The Magic of the Movies

My wife and I went to go see Harry Potter: The Order of the Phoenix on Sunday. We went to the local 600 seat, full-THX sound digitial theater. I like the sound and the chairs at this theater better than the other local ones. Plus, their matinee prices are a -little- lower than the others.

I hadn't figured it out until now, but I think I realized why their ticket prices are lower. Because their concession prices aren't any lower, matter of fact I think they're higher -- and you don't get nearly the amount of drink or popcorn that you do at other local theaters.

I ordered a medium soft drink, a large Mountain Dew Freeze for my wife, and a medium popcorn to share. When they handed us our order, I took one look at and actually said, without even realizing I was saying it, "What the hell is this? I get way more than that for my money at the Hollywood 20." The guy behind the counter just looked at me and didn't say a thing, so I grabbed the stuff and we walked in and had a seat.

20 minutes into the movie I had totally forgot abot being frustrated with the price of the concessions.

I couldn't get over how much better this Potter movie was versus any of the others. From the first scene to the last, it completely outdid all of the others. It answered alot of questions, but created many of its own. The action, the emotions, the story, the CG was all so much more exciting. But what really made the movie was the acting. The cast, Daniel, Emma, and Rupert have all grown up so much since the first movie and have really come into their own as actors.

But the part that in the movie that got to me more than any other was during the main battle scene when visions of Harry from all the other movies are being interspersed and then the emotion as Sirious sacrifices himself for Harry.

Now I'm probably one of the biggest movie buffs you'll ever meet. I absolutely love watching movies --- but the best way to do so is to see them in the theater. That experience just seems to heighten every sense and every emotion involved in watching a movie.

Kamran over at PointOfOrder recently had some really interesting comments on the topic of movies,also.

There are several movies as a whole that I will never forget seeing in the theater: Star Wars (all of them, save the new trilogy which I'd rather forget); The Black Hole (which is the only movie I can vividly recall seeing in a drive-in); The Rocky Horror Picture Show (saw it at the on-campus movie theater when I was at Clemson); Goonies, Gremlins, and Back to the the Future (the first three movies I can recall not having my parents around in and just me and friends hanging out in the theater watching on our own); and Raiders of the Lost Ark (the first movie that I remember just me and my Dad going to see on our own).

Then there are others that I originally saw in the theater that I always associate with the memory of a certain emotion when I see watch them again. I got a little misty-eyed when Todd was dropped off in the woods in The Fox and the Hound; when Forrest asked Jenny if Forrest Jr. had problems like him; or when the brothers die near the end of Red Dawn.

I distinctly remember my jaw dropping in fascination at the air combat in Top Gun; and how much I laughed at so many of the lines from Ghostbusters ("Let's show this prehistoric bitch how we do things downtown!")

Then there are the sounds of the movies when you watch them in the theaters that you just don't get at home. The zooming of the car from one side of the theater to the other in Days of Thunder; the creaking and breaking apart of the ship in Titanic; blades slicing on ice in the Cutting Edge; or the blaster fire ricocheting around the garbage compactor in Star Wars....

And there is the smell of the theater (although the theater we used to frequent in college could have used some desperate help in this department) and the tastse of the previously mentioned, usually quite pricey, concessions. There is nothing better than that greasy, movie buttered popcorn to munch on while you're watching Rocky beat the crap out of Dolph Lundgren.

The movie experience is simply one of those slices of Americana that I hope never goes away. Sitting in front of a TV watching a DVD or Pay Per View may be convenient and cheaper, but the experience will never be the same.