I love movies. I don't remember a time when I didn't enjoy watching a movie whether on tv or in a theater. I remember that my mother use to buy and collect movies on VHS tapes. I too have started to collect movies on DVD and blu ray. My mother's never got more than twenty or thirty movies. Mine however has become a serious obsession. I have movies that I have not even taken the plastic wrap off. I'm sure I'll see it some day, but there are quite a few that fall in this category. I have been collecting movies for a number of years. My collection is currently in the neighborhood of 1300 DVDs.
Let me take you back to where it all began. When I was very young, drive in movie theaters were a big deal. Double features you couldn't beat. Wear your pajamas and put that tinny old sound box on your car window and watch movies in your car under the night sky. That was cool. My parents use to take me and my brother and sister to the Disney movies and we'd alway get drinks and popcorn and have a great time.
When I got my license at 16, wheels meant I could head to Richmond instead of just what was playing in Hopewell at the theater - the Beacon I believe. My heyday with movies began. I was working at a grocery store so I always had money in my pocket. My entertainment was new movie openings. Friday night was a big night to me. I remember when The Exorcist came out in '72 or '73. I left school on Friday afternoon and headed straight to the Capital theater on Broad St. It was across the street from the current Science Museum. I went with a friend and we stood in a long line of people all anxious to see this movie. It was awesome at the time. The level of graphic horror mixed with religion was ground breaking at the time. I still can hear Tubular Bells play in my head with the soundtrack. My friend got weirded out and didn't talk on the way home. I loved that a movie could cause that kind of impact. I do not remember a Friday or Saturday night during high school that I didn't see at least one movie.
In college my money was a lot more limited so my choices were more specific. Animal House was a big time favorite. Gatoring was something my fraternity still did. I still enjoy watching this movie. Yes, I have it on DVD. And, of course, who can forget Star Wars. What a fantastic movie. That whole franchise spanned decades. Movies tell such fantastic tales. I'm a visual person so telling a story via moving pictures just hits my button.
Fast forward to having children. Every Disney movie out there I took my boys to see. I didn't care if it was for children, it was entertainment. Toy Story- enough said. One summer when my boys could see R-rated fare, we went to movies every Wednesday afternoon and would come out of the theater and rate the movie from one popcorn to four. We had a great time seeing a wide variety of movies and comparing our likes and dislikes.
As my boys aged, I started buying VHS tapes. We'd watch movies at home as well in the theater. Once DVDs became the in thing, I got the home Theater setup to give us that surround sound experience at home. I set up one room that I called the game room, but it was where we would gather to watch movies. Popcorn-check, drinks-check, blankets-check, bathroom break-check, cut the lights and push play.
From that day forward, movies have been a big deal on the home front. I still have my home theater experience going but I still like going to movies in the theater. It is such big business whether in the theater or at home that I'm not alone in my love of movies. It is always a topic of conversation and can get otherwise quiet people excited talking about their favorite movie.
I currently have not bought any new DVDs for over three weeks. It has been a slight struggle. I know I have a ton of movies that I haven't seen that I own, but that new movies out on DVD every Tuesday use to be a big day for me like Friday night openings. I still see movies in the theater, but not trying to buy the DVDs to boot.
So, lights, camera, action, let's watch a movie.
The End.
Keith
No comments:
Post a Comment