When I was five years old I had a coin bank that was shaped like an early rocket ship. The type that splashed down into the sea with the help of parachutes, first inhabited by Curious George and then later human beings. It was a thin plastic bank, golden and laden with quarters. One day I decided to bust it open and I knew in my soul that I'd use every single coin to see movies.
I would walk alone along the cyclone fence, across the field where my dad and I would fly kites and then tie the string to the bleachers leaving them to fend for themselves for an entire day. I climbed over the chain links on the opposite side, pausing to see if the pollywogs were turning into frogs and if crawfish were lazing in the large murky puddles that formed at the base of the railroad tracks.
There wasn't time to wait for a train and I had better things to do with my coins as I made my way to the cinema and plunked down .50 for a double feature.
Every weekend the features changed and my $30 in quarters went far to fuel my love of film.
I loved every part of the movie going experience, from the long walk to get there, to the agony in my stinging eyes as I re-entered the late afternoon brilliance after four or five hours in a dark cool place...transported.
I remember clearly when it first happened. The industry took away the double bill. I think it was around when Jaws came out. It was a shock and an outrage. A ripoff that violated my sense of wrong, a left turn that rendered me committed to sneaking into another movie, to never purchase from the concessions, and always find something to say to get a free ticket to the next show.
Last night Jax and I enjoyed two amazing movies at the Fox Tower. I love being caught off guard by brilliance. I mean like going to a movie and knowing absolutely nothing about the form or content, no plot lines waiting to happen, no heavily alluded-to twist...
Nothing
Just an empty scrim of consciousness, open, innocent,
a beginners mind...in wonderment. Allowing the art to express itself as life unfolds for those who have yet to live.
Oh yeah, my recommendations:
Today's Special
and
Four Lions
Trust me;-)
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