An Old Man Remembers: Requiem for a cheap movie
Carla and I saw the new Indiana Jones movie last week. It was the third time we’ve been to the movies in almost a year, which seems like a record until I look back at the recent past…
Gather ’round, children. Let me tell you all a story about when you could see a movie for the price of a gallon of gas. And the gas was only a dollar! Yes, sir, those were heady times…that Clinton boy was still in the White House, the tubes that make up the internets weren’t all clogged with junk yet, and there was this place in downtown Portland called the Nickelodeon, where we could pay a dollar to see the latest technicolor talkies.
Sure, it’s still there, but by golly you’ll pay a pretty penny to see a movie there now. And yes, Joey, this was well before the net flicks and the you tubes and…what’s that other one? Bite tory or something?…anyway, where was I? Oh, sure…gettin’ all snazzed up to head downtown in the horseless carriage with an onion on my belt (which was the style at the time) and my best girl at my side. You see, you couldn’t just ask a computer to get a movie for you back then. You had to go out and get it for yourself.
But, boy howdy, that was a wing-ding of a time! A dollar! To see Charlie Chaplin and Lillian Gish Will Smith and Catherine Zeta-Jones up on the silver screen! I’ll tell you, Norm McDonald and his loyal army of hookers were never funnier than when you’d only paid a dollar to see ‘em. Why, we’d spend an entire afternoon at the picture show, watching movie after movie, and still have enough money left to go out for ice cream sodas afterward!
But, of course, the golden age had to go and end. Sure, they raised the price…first only by another dollar. Twice as much! And now? They’re just as expensive as any other theater, only with stickier floors. But before the price gouging, yes, sir, those were good times…
*nostalgic sigh*
Hey - you kids! What are you doing here?!
I don’t care who told you to gather around - GET OFF MY DAMN LAWN!!
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June 4th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
This is a Mike Nelson-worthy post. BTW, I’m very glad to have seen that movie with your guys – thanks for hitting it a second time.