Let's go to the movies
A quick trip down memory lane
My last few posts have felt a little heavy so I thought this week I’d lighten things up in one of the most reliable ways I know how: going to the movies. When it comes to what I will and won’t pay good money to see in theaters, the bar is quite low. This means I often end up seeing things in the middle of the day by myself, knowing Ben won’t want to sacrifice a prime weekend night on anything less than a guarantee. I’m usually one of about five other people in the theater at these showings and it’s actually my preferred way to see things.
However, I’ve been reminded a few times this past year of the singular pleasure of seeing something with a sold out crowd and it struck me that after years of only partially filled screenings (even on Saturday nights) it feels like the movies are back. So for a more light-hearted tone this week, I thought I’d take a trip down memory lane with some of my favorite big-crowd movie experiences.
Note: I’ve already touched on the emotional devastation wrought by seeing Little Women and Titanic in the theater, you can revisit if you’d like.
Note 2: This might get cut off in email so your best bet is to view it in browser!
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
AMC Mayfair Mall, Wauwatosa
This was some sort of school field trip, the details of which are lost to me now, but several busloads of teenage girls descended on the AMC to catch a glimpse of the hot young actor who’d just been cast for the upcoming Twilight movies. I hadn’t read the Twilight series and didn’t know who Robert Pattinson was yet (my failed attempt to talk to him in a London bar was still years away) so I was entirely taken off guard by the way the theater erupted in screams when he first appeared. Unbridled joy and teenage lust on full display, it was incredible.
The Ring
AMC Mayfair Mall, Wauwatosa
This wasn’t sold out but it was packed enough that it was kind of annoying that the two big, burly dudes in a prime row left a couple seats open between them. I’m not sure when exactly they closed the gap, but by the time Samara started crawling out of that TV they were huddled together, one giant blob a few rows in front of us, their massive shoulders shaking as they yelped and giggled with fear. I love those guys.
Predators
Somewhere in Chicago
A very high gentleman was sitting behind us (the way to see this one, honestly) and at the point in the movie where the characters exit the jungle and look up to see a decidedly alien sky he let out the most bewildered oh my god I’ve ever heard in my life. I have forgotten everything about that movie except for his astonishment at that reveal. A peak cinema experience.
Logan
The Logan Theatre, Chicago
This is not a unique opinion, but Wolverine was always my favorite of the X-Men. He was the character I always played on the X-Men Sega game we had growing up. My sister, brother-in-law, and I caught Logan during the opening weekend. My sister and I were not prepared for the intensity and nonstop violence of this movie. It seemed designed to push our body horror buttons specifically. My brother-in-law was unmoved (as was seemingly everyone else in the audience) but we barely made it out of that theater alive.
There Will Be Blood
The Oriental Theatre, Milwaukee
We caught a 35mm screening with a live projectionist and at one point the picture went slightly askew and everyone in the theater cheered. It was such a lovely moment of remembering that great art doesn’t just appear, it requires a lifetime of experience from every person involved (including the viewer) and many, many hands help bring it to life. I didn’t see There Will Be Blood in theaters when it came out. I watched it back-to-back one night in the lead up to the Oscars with No Country for Old Men with a group of friends and 30 rack. I was not ready to receive either films’ genius on that night, but luckily for me I got the best do-over imaginable years later.
Side note about the Oriental: This is my favorite theater in the world. It’s absolutely beautiful and I didn’t know how lucky I was to have it until we moved and found out the hard way that not every city has a lavish, resplendent movie palace (a moniker it truly deserves) with its deep reds and golds and many murals, its plush velvet and chandeliers, its balconies and elaborate statues and carvings. This theater is responsible, in part, for my ingrained belief that going to the movies is an event.
Uncut Gems
The Oriental Theatre, Milwaukee
The last movie I saw in theaters pre-Covid was Uncut Gems. Google tells me it came out in the fall but we didn’t see it until December or January. It played to a full house which is honestly the best way to experience this film. The raucous energy of the crowd both fuels and makes bearable the relentless anxiety attack of this movie. I don’t know that I’ll ever forget the way the theater went pindrop silent in that moment. I’ve never experienced the mood in a room do a complete 180 so quickly.
Months later, when the Oriental closed its doors for an unknown length of time, their marquee read “GO AWAY VIRUS / STAY SAFE MKE” and I burst into tears when I drove past it for the first time. So much was uncertain, including the fate of our beloved movie palace. Luckily it weathered the storm and reopened, but not before we moved. We haven’t had a chance to catch a movie on any of our trips home since. I thought then, and I still think now, that if the last movie I got to see at that theater was Uncut Gems, it’s a pretty good note to go out on. But I hope it’s not the last.
Oppenheimer
IMAX, Centerville, Utah
Absolutely packed house on opening weekend. You could have cut the tension in that Utah theater with a butter knife during the sex scenes. (Ben heard someone let out a soft, scandalized oh a few rows behind him. Incredible stuff.) But what I’ll always remember about this screening was glancing over during the Trinity test scene and seeing three separate teenagers scattered in the rows in front of us perched on the edge of their seats, leaning forward, mouths hanging open. Those kids were having their minds blown all the way open by what a movie can be.
Barbie
The Broadway, Salt Lake City
I…don’t want to get yelled at by anyone. I’ll just say the crowd was highly annoying and I’ve been unable to separate it from my opinion of the movie. I stumbled into a showing with dozens of people who would have thought that “mother is mothering” Mitski fan was hilarious. There was a real #girlboss energy that I generally do not vibe with or find empowering. How much of that was the movie? Idk, and I don’t really care. (The Kens were the highlight, imo.) Loved all the red carpet looks though.
BUT, this is all to say that sometimes being annoyed by the theater goers around you is just part of the experience. Who doesn’t love complaining about the way other people act in public? That guy with the obnoxious laugh, that woman who kept crinkling her candy bag at all the quiet moments? It’s good to be reminded that other people exist and are often annoying but you don’t have to let it ruin your day. It’s fun when you’re in on it and it’s just as fun when you’re feeling the part of antagonizer.
Casablanca
Utah Symphony, Salt Lake City
We really lucked out and got to see this with a live symphony accompaniment. The screen was small and far away and the movie sound wasn’t that great (the venue isn’t designed for movies after all) but overall the experience was delightful. How often do you get to give one of the greatest movies of all time a standing ovation with a theater full of old people and art kids? The ovation was really for the musicians but it felt like it was for both.
2001: A Space Odyssey
The Broadway, Salt Lake City
This was a singular experience. Our local indie is doing a Kubrick month and this show was, as you might expect, completely full of nerds. We sat in front of a group of friends, some of whom had apparently taken a film class that involved 2001, some of whom had never seen it. When the lights came up at the end they sat there for a second and then one of them went, “ok…what?” and then they all started talking over each other. Glorious! It was just such a treat to see this movie in the theater, it wasn’t something I ever expected I’d get to do. And I have to tell you — there was an actual intermission! More movies should do this, imo.
Dune Part Two
Megaplex at the Gateway, Salt Lake City
Ok that’s all for this week. Would love to hear your favorite, life-changing movie going experiences!
This week’s song on repeat
I wipe my hands on the grass
Cause I know that nothing ever lasts
And I said
I'm just a killer for your love
The Oriental is just the best place to see a movie. I’m excited to see what Milwaukee Film does with the Downer Theater they just purchased!