By Terri Rimmer
I miss the drive-in.
You remember, those huge outdoor theatres where your dad lifted a heavy box into the driver's window and Hollywood came to life while people milled around outside?
I can picture my daughter's face one day scrunched up in confusion when I try to describe the magic that was this experience.
From the time I was in elementary school I was taken to movies, my first drive-in movies being "The Godfather" and "Walking Tall" with a family I was staying with while my parents were on vacation. I remember being scared of some of the loud noises in those particular movies and being homesick. To remedy this, the wife of the family took me to the concession stand and bought me something. I fell asleep later in the back with her kids, the seat of their station wagon folded down for comfort.
When my sisters and I would go to the indoor movies sometimes we'd skip around and watch different films, something you can't get away with now. We saw all the Herbie Volkswagen movies, "Benji," "The Way We Were," "Logan's Run," "Song of the South," "Mary Poppins," "Bedknobs and Broomsticks," and "Pippi Longstocking" to name a few. We always went to the matinees. Looking back I probably saw a lot of things I shouldn't have. Luckily I didn't see "The Exorcist" but I remember every time the commercial was played on the stereo at home I jumped out of my skin. Years later I tried to watch it but covered my eyes through most of it.
My dad and I went to the movies a lot but he always had to go take smoke breaks, missing some of the movie and I'd have to tell him what happened.
When "Jaws" came out I remember standing in the long line with my sister and stepsisters in a crowd that wrapped all the way around the theatre almost. My stepdad wanted to teach me to water ski when I was 12 but because of a scene in "Jaws 2" I wouldn't let him even though we were going to a lake. A lot of the classics I didn't see till I was older and mature enough to appreciate them like "Marathon Man," "All About Eve," "The Sting," "Bonnie and Clyde," "Altered States," and "Midnight Cowboy" among others. And remakes just aren't the same. I think they should leave great movies alone like "Psycho" and give their creators respect they deserve.
I'm pretty picky about my movie choices, though. I don't like any of the run-of-the-mill, plug the same formula in over and over movies like all the teen features you see advertised now, have never been a fan of westerns, and don't care for any of "The Matrix" films. On the other hand, when "Star Wars" came out I was hooked on that series and my dad redecorated my room with some of the theme of the movie at my request. He took me and my sister to see "2001: A Space Odyssey" when I was seven and, of course, it was way too old for me. Years later I saw it and loved it though.
And for some reason even though I know scary movies are going to give me nightmares I just can't resist some of them. I still shudder when I think of "The Shining," "Halloween," and "Carrie." When I was a girl scout during a camping trip one night a bunch of girls ran around with ketchup on their faces and shined flashlights under their chin, imitating the Carrie character. It was spooky! I do remember seeing "Freaky Friday" with my sister and stepsisters and back then it was a novel idea. I love all of Hitchcock's creations and on Sundays I used to watch Shirley Temple on t.v. in the late afternoons.
I'm a huge Robin Williams fan and even like the movies the critics don't, which is normally the case anyway. My favorite of his is "Good Will Hunting" but he was also great in "Awakenings" and "The Fisher King." I saw "Good Morning Vietnam" with a guy I was dating at the time during a snow storm and loved it.
Movies have always been a great escape for me, a way to forget about my problems for a few hours, a cheap therapy, speedy salve. For a moment in time you're suspended into another world and nothing else matters except, you, the dark, and popcorn. It's only when you venture back out into the light you realize, "Oh, yeah. There's the world again."
My sister Cindy and I saw "Terms of Endearment" when it came out and cried along with Debra Winger's character toward the end and to this day we still talk about scenes from "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles," "Stripes," and "Jaws" sometimes.
When I was in middle school midnight movies were popular among the high school crowd and my sister took me to see them from time to time. They weren't the same kind of movies you'd see during regular hours, but offbeat, sometimes independent films, some of which later became well-known like "Harold and Maude" and "Phantasm." I didn't see "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" till I was 22 and had my first apartment, always listening in wonder when my friends would sing some of the music at parties. And you have to see it in a theater. It's just not the same if you rent it.
Some movies are better viewed in a big screen theatre rather than restricted to the small tube of your living room. Ones with great animation, special effects, and 3-D features are so much more appreciated in the darkness of a cinema. Gone are the days when no one could reach you at the movies on the phone. Now cell phones ring through the dark silhouettes of people watching their must-see movie. And it seems like trips to the concession stand take longer now besides being more expensive. How many times have you tried to find your seat again in the sudden dark that descended upon you as you came back down the walkway? It's funny to me now the movies that used to be rated X in the old days and now have an R or PG rating. What was considered so risque then, is so acceptable now.
I was never a fan of British comedy until I saw "A Fish Called Wanda" and now I love it.
And you don't have to wait as long for movies to go to DVD now. Gone are the old Betamax players and so many people gave up the VCR. Now if you want to see the magic of makeup artistry or how a movie was made you can catch that too on DVD.
My two favorite movies are "Thelma and Louise" and "American Beauty" and I've seen each one three times. Also whenever I see "The Color Purple" I cry every time through various scenes. My dad and I saw "Friday the 13th Part 3" in 3-D and they gave each ticketholder a pair of three-dimensional glasses as they entered the theatre. I kept the glasses for a long time as a keepsake.
Now movies are so expensive to me that I just rent DVDs, checking out most of them for free at the library. The library I go to still has videos, too but they aren't the first choice patrons make as they cruise through the titles, searching for the perfect way to spend an evening. It is only if they see that there are no good choices among the DVDs do they venture on the other side of the bookcase to survey the many more videos still crying out for attention.
Now a lot of the classics are being transferred to DVD and before long videos will be obsolete and I will explain to a child one day about the "archaic" invention of the VCR and how we really did lug those "large" tapes around.
But I've read it won't end with the DVD, that one day we'll watch movies in an even more compact way, making all things invented up till now obsolete.
I miss the drive-in.
I miss the drive-in.
You remember, those huge outdoor theatres where your dad lifted a heavy box into the driver's window and Hollywood came to life while people milled around outside?
I can picture my daughter's face one day scrunched up in confusion when I try to describe the magic that was this experience.
From the time I was in elementary school I was taken to movies, my first drive-in movies being "The Godfather" and "Walking Tall" with a family I was staying with while my parents were on vacation. I remember being scared of some of the loud noises in those particular movies and being homesick. To remedy this, the wife of the family took me to the concession stand and bought me something. I fell asleep later in the back with her kids, the seat of their station wagon folded down for comfort.
When my sisters and I would go to the indoor movies sometimes we'd skip around and watch different films, something you can't get away with now. We saw all the Herbie Volkswagen movies, "Benji," "The Way We Were," "Logan's Run," "Song of the South," "Mary Poppins," "Bedknobs and Broomsticks," and "Pippi Longstocking" to name a few. We always went to the matinees. Looking back I probably saw a lot of things I shouldn't have. Luckily I didn't see "The Exorcist" but I remember every time the commercial was played on the stereo at home I jumped out of my skin. Years later I tried to watch it but covered my eyes through most of it.
My dad and I went to the movies a lot but he always had to go take smoke breaks, missing some of the movie and I'd have to tell him what happened.
When "Jaws" came out I remember standing in the long line with my sister and stepsisters in a crowd that wrapped all the way around the theatre almost. My stepdad wanted to teach me to water ski when I was 12 but because of a scene in "Jaws 2" I wouldn't let him even though we were going to a lake. A lot of the classics I didn't see till I was older and mature enough to appreciate them like "Marathon Man," "All About Eve," "The Sting," "Bonnie and Clyde," "Altered States," and "Midnight Cowboy" among others. And remakes just aren't the same. I think they should leave great movies alone like "Psycho" and give their creators respect they deserve.
I'm pretty picky about my movie choices, though. I don't like any of the run-of-the-mill, plug the same formula in over and over movies like all the teen features you see advertised now, have never been a fan of westerns, and don't care for any of "The Matrix" films. On the other hand, when "Star Wars" came out I was hooked on that series and my dad redecorated my room with some of the theme of the movie at my request. He took me and my sister to see "2001: A Space Odyssey" when I was seven and, of course, it was way too old for me. Years later I saw it and loved it though.
And for some reason even though I know scary movies are going to give me nightmares I just can't resist some of them. I still shudder when I think of "The Shining," "Halloween," and "Carrie." When I was a girl scout during a camping trip one night a bunch of girls ran around with ketchup on their faces and shined flashlights under their chin, imitating the Carrie character. It was spooky! I do remember seeing "Freaky Friday" with my sister and stepsisters and back then it was a novel idea. I love all of Hitchcock's creations and on Sundays I used to watch Shirley Temple on t.v. in the late afternoons.
I'm a huge Robin Williams fan and even like the movies the critics don't, which is normally the case anyway. My favorite of his is "Good Will Hunting" but he was also great in "Awakenings" and "The Fisher King." I saw "Good Morning Vietnam" with a guy I was dating at the time during a snow storm and loved it.
Movies have always been a great escape for me, a way to forget about my problems for a few hours, a cheap therapy, speedy salve. For a moment in time you're suspended into another world and nothing else matters except, you, the dark, and popcorn. It's only when you venture back out into the light you realize, "Oh, yeah. There's the world again."
My sister Cindy and I saw "Terms of Endearment" when it came out and cried along with Debra Winger's character toward the end and to this day we still talk about scenes from "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles," "Stripes," and "Jaws" sometimes.
When I was in middle school midnight movies were popular among the high school crowd and my sister took me to see them from time to time. They weren't the same kind of movies you'd see during regular hours, but offbeat, sometimes independent films, some of which later became well-known like "Harold and Maude" and "Phantasm." I didn't see "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" till I was 22 and had my first apartment, always listening in wonder when my friends would sing some of the music at parties. And you have to see it in a theater. It's just not the same if you rent it.
Some movies are better viewed in a big screen theatre rather than restricted to the small tube of your living room. Ones with great animation, special effects, and 3-D features are so much more appreciated in the darkness of a cinema. Gone are the days when no one could reach you at the movies on the phone. Now cell phones ring through the dark silhouettes of people watching their must-see movie. And it seems like trips to the concession stand take longer now besides being more expensive. How many times have you tried to find your seat again in the sudden dark that descended upon you as you came back down the walkway? It's funny to me now the movies that used to be rated X in the old days and now have an R or PG rating. What was considered so risque then, is so acceptable now.
I was never a fan of British comedy until I saw "A Fish Called Wanda" and now I love it.
And you don't have to wait as long for movies to go to DVD now. Gone are the old Betamax players and so many people gave up the VCR. Now if you want to see the magic of makeup artistry or how a movie was made you can catch that too on DVD.
My two favorite movies are "Thelma and Louise" and "American Beauty" and I've seen each one three times. Also whenever I see "The Color Purple" I cry every time through various scenes. My dad and I saw "Friday the 13th Part 3" in 3-D and they gave each ticketholder a pair of three-dimensional glasses as they entered the theatre. I kept the glasses for a long time as a keepsake.
Now movies are so expensive to me that I just rent DVDs, checking out most of them for free at the library. The library I go to still has videos, too but they aren't the first choice patrons make as they cruise through the titles, searching for the perfect way to spend an evening. It is only if they see that there are no good choices among the DVDs do they venture on the other side of the bookcase to survey the many more videos still crying out for attention.
Now a lot of the classics are being transferred to DVD and before long videos will be obsolete and I will explain to a child one day about the "archaic" invention of the VCR and how we really did lug those "large" tapes around.
But I've read it won't end with the DVD, that one day we'll watch movies in an even more compact way, making all things invented up till now obsolete.
I miss the drive-in.