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A Question for the Oldies

I was 7 years old, I think, when Revenge of the Jedi came out. (Shit I'm telling people how old I am) We stood in line for four hours, stood in the lobby for another 2 hours and 30 minutes or so, and then watched the movie for another 2 plus hours. I was fucking worn out. But talked my dad into doing it again the next weekend.
 
Star Wars was the first movie that created wonder for me. Also close encounters of the third kind.

I’d never seen lines for movies before that went outside and around the theater. There was some serious buzz… it was in the news.

I have definite memories of seeing all of the star wars movies, the blues brothers, Smokey and the bandit, Grease, Caddyshack. Then in high school, The Terminator, American werewolf in London, raiders of the lost ark. Lots of shitty movies too.

Lots of drive in theaters too.

The experience was different. Simpler. Less expensive. I lived in a rural area, so the theaters were all pretty old. Most were from the 30s and 40s. The floors were always sticky. The chairs were uncomfortable. You could smoke in the balcony.

You found out what movies were playing where by looking in the paper or calling the theater. Sometimes they didn’t have answering machines and you’d get a busy signal. Sometimes a person would pick up and tell you what movie was playing.

Movies almost always started at 7 or 9pm. Matinees on the weekends.
 
I worked a lot of sale outs at the theater my father ran. It is a small town, a small theater, and when you get three different movies selling out at the same, it's pandemonium to work it. But those days are gone, they've had one movie that sold out more than one time since the pandemic. Between 2006 and 2013, when I'd help out, we had crowds all the time. It slowed a little between 13 and 16 but came back with a vengeance until 2020 killed the movies.

I actually helped out from 2003 to 2006 when they owned a theater, too. But you know, I was a kid, and they were always sure to have enough people for busy times. Not so much working when other people own it and want you to have small payrolls.
 
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MillieDynamite said:
I worked a lot of sale outs at the theater my father ran. It is a small town, a small theater, and when you get three different movies selling out at the same, it's pandemonium to work it. But those days are gone, they've had one movie that sold out more than one time since the pandemic. Between 2006 and 2013, when I'd help out, we had crowds all the time. It slowed a little between 13 and 16 but came back with a vengeance until 2020 killed the movies.

I actually helped out from 2003 to 2006 when they owned a theater, too. But you know, I was a kid, and they were always sure to have enough people for busy times. Not so much working when other people own it and want you to have small payrolls.
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Fucking cheap bastard!
 
A different and then a bizarre take on this:

1) Movies were never really a factor in my young life. We had one drive-in screen and one traditional single-screen downtown theater in the town I grew-up in. The big productions were out for months before they made it to our town. Five kids, my being the oldest, meant that it was too much of a budget stretch to do a movie, so we didn't. I do recall seeing the first release of 101 Dalmatians at the drive-in, we were all in our pajamas.

There was an annual "thank you" screening for paperboys, where I could go by myself to the downtown theater (walking distance) and it didn't cost anything: Hard Days Night and Help! double-bill one year, and Fantasia (original!) the next. Thank goodness I was old enough by then to appreciate the Disney classic. I didn't want to waste my pocket change at the concession stand at any of them, so can't help you there. Didn't date in high school, so didn't go to movies, so never developed the habit.

Fast forward a few blips to my young adult life. This is where it gets super-weird:

2) I lived in the L.A. area at the time, and was invited to an exclusive pre-release screening of E.T. with my then wife; she was given tickets "by a friend with connections". I didn't have much of an interest in sci-fi or movies, but it was free and it was "special", so why not? A few weeks later our next door neighbor dropped a couple of hints about "the friend" who had a bit role in the film (the scientist shouting "It has DNA!") who also was one of the credit names on the special effects team.

Turned out "the friend" and his Hollywood buddies were boinkin' my wife at drug and sex parties, and had been for about three years; he was also her cocaine supplier. I knew of none of this, obviously; she did a masterful job of concealing her other life. It was firmly suggested she find someplace else to live, which looking back was roughly the week the film went into general release.

Sorta soured my appetite for Hollywood sci-fi blockbusters.

Epilogue) After moving elsewhere myself, I saw Gorky Park, Aliens and The Right Stuff in theaters, the first two by virtue of living next door to a minor studio-affiliated producer who'd throw free tickets at me. Most memorable thing about seeing Gorky Park? The incredibly attractive woman roughly my age sitting two seats to my right who somehow seemed familiar. About a week later I was thumbing through a Playboy I had on the coffee table, and sure enough, there she was, in all her glory. I shoulda said "Hi." Beyond that, saw maybe one or two more films I simply can't recall; they made such an impression. I do recall going to a Humphrey Bogart festival showing of Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon. That was fun.

The Right Stuff, however, I wanted to see without fail because my father was there when it happened in real life; I've mentioned before that Neil Armstrong (among others) was a poker buddy of his, in the early '60s when he was training with the lunar lander simulator at Edwards AFB. Dad hated the film, especially the glamorous depiction of Pancho Barnes, who he said was "a mud fence" in the real world.
 
I looked at some pictures of her, just because I'd never seen any. She wasn't very attractive.
MrPixel said:
A different and then a bizarre take on this:

1) Movies were never really a factor in my young life. We had one drive-in screen and one traditional single-screen downtown theater in the town I grew-up in. The big productions were out for months before they made it to our town. Five kids, my being the oldest, meant that it was too much of a budget stretch to do a movie, so we didn't. I do recall seeing the first release of 101 Dalmatians at the drive-in, we were all in our pajamas.

There was an annual "thank you" screening for paperboys, where I could go by myself to the downtown theater (walking distance) and it didn't cost anything: Hard Days Night and Help! double-bill one year, and Fantasia (original!) the next. Thank goodness I was old enough by then to appreciate the Disney classic. I didn't want to waste my pocket change at the concession stand at any of them, so can't help you there. Didn't date in high school, so didn't go to movies, so never developed the habit.

Fast forward a few blips to my young adult life. This is where it gets super-weird:

2) I lived in the L.A. area at the time, and was invited to an exclusive pre-release screening of E.T. with my then wife; she was given tickets "by a friend with connections". I didn't have much of an interest in sci-fi or movies, but it was free and it was "special", so why not? A few weeks later our next door neighbor dropped a couple of hints about "the friend" who had a bit role in the film (the scientist shouting "It has DNA!") who also was one of the credit names on the special effects team.

Turned out "the friend" and his Hollywood buddies were boinkin' my wife at drug and sex parties, and had been for about three years; he was also her cocaine supplier. I knew of none of this, obviously; she did a masterful job of concealing her other life. It was firmly suggested she find someplace else to live, which looking back was roughly the week the film went into general release.

Sorta soured my appetite for Hollywood sci-fi blockbusters.

Epilogue) After moving elsewhere myself, I saw Gorky Park, Aliens and The Right Stuff in theaters, the first two by virtue of living next door to a minor studio-affiliated producer who'd throw free tickets at me. Most memorable thing about seeing Gorky Park? The incredibly attractive woman roughly my age sitting two seats to my right who somehow seemed familiar. About a week later I was thumbing through a Playboy I had on the coffee table, and sure enough, there she was, in all her glory. I shoulda said "Hi." Beyond that, saw maybe one or two more films I simply can't recall; they made such an impression. I do recall going to a Humphrey Bogart festival showing of Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon. That was fun.

The Right Stuff, however, I wanted to see without fail because my father was there when it happened in real life; I've mentioned before that Neil Armstrong (among others) was a poker buddy of his, in the early '60s when he was training with the lunar lander simulator at Edwards AFB. Dad hated the film, especially the glamorous depiction of Pancho Barnes, who he said was "a mud fence" in the real world.
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theWollstonecraftWoman said:
I was 7 years old, I think, when Revenge of the Jedi came out. (Shit I'm telling people how old I am) We stood in line for four hours, stood in the lobby for another 2 hours and 30 minutes or so, and then watched the movie for another 2 plus hours. I was fucking worn out. But talked my dad into doing it again the next weekend.
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Oh please. I was 21 when Star Wars came out, wiper snapper!
 
Remembering the days you would line up and stand outside with friends in such great anticipation, no outside distractions and ready to share in the experience together. Additionally the theaters were packed and the energy was amazing. I especially remember a female friend taking me to my first showing of Rocky Horror Picture Show. What fun and hot first date that was. That night had a very happy ending.
 
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I'm surprised by all the responses.

Going to the cinema wasn't fundamentally different twenty years ago to how it is today.

You can argue about prices, about quality of movies, about how Internet hype and spoiler culture has changed things for the worse, but at the end of the day, you pays your money and you takes your seat.

What has changed is that TV has gotten so much better that you hardly need to go to the cinema to have a good media experience. True, there's nothing quite like being in a crowd for those epoch-defining moments, but its not like you talked to any of the strangers in the movie theatre afterwards, so it was always more of a nice emotional extra - and you still get that.

(My favorite one in recent years was watching Infinity War in China in the middle of the day in a room full of mostly 8-year olds with grandparents who were not media(/comic)-literate enough to be able to explain to the kids that, no, Spider-Man wasn't dead forever. Pure evil...)
 
TheRedChamber said:
I'm surprised by all the responses.

Going to the cinema wasn't fundamentally different twenty years ago to how it is today.

You can argue about prices, about quality of movies, about how Internet hype and spoiler culture has changed things for the worse, but at the end of the day, you pays your money and you takes your seat.

What has changed is that TV has gotten so much better that you hardly need to go to the cinema to have a good media experience. True, there's nothing quite like being in a crowd for those epoch-defining moments, but its not like you talked to any of the strangers in the movie theatre afterwards, so it was always more of a nice emotional extra - and you still get that.

(My favorite one in recent years was watching Infinity War in China in the middle of the day in a room full of mostly 8-year olds with grandparents who were not media(/comic)-literate enough to be able to explain to the kids that, no, Spider-Man wasn't dead forever. Pure evil...)
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I think we’re taking talking 30, 40 years ago. You’re right 20 years ago was not fundamentally different.
 
I went to see 2001 at the Cinerama in Manhattan multiple times, generally after a bone or two, although once tripping on some excellent acid, and would sit on the floor in the front row. Needless to say, it was awesome.
 
TheRedChamber said:
I'm surprised by all the responses.

Going to the cinema wasn't fundamentally different twenty years ago to how it is today.

You can argue about prices, about quality of movies, about how Internet hype and spoiler culture has changed things for the worse, but at the end of the day, you pays your money and you takes your seat.

What has changed is that TV has gotten so much better that you hardly need to go to the cinema to have a good media experience. True, there's nothing quite like being in a crowd for those epoch-defining moments, but its not like you talked to any of the strangers in the movie theatre afterwards, so it was always more of a nice emotional extra - and you still get that.

(My favorite one in recent years was watching Infinity War in China in the middle of the day in a room full of mostly 8-year olds with grandparents who were not media(/comic)-literate enough to be able to explain to the kids that, no, Spider-Man wasn't dead forever. Pure evil...)
Click to expand...
Too many inferior remakes, too many sequels, reboots, and reimaging, and each is less than what came before. Too many superhero movies with lessor actors and stories taking over from the originals. Too many action pictures without a single semblance of a plot. Too many fast cars launched across vast valleys and land square on the road on the other side and going in the right direction. Too much Vin Desil, Dwane Rock Johnson, and other overexposed actors. Too many streaming choices and too many bad movies. What else can I say? I wish I were born and raised in Hollywood's Golden Era as an upper-middle-class white chick. Well, no, not that.
 
EmilyMiller said:
What was it like going to see one of the 1970s / 80s blockbusters at the theater? Given my fandom, I’ll go for A New Hope or Raiders, but feel free to substitute.

Was it different to the movie experience now?

I’m kinda thinking because I often wait to see things on streaming. Oppenheimer and Barbie for example. What was it like when that wasn’t an option. And when you didn’t have websites dedicated to your fan obsessions.

Em
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It was great!!!! You could sit in a darkened theater, and get lost in the moment watching a movie on a giant screen, larger than life. I remember the first Star Wars movie when in the opening scene, the first Battle Cruiser entered from the top of the screen. It kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger until you were left in awe of the size of it. And the sound, you could feel the theater vibrate. Not like sitting in your living room, bored, watching a movie on a small television screen. The big screen was more than a movie, it was an experience!!!!!
 
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It was sooooo much better than today. Back then, the trailers didn’t spoil everything most of the time. Sure, there were a couple, but trailers were put together differently and usually they would hold back the good stuff. Hell, spoilers (which I HATE) were almost non-existent. All you knew going in was really what your local newspaper critic divulged or what Siskel and Ebert told you.

I don’t know if other people remember, but there was a chain that had its own theme song. And by the mid/late 80s, people would sing or clap along to it. It got so out of hand they tried to play it lower. I never understood why. It was this communal thing that people had fun with and I dont ever remember people complaining. It didn‘t slow the show down or ruin anything.

Cosplay was pretty much non-existent from waht I recall. You would get the occasional person at Return of the Jedi. I don‘t remember anyone dressing up in costume for Empire. I saw Star Wars in drive-in, so from the backseat all I saw were other cars generally.

And waiting in line for a new release could be a trip. I remember one time with my best friend, we must have waited three hours so that we could get the seats we wanted (no reserving them in the US back then like you do now. Though I did go overseas in the early 90s and my friends told me they always purchased a particular seat). You could meet some people who had no idea what the movie was about, and you could run into people who were total fans. The only time I regretted being in line was when I waited to see Desperately Seeking Susan (not my choice and I forever after got to use that against my friend’s bad choices).

I will wait for some things to go to streaming, but if it’s something I really want to see, I still go to the theater. It’s different when it’s on a big screen with good sound. Even with the ways they’ve changed the shape of TVs and iPads and phones, you’re not really seeing it right. A movie, a real theatrical one, is meant to be seen big not small with people walking in and out of the room and the kids running around.
 
NEthingGoze said:
I went to see 2001 at the Cinerama in Manhattan multiple times, generally after a bone or two, although once tripping on some excellent acid, and would sit on the floor in the front row. Needless to say, it was awesome.
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Didn't do the acid bit, but 2001 on the big curved screen was mind boggling.

These young whipper-snappers cannot conceive what they missed.

Nothing today comes close to a cinema packed out with 1500 kids on a Friday night double feature. Not even remotely close.

MASH and Butch Cassidy; Dracula has Risen from the Grave, doubled with Frankenstein Must be Destroyed; They Call me Trinity, and Trinity is Still my Name; even Duel with Two Lane Blacktop. You don't get double features like that any more.
 
The Elgin on Eighth Ave was an amazing art house in the 70's. They showed everything from El Topo to Eraserhead, Dr Strangelove to Magnificent Ambersons, Zero Pour Conduit to What If, A Boy and his Dog to Sisters. I could go on but I think that conveys the gestalt of the place. Oh, and they did a wicked Rocky Horror night. A special place.
 
Differences then and now from a London/Central Europe perspective:

It was much, much cheaper, even an 80s teenager (me) could afford it quite easily.

Food was, by and large, the same then as now, but also cheaper (seriously, took my daughter and her friend to the cinema for The Little Mermaid earlier this year and felt like donating a kidney to pay for the popcorn. For my own journeys I just sneak in a hipflask these days, but that's not age appropriate for 6 year olds ;))

The seats are so much more comfortable now, and the films aren't louder - the sound systems are better. Which can feel like the same thing to those of us who are approaching life in residential homes because, you know, we're so old now...
 
As my old dad used to say, "old" is five years older than me.

The great thing about having lived a lot of life is that you get a perspective that's unavailable to young people -- as long as you remain unblinkered.

Old people have not only witnessed and experienced a life that young people never can, they've also, in many cases, have learned to step back and observe it -- an important thing to do every now and then.

The key trick when you get older is to respect young people -- if you want to be respected yourself. I'm fortunate to work with people one third my age, and treat them (and get treated by them in return) as peers.

And as long as you stay flexible in mind and body (which requires an ever-greater percent of your time and effort as you age), being old is cool. My sixties (which is where I am now) is by far my happiest decade.

I just read a very, very autobiographical screenplay I wrote in 2003, a month or so after my beloved father died. He was a screenwriter, mainly for TV. I'm still getting monthly royalty checks from his stuff (small amounts). He was in his late eighties when he died, and at his funeral I noticed how many of his friends were in their thirties and forties. He'd lived a very dramatic and interesting life. He was a great story-teller, but he spent as much time listening to other people's life stories and he did regaling them with his own.

I'm very lucky to have him as a role model.
 
For me, the big difference was that in the late 60s early 70s the cinemas normally had only one screen, but they were huge. It was easier to lose oneself watching them. It may be mainly because I was a child, but there are scenes like the Blue Danube docking scene in 2001 and the ice-covered dacha in Dr Zhivago, which are as strong a memory as I have from childhood.
I also had the tale end of the supporting features when they had travelogues of places like Hawaii ending with "So Farewell Then to [insert name of place]"
 
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