Two Towers, one much longer than the first one I saw and one that actually includes shots of the Gollum. Two words- Fuck and yeah. Once again, you know a movie's in good shape when the audience cheers the second the preview starts with a shot of Aragorn.