Is it Thursday yet?? Highly awaiting for 'Dark Knight'

One week and counting.

Come next Friday, I will be coming off less than four hours of sleep after coming back from seeing "The Dark Knight" in Denver at a midnight showing at the Imax theater. Man, it feels good to be excited over a movie.

As I prepare for my midnight pilgrimage to see “Dark Knight,” I’m trying to think back on the last time I was excited to see a film at midnight.

As I have gotten older, I have learned it takes more and more to excite me when it comes to movies. I remember as a kid, seeing a trailer for a blockbuster movie and losing patience as I waited for it to come to my theater. Because I lived in a small town in New Mexico, we didn't get our movies on opening day. We had to wait as the movie made a rotation among local theaters, which meant we waited for as long as two months for a movie to come to our town after it opened.

I could remember being excited for every movie that was made, packaged, marketed and sold to young kids (and some adult fare such as “Terminator 2” – which was actually marketed to kids with toys and even trading cards). And I don't remember being disappointed often. And this was a period where I would check the movie listings every week to see if "Mario Bros." was finally playing at my theater. Yeah, really “Mario Bros.”

I don't know if it's age or experience that has made me more critical of movies. Now in my late 20s, it takes a lot to make me excited about seeing a movie at midnight. Before the newest Batman movie, the only movie I was really anticipating to see was "Indiana Jones" and I anticipated that movie with a ton of hesitation (which I was right to). It seems lately I have been seeing midnight showings more out of habit than anticipation (see “Cloverfield” “Ironman” and Hancock”).

I think it’s being burned too often by highly-anticipated movies that has lead to my jadedness. Just off the top of my head – the “Matrix” sequels, “Indiana Jones,” the “Star Wars” prequels, and “Superman.”

I walked out of these movies discouraged and disappointed (especially “Indiana Jones,” which killed a part of my childhood).

The “Lord of the Rings” trilogy titillated my movie palate. So did the first “Matrix.” But those tasty delights have been too few in between.

Now, I have become reserved when I salivate over upcoming movies and I have no reason to believe “The Dark Knight” will disappoint.

When it comes to movies that I countdown to open, I try to put my head in the sand when it comes to reviews, teasers, online leaks and spoilers. I’ve done this with “Dark Knight” but with me being plugged into a computer screen for most of the work day, coming across tidbits of information is unavoidable. From what I have gathered from the first few words of early reviews of this movie, it is going to redeem my passion for big, spectacular popcorn movies.

If you are planning to see “The Dark Knight” at midnight, I would advise getting advance tickets early. A New York Times article talked about some movie theaters choosing to have 3 a.m. and even 6 a.m. showings of “Dark Knight” because their midnight showings have been sold out. And because large portions of this movie were filmed in Imax, I would definitely suggest seeing this movie in the larger format.