My dad and I got to see "South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut" for the movie's 25th anniversary! I'm aware of the fact the movie was also screened in 2019 for the 20th anniversary just 5 years ago. Sadly, I was only 14 at the time and I assumed that, like in the movie, anyone under 18 couldn't go in unless an adult was present. When I caught wind of the fact that it would be in theaters AGAIN, and now that I'm in the start of my 20s, I knew I just HAD to go. So I looked at the two days it would be in theaters and we came to an agreement to go to a Sunday showing since it would be well after my weekend job at the church food pantry. While my parents were attending service at their own church, I stayed home, sorted through my dozens of t-shirts and settled on the perfect South Park getup. A Cartman t-shirt complete with a Kyle hat and one of my several plushies. I settled on taking my 1998 Fun4All Wendy plush since she holds a sentimental value as my first plush from the show.
The father-daughter duo left for pantry just in time for that church's coffee hour (basically just their own little brunch that's held after service.) The congregation always welcomes the volunteers to have lunch with them and I already have a few mutual friendships with the members. After that, it was straight to work. Unfortunately, it was a work shift that was severely understaffed that day. It was just me, dad, the manager's kids, and one of our friends from the church. We got to work bagging and boxing orders with the little staff we had and my dad and I tapped out early so we couldn't miss the show. I had the South Park soundtrack in my car and "rehearsed" my heart out as this particular showing was a "sing-a-long" event. (PS: I really don't care for "Uncle Fucka." I always skip over it unless I'm watching the movie).
After work, we went home for a little while seeing as it was only 2:30 and the showing wasn't until 4:00. Once it got closer to the specific time, we headed over to our local Regal Cinema, got our tickets and concessions, and prepared to see our favorite characters on the big screen. I've been so used to being the only two people in the theater these last few years, so I was very pleasantly surprised to see there were 7 other people who came to the show! But my God, those dozens of trailers felt like an eternity! But my dad and I munched on our popcorn while we waited. But before the show began, we got a little introduction from "Little Leonard Maltin" himself. He gave us a rundown of the movie's history (pretty basic trivia that every South Park fan would know). But even though he was mentioning people like Matt, Trey, and even Chef's voice actor, he didn't even mention Mary Kay Bergman for some reason. Maybe it was because of time? Needless to say, my dad wasn't too pleased that Mary didn't even get recognized ONCE for her talents in this introduction. But getting to watch the movie itself made up for all of that.
Folks, I have no idea if this tops the "Scott Pilgrim" screening I went to back in 2021, but it's PRETTY close. Getting to see something that was a major inspiration for what I do today on the big screen was dare I say "magical." Fun fact: my dad actually saw Bigger Longer and Uncut back when it first premiered in theaters circa 1999. I guess you could say this was a "passing of the torch" thing? I already loved the movie before, but I think I love it even more now! If it winds up playing for it's 30th in 5 years from now, I think we'll be going again.
Unfortunately, the night ended in disaster as the butter in my popcorn was expired (assuming that's the case) because I became violently ill at 2:30 in the morning. I'm only gonna be getting small and medium bags for a little while until I feel comfortable enough to dive into the buckets again.
My next movie: Inside Out 2
