Wow, now that's how to spend a Thursday night.
Last night's private advanced screening of Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 at Xscape Theatre Northgate was a great time. We filled a theater of Insiders who got to see the movie before it begins playing at most theaters today.
We had a red carpet and banner and photographer snapping photos of guests.
Here are the photos. If you went, see if you can spot yourself.
Last night was the first time I've been able to take advantage of one of our movie screenings. We have offered free advance movie tickets for several movies in the past — Ant -Man, Tomorrowland and Longest Ride. But those movies just didn't work out for my schedule.
And Hunger Games was the first movie we had an entire theater for.
And what a theater it was. The red, plush, reclining seats at Xscape were super comfy. They were so comfortable I expected myself to fall asleep during the movie because I normally fall asleep watching TV on the couch around 9 p.m. But I stayed awake. That could be because the screen, which Xscape says is the largest in the Tri-State area, was so huge and the sound ever present.
It was also great to meet some Insiders. It sounds like from the social media posts that Insiders enjoyed themselves.
Thanks @WCPO for treating to #MockingjayPart2 #wcpoinsider
— Ryan Slandzicki (@SLANDZZ) November 20, 2015
I can't wait for the next Insider movie event — which is just a few days away. We gave away tickets to Insiders to see Pixar's The Good Dinosaur at Regal Deerfield Town Center Stadium 16 in Mason. For this show, we allowed Insiders to request up to four tickets. So I'm taking my whole family. The kids are super excited. And again, that's the day before the movie is showing in most theaters.
Think about the savings. Movie tickets are expensive. So between just those two movies, my Insider membership (which cost me $19.99) probably saved me at least $50.
Mike Canan is editor of WCPO.com. Contact him at mike.canan@wcpo.com. Follow him on Twitter or Instagram at @Mike_Canan.
