WWTBAM Bored

This is the first weekend that a large number of theaters reopened in much of the country (not NY and CA). Most of the AMC theaters in Atlanta opened and a few Regal theaters and smaller chains as well. This afternoon, we drive by a 24-screen theater where Mrs. SSS and I often went. It's an older theater without reclining seats, so you are right next to the adjoining seat (although they plan to limit seating extensively for the foreseeable future).

Based on what I saw, they won't have to do much limiting. At 3:30 this afternoon, there were 17 cars in the parking lot. The Russell Crowe Unhinged movie is playing on five screens and they had four other new releases, with the remaining screens showing older films at reduced prices.

We did not go in. However, this Tuesday, we are going to Atlanta's only remaining drive-in theater, the Starlight, to see Unhinged (I doubt there will be much of a crowd mid-week). Based on how our experience goes, we may be going to see other films there as well.

FYI, Unhinged will lead the North American box office this week with $4 million total, fairly impressive considering the quality of the movie and the conditions. In second place is the Sponge Bob movie, which is playing in Canada only, at $0.6 million, followed by Words on Bathroom Walls, a high school coming-of-age movie at $0.5 million. The other releases in the US are doing about $0.1-0.2 million. Next week, The New Mutants and the Bill & Ted movie debut (Bill & Ted will also be out on PPV at $25), and Tenet will be here Labor Day weekend.

As a followup, Mrs. SSS and I went to see Unhinged at the Starlight Drive-in last night. It's the last traditional drive-in left in Atlanta and one of only two in the entire state of Georgia. There were three screens open, one playing Unhinged (they have a fourth screen open on weekends). My guess is that were about 30 cars at the Unhinged showing. The snack bar was closed, but I noticed that people going in and out of the restroom were not wearing masks, so I told Mrs. SSS to wait until the restroom cleared before going in. The guy who took the money for our tickets wasn't wearing a mask either.

People were told to maintain distance between cars, but that didn't keep someone from pulling in to the next spot to me (probably about three feet away) about 20 minutes into the movie. Fortunately, they kept their door and window closed the whole time. There's a separate FM radio broadcast for the audio on each screen. I had a good time, but Mrs. SSS is not a fan of the drive-in experience. We brought dinner from Chili's (their 3 for $10 special which is a good deal), and she had trouble juggling the food in her lap (they don't allow outside tailgating at the Starlight). So, I'll probably be going by myself to see the New Mutants (which, like Unhinged, is not high on her list).

The movie itself was a perfect drive-in movie and actually better than I thought it would be. It was also very short, about 75 minutes before the closing credits. And since they had no trailers for upcoming films (just a couple of ads), we got out of there by 10:30 (there was a second feature, Baby Driver, that we didn't stay for).

silverscreenselect wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 26, 2020 8:38 am

(there was a second feature, Baby Driver, that we didn't stay for).

"Baby Driver" has almost double the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer rating that "Unhinged" has.

Estonut wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 26, 2020 3:44 pm

silverscreenselect wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 26, 2020 8:38 am

(there was a second feature, Baby Driver, that we didn't stay for).

"Baby Driver" has almost double the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer rating that "Unhinged" has.

We had seen Baby Driver (it filmed right around my office) and Mrs. SSS didn't feel like staying until 1:00 am. If I'd been alone, I probably would have.

It's been 45 years since I last went to a drive-in movie. IIRC, both myself and the young lady that I was with had seen the movie before.

We didn't care.

jaybee wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 27, 2020 6:54 pm

It's been 45 years since I last went to a drive-in movie. IIRC, both myself and the young lady that I was with had seen the movie before.

We didn't care.

Over 50 here. My best friend had a van with a queen-size mattress in it. He backed into the space and opened the rear doors. Our dates and we didn't watch the movies much.

We've been married 36 years, so it's been at least that long since I'd been to a drive-in. I used to go by myself sometimes in my bachelor days if they had a really trashy B-movie double or triple feature playing. And yes, I did go with dates a time or two as well. My guess is that it had been about 40 years.