Review of The Room Midnight Madness at E Street Cinemas in Washington D.C.

Landmark's E Street Cinemas hosts Midnight Madness every Friday and Saturday at midnight. The films range from artistic to cult favorites. I attended the nearly sol our Friday showing of The Room by Tommy Wiseau (Writer, Director, Actor, Producer) on March 26^th. I had no idea this was such a large cult movie and only attended because I heard the movie was the worst ever made. The people in line agreed, but I still didn't understand why they had footballs and plastic spoons.

Before every Midnight Madness event the manager comes out and provides some context for the film and introduces a special guest if there is one. For The Room he pleaded with the audience to not break the screen with footballs and in general it's just a bad idea. He reminded everyone that this show will keep coming back as long as we keep selling out the theater so keep it going.

The film starts and I feel like I'm about to do the time warp because there is a definite Rocky Horror feeling to the crowd. The woman next to me leans over and asks, "When am I supposed to throw the spoons?" Neither of us had any idea what is going on, but after the first awful scene of this love triangle I understood the still developing rules.

I don't want to spoil much about the film because it's something you need to do for yourself to understand. This film has all the dramatic flair of an R&B video and a high school play. It's worse than a train wreck it's more like watching a group of people fall down a long flight of stairs in slow motion.

Participation Rules

(More or less, but they are growing all the time)

-You can make fun of the movie at any time for any reason.

-Bring roses for the loves scenes of which there are many.

-When the actors are playing sound stage football, you play football.

-Whenever you see a spoon or something annoys you check a spoon.

-When Mark asks about the music, candles, and sexy dress the audience replies, "What music, what candles, what sexy dress?" because none of them are present.

-Each time a female character is poorly represented yell, "Because you're a woman." ( I felt this was over used.)

This trend will continue to grow and the next time this film comes around I will probably go again to hurl more insults and add to the growing fanfare around the film. People kept running down during the slow parts in the film to pick up the spoons they had throw so they could throw them again. For a movie theater it's a very active place. I loved seeing the film in this context because everyone is having such a good time its hard not to enjoy this awful, awful film.

Theater Information

-Address: 555 11th Street NW, Washington, DC 20004

- Phone: (202) 452-7672 (Automated)

-Parking: Entrance on 11th Street between "E" & "F" Streets Validate parking at box office

-Closet Metro: One block from Metro Center (Orange, Green, Red, Blue lines)

-Tickets: Box Office and online (link)

-Food: Movie candy, hot dogs, vegan and vegetarian choices. The hotdogs are boiling hot and awful every time I go, do not get them.

-Drink: Wine, Beer, Water, Soda

-Screens: 8

-Gift Cards: Yes

-Next Showing of the Room Apr 23 & 24 @ Midnight