"You’ll have to go around to the short red carpet, sir."

I was perplexed by the nameless security guard, but took the situation in stride knowing that I was having a conversation with him because of a fortunate set of circumstances in the late 1990s.

I walked around the fenced off red carpet and passed Mark Wahlberg who was posing alongside his co-star Kate Mara several feet away. Cameras flashed and photographers yelled out, “Mark! Mark! Over here!” They snapped away endlessly thanks to digital camera technology. I wended my way through the surrounding crowds and made my way up to the front of the Mann’s Westwood Theater. I flashed my tickets and took my place at the end of the red carpet which led into the lobby of the theater. Free bags of popcorn and soft drinks lined the concession stand counters. Folks involved in both ends of the film making spectrum intermingled. Black suited security guards stoicly brayed, “Folks, please move into the theater and clear the lobby as soon as possible.” Danny Glover grabbed two bags and inquired about which stack of soft drinks were “the diet stuff.” I’d been in the lobby several times before and observed that nothing had changed in all those times. I’d attended the premieres for THREE KINGS, THE PERFECT STORM, and ROCK STAR there. Today’s premiere was the Antoine Fuqua (TRAINING DAY) directed thriller SHOOTER.

"There’s actual seat numbers on these tickets," announced Aaron, one of my co-workers who attended the show with me.

"Really? Hmmm. Most of the time people sit where they want to," I offered half-heartedly.

It was true