This Saturday...

...we check for pink leotards.

As it turns out, the release date for Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King is not the February 22, as previous reported, but a full 8 days earlier: February 14. Even better, an advanced screening will take place at select theatres a full week earlier than that: February 7, this Saturday. Today, we found one of those select theatres and bought a two-ticket set for 2400 yen--not much more than tickets back home, which is to say, a steal in Japan. Our tickets came in a little folder akin to the ones that airplane tickets come it, and enclosed was a piece of cell phone flare styled after the leaves of Lorien.

Problem: the movie begins at 8:20. If we take into account the ample 201 minute running time, not to mention the number of ads and trailers that precede movies in Japanese theatres, then we should expect a midnight finish in the best case scenario. This timing must be considered in conjuction with a) our early shift the next day and b) our train route and the train schedule of our local line on the weekends, which is not particularly compatible with a healthy night life.

Prediction: Cinematic heaven will stand in stark contrast to the immediately following events in Real Life (tm).