A few days ago, the voice of moviegoers everywhere, Jordan Hoffman, let loose on an upcoming promotional iPhone/smart phone app created by Best Buy to be used during the end credits of this weekend's Despicable Me.
But in an effort to be a fair and just person, I decided, "why the hell not give a try?" And as I discovered, this is the best case scenario.
Like Hoffman, many see the app is a red flag (see equally worrisome blurbs at Slashfilm and Movieline). It's annoying enough that you can no longer sit through a 90-minute movie without someone in your vacinity whipping out their cell phone and brigthening up the entire theater with the light of a thousand suns. Now they're asking people to play with them.
I can see where everyone's coming from; with social gaming on the rise and everyone and their brother (and their kids, but don't get me started...) picking up the latest app-enabled phones, it's only a matter of time before we'll be living life through the lens of a touchscreen.
The app does exactly what it touts: after activating it pre-screening, the app sets your phone into "Movie Mode", which dims your screen and forces you to turn your ringer to silent. If only theaters somehow enacted that standard. Then the app lies dormant until a minute out from the end, when it sends a vibrating signal letting you know, "yes, it's iPhone time."
The credits of Despicable Me feature even more adorable, yellow Minion antics, that are easily enjoyed without translating their nonsense language, but app adds an extra layer of adult-friendly comedy. With the help of an iPhone app, we finally understand the Minions' obsession with Twilight and male balding.
The app could still be a stepping stone for other studios to run amok through their own films (i'd prefer to leave Pop Up Videos or Director Commentaries at home, please), but the Best Buy app accomplished something rare: it had a theater full of kids and parents sitting through the credits of a movie. Even after the Minion-translation ended, people hung around because, why not?
Finally, color designer Sergio Casas has his day in the sun.
If you want to take part in the next step in cinematic interaction, download Best Buy's app and check out Despicable Me this weekend (we highly recommend it).
Just don't turn your phone on during the movie.
