Last weekend was a special weekend for any Tolkien and Lord of the Rings fans. The tickets to the latest addition to the Hobbit movie trilogy became available at Finnkino. Like previous years, Tennispalatsi had a special night event for the fans who wished to purchase the tickets few hours before everyone else. First people came to line up for the night with tents and sleeping bags already three weeks ago, but most of us settled for coming some hours before the doors to the theater opened. The workers cheered us up by bringing out free chip bags and Hobbit posters.
There were altogether about 630 fans lined up for the tickets on Friday evening when the doors opened and the Finnkino workers began handing out waiting numbers. Yours truly was fan number 441, which earned fabulous seats for the midnight premiere in two weeks. Some fans had gone all out and dressed up in amazing costumes, but most had opted for anything warm that would help them survive in the cold. Luckily, once we made it to the theater, it was warm and the discount movies that were playing throughout the night kept everyone entertained.
My movie selections included Maps to the Stars (latest David Cronenberg film that will leave your head filled with thought for weeks to come), The Maze Runner (entertaining dystopia flick, although not a match for Hunger Games or Divergent) and Annabelle (a horror movie that plays too much on cheap thrills). Before I knew it, the night was over and I had my tickets safely in my hand and sleep deprivation for days.