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Minecraft movie spawns ‘annoying’ cinema trend that viewers claim ‘ruins’ the film

www.independent.co.uk

Minecraft movie spawns ‘annoying’ cinema trend that viewers claim ‘ruins’ the film

In the wake of the film’s release, cinemagoers have been sharing footage of crowds watching the film, with certain moments prompting loud, vocal responses from the people in attendance.

One moment, which features prominently in the film’s trailer, sees Black and Momoa confronted in a boxing ring by a cuboid Minecraft chicken, who is ridden around the ring by another character. “Chicken jockey,” exclaims Black’s character, a reference to the video game that seems to be sending audiences wild.

Several videos captured by cinemagoers show audiences chanting the line along with Black, before whooping and clapping loudly. On social media, many people attested that they had witnessed, or participated in, similar outbursts.

“My theater clapped every time Jack Black name dropped a Minecraft item that was in the trailers, and when he said Chicken Jockey I s*** you not the entire row in front of me gave a standing ovation,” one person shared.

“Just got back from watching the movie myself, can confirm everyone in the theater collectively yelled ‘CHICKEN JOCKEY’ during that moment and it was glorious ngl,” wrote another.

“This is what made me love my experience more, bc even though the movie wasn’t as bad as i thought it was going to be, the packed cinema with everyone shouting, clapping and cheering whenever jack black name dropped something genuinely gave me so much joy,” commented someone else.

However, the phenomenon has drawn staunch criticism from others, with some claiming that audience participation had “ruined” the theatrical experience for them.

121 comments

  • I think if you're going to a movie about a popular video game, you should expect that people will respond positively to references to the popular video game. For myself, I wouldn't have a clue, because I've only ever used Minetest/Luanti.

  • I'm reminded of a British comedy show called My Hero. (If you want to find it, you're better off googling "Thermoman") It is a show about an alien who comes to Earth and is basically a superhero with heat-based powers, but is also a bit of a doof. The show is actually kind of a rom-com as it focuses on his alter ego coming to terms with living among humans.

    At one point, his girlfriends' parents are in a community theater production, and George (Thermoman's mild mannered alter ego) acts very inappropriately, trying to interact with the play etc. Because he had only been introduced to Christmas Pantomime* and wasn't aware there were different kinds of theater.

    Getting mad at shit is like, my whole comedy persona or whatever, but I struggle to get mad at this. Maybe we should name it as a genre or something the way the British did with "Pantomime" versus other productions you're supposed to take more seriously. Even more "normal" comedies where you're allowed to laugh at jokes but are otherwise not supposed to try to contribute.

    So...let's do it. Let's make audience participation cinema. I've read about a Taylor Swift movie where tween girls were singing along and dancing in the aisles. If the kids are enjoying it, who goddamn cares?

    *This isn't really a thing in America, not sure about the rest of the English speaking world. It's a theater performance often done around Christmastime that has some comedy, some slapstick, some bawdy jokes, some audience participation, and the general idea seems to be "let's not take it so seriously and just have some fun" kind of theater.

  • It could be so good while high, imagine these bombs dropping ‘chicken jockey’. I don’t get it at all but it sounds like good fun or at least bizzare experience

  • NO LITERALLY my friends and i’s entire movie experience[…]

    lol I’m just imagining saying “Get your hands off i’s burger! It’s i’s, not yours!” or the like.

121 comments