A Brief Screed About Movies

Discussion in 'Movies & Entertainment' started by James Hintze, Nov 18, 2020.

  1. James Hintze

    James Hintze Very Well-Known Member
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    Movies played a significant part of my youth. My earliest recollections of “going to the show” was possibly when I was as young as 6 or 7 Our small town originally had two movie theaters, The Main, and The Custer(?). The second folded when wide screen appeared and the owner didn't upgrade; likely about 1952, when I would have turned 14. Neither theater had restrooms, nor did they sell candy and such, but after the Custer folded, the Main did knock a hole in the wall and plumb a restroom. Candy also became available. But still the only reason people attended was to watch the damned film. When I was in high school and dated, I'm sure that 'going to the show' was part of the date, but that's not the part that sticks in my mind.

    A typical 'going to the show' for pre-teen me involved being driven to town, usually mother, watching the movie, then going to the adjacent drugstore and milkshake joint (Remember those?) asking to use the telephone, calling home, and getting picked up.

    The reason this comes to mind and I feel the need to write about it, is the difference between then and now, and perhaps a bit of peculiarity on my part. The theater had two showings per evening, beginning at 7PM and finishing the second showing about 11. The thing about the farm kids is that getting there at 7 was often problematic during the summer months. So most of the time I got there in the middle of the feature. No problem. I watched until it ended, watched the slide show (local advertising) between features, the newsreel, comedy if there was one, and the serial if there was one, then the main feature started (again), and I quickly returned to my trance. When “this is where I came in” occurred, I returned to earth, got up and called home. Thinking back 70 years it seems like a weekly thing, but likely wasn't that often. When younger brother (3 and half years my junior) was old enough, he went along.

    Now here's the part that stands out. As soon as I was settled into the seat, I went into a trance. The world around ceased to exist and I became part of the movie. I didn't take a part of a character, but I was there experiencing the goings on first hand. When The End showed on the screen, I returned to Earth for the slide show, news real, comedy, etc., and returned to the action on the screen when the feature started. I specifically wasn't bothered by watching the second half before the first part. Mystery, adventure, whatever, it didn't matter.

    I remember not enjoying 'going to the show' when out of town cousins visited. They wanted to chat! Younger brother was no problem; I had him conditioned to sit and watch.

    Now emerges the curmudgeonly old man. I'm coming to believe (recognize?) that I hate modern movies. During an out of town trip weather and other exigencies caused us to watch two movies in two days, One was The Black Panther, This could have been a good movie if it hadn't been overloaded with special effects that didn't seem to have too much to do with whatever plot there was. The other film was a psycho-drama that I don't remember.

    Wife watches some of the recent productions on TV; I usually don't. When she dips back into the 40s, 50s, and 60s, I do.
     
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  2. Shirley Martin

    Shirley Martin Supreme Member
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    Whatever plot there was ..... is what is missing in so many movies nowadays.
     
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  3. Ed Wilson

    Ed Wilson Veteran Member
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    When we were young we were wide eyed little naive sponges and absorbed everything around us because it was all new. Now we are older and jaded having seen most of it if not all. The movie content has taken a sad turn also. It's nothing like it was before.
     
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  4. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    Hitchcock said There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it.

    So many modern movies are horribly hollow. The first we see of so many characters is when they get slaughtered. I recall taking a date to see "Total Recall"with Schwarzenegger. The opening scene was nothing but people being slaughtered by automatic gunfire. I bet 30 people died in the first few minutes. I thought it was going to be a science fiction movie. We got up and left.

    The "behind the scenes" footage of movies shows them "acting" in 5 second segments, then the bits are cobbled together with a sound track added to give the illusion of continuity. I went through a period of renting French movies from Blockbuster merely because they were real...they were often depressing, but they were real.

    I don't have pay tv...only antenna. So I watch a lot of old black & white shows before the days of special effects. There is something pure in the exaggerated way the characters showed emotion that does not require augmenting.

    To wit:
    [​IMG]

    It's somewhat corny, but it works. "Low-Tech Special Effects."
    These people earned their paychecks.
     
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  5. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    The one disappointment I have in my life is all the effort I made trying to get myself informed may have been wasted because so much of what I've been told is a pile of crap.

    I've been abused.

    And I agree about movies. They are as a McDonald's meal. Just one flavorless mass-produced boxed meal after another, with no real sustenance to it and no real difference from one to another.
     
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  6. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    What a nice remembrance, James. I had totally forgotten that expression, "going to the show." :D
     
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  7. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    @Beth Gallagher

    My wife told me of a ditty her mother always used, after seeing a kid (or adult) scratching about their behind: "he's going to the show!" How do you know? "He's picking out his seat!"
     
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