My wife and I were invited by my son and daughter-in -law to go to the movies with them. The movie was REGRETTING YOU based on one of Colleen Hoover’s books.
Due to being nailed to my house during Covid, I’ve been all movied out. Now I know that there are some very good movies being released and I watch at home, when I can stand it. In my younger life before the home streaming possibilities, I went to the movies regularly.
There was the weekly Movietone News, the weekly chapter, usually a mystery, short films and of course the Mickey or Bugs cartoon. It was an adventure once a week.
In the summertime it was usually the only place one could cool off since air-conditioning was a common feature of the movie theaters, often with the sign “20 Degrees Cooler Inside.”. Then in my high school days, add to all that the social activity in the balcony.
Movies today are another world. The screens are huge and the seats comfortable. Bur more important, there usually was a large choice of what to see. In those nostalgic days, there was the “double feature,” two movies, a good one and a B movie shown continuously all day. One went to the movies any time. In fact, I’m willing to bet that the expression “this is where I came in” was derived from the continuous double feature.
What I realized yesterday was that now, seeing a movie in a theatre is a trap. Especially if the movie is of little interest as Ms Hoover’s books are to me. Yes, a trap. I was with a group and felt obligated to watch the whole movie without leaving. At home, there was the fridge, the phone, channel switching, etc. In Switzerland where we went to the movies often, there was the expected Kurze Pause, a brief pause, sort of an intermission where you could rest your eyes and mind and get a snack, usually ice cream.
Today the movies are scheduled, buy tickets in advance, reserved seats, outrageous prices for popcorn or whatever else one feasts on. What used to be a candybar is now big business. And the unwritten obligation to sit and watch even a bad movie.