Followup

Sorry for the lateness of this followup.  Here is the short of it: GO SEE WHAT IF… Well, if it is playing in your area- it opens this Friday.  It truly is a heartwarming movie about breaking down one person to show him what his life should have been like had he not made one bad decision that ended up changing him for the worse.  But you watched the trailer I linked to last time.  As for my experience, I arrived there Monday night at about 5:40 and there were already a lot of people waiting.  By the time the doors to the worship center opened, the lines practically went out the door.  But I did manage to get a seat, even if I never did meet up with any of my small group (or my mother, who someone from my group- Matt-  brought since I didn’t have time to go home then back to Elgin) until afterward.  My mother got a seat too- she and Matt made it inside just as they were adding an extra row.  Everyone else had to go to an overflow area where I presume they had a feed from the worship center.  Around starting time, everyone got a laugh when John Ratzenberger came out with a camera in his hand recording us- his way of returning the favor. 😀

Once the guests were seated, my pastor came out and introduced everyone and talked particularly about the director, Dallas Jenkins, since he is now on staff at the church.  Introductions aside, the movie started.  As I said already- go see it- if you are a follower of Jesus you won’t regret it, and even if you aren’t it is still a very enjoyable drama.  Anyway, once the movie was over, the campus pastor, Jeff called up the three actors present and Dallas to the comfy chairs set up on stage and there was a discussion with them about the movies.  The three actors present were Ratzenberger, Kevin Sorbo, and Debby Ryan.  If you or your child watches Suite Life On Deck on the Disney Channel, she plays Bailey.  Sorbo is best known for his role as Hercules and Ratzenberger from Cheers or more recently as a voice on many Disney/Pixar movies.  I took some pictures with my iphone, but they were pretty bad.  I’ll just say I was in the 5th (I think) row, toward the side of the center.  I was able to see three of the four without a problem, but for the last, and for Jeff, I could only see them on the screen.  Afterward, I went to my car to get my work camera (why I didn’t think of this ahead of time I don’t know).  By the time I met up with my mother and got my camera, we were at the end of the line.  How long was the line?  Well check it out:

AVI of looooong line

Sorry, I don’t have any sort of youtube or other account so you will have to bear with a link to the avi on my webspace.  Anyway, here are some photos of the guests signing What If posters.  Needless to say, I did not get up there before I left, but one of my 5th graders recognized me and offered me one since his family had a few already- God bless him.  So since I didn’t meet the actors myself, I just took these photos from the balcony above which was not blocked off by security.  As always, click on a picture for a larger version:

Derek