I loved the line by William Shatner in "Airplane II" when he said, " Irony can be pretty ironic sometimes." But how much more ironic could it be that exactly half-way through Sunday night's showing of "Grindhouse" at the Oriental Theatre, the projector actually broke?
The double-feature was intentionally choppy, sloppy and crude, so no one thought it was real when the projector crapped out just as soon as Quentin Tarantino's half of the movie started. The opening credits of "Death Proof" were bouncing all over the place, and the sound of a clicking reel of film was clearly evident.
"Wow," I thought. "The Oriental has a pretty impressive surround sound system. This actually sounds real."
Only when the projector operator came out and explained that it was actually malfunctioning did people burst out laughing. And this time, unlike when I experienced problems with the audio of "Little Miss Sunshine" a few months ago at the Oriental, the staff handled the situation absolutely perfectly.
First, they explained the problem and announced that it would be fixed in just five minutes. Then they offered us free popcorn while we waited. Then, when we left the movie, they offered us a free voucher for another movie at a later date.
It was an example of perfect customer service during an annoyance that, frankly, wasn't annoying at all. You'll have to see "Grindhouse" to know what I'm talking about, but to have the projector actually break during its screening made this campy experience even better.
Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.
Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.
Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.
