Do you remember the first real "summer movie" of your youth? I mean the one that really stuck with you and even now, you could watch it again and again when it happens to be on one of the streaming channels. But, let's face it, it's not the same as seeing it at the movie theatre. I guess I really have two movies that truly bring me back to innocent days of summer fun with friends and dreaming of one day maybe I could be up on that big screen acting. (Take a look at the new Cruella trailer I'll be watching it this weekend at Marcus Theatres!)
My dad always took the four of us kids to the movies at least once a month to give my mom a little break and we loved it. He would many times forget the fact that i was much younger than my siblings and therefore wasn't always supposed to be allowed in those PG-13 movies (sometimes even (R). He's English, he doesn't quite get those things. But in all honesty, they were mostly comedies like Mel Brooks Young Frankenstein type flicks. So the humor was way over my head. But those movies weren't quite the magical ones for me. Although I loved being with my dad and feeling grown up with my older siblings. But the first movie when I was gosh, I don't think I was even a teen yet, but I remember getting to go with my older sister and her friends (she was nice that day) to go see "Aliens".
They kept telling me what a big girl I was for sitting through it. I hated that movie because it scared me so much. BUT I LOVED how it felt to be with young cool kids and watching a movie without my parents and being able to stay up a little later because, after all it was SUMMER! THE REAL movie that made me love summer movie blockbuster season however, was none other than: (It's the word!) GREASE! I wanted to BE Sandy! I saved up my allowance that summer and went to the movies 3 more times to see it. It was magic. It was my escape! AND I was hooked!
I was explaining all this to my son, Leo, as we sat down in the cushy Ronnie's Marcus theatre loungers with our pretzels and popcorn to watch Lin Miranda Manuels "In The Heights". He looked puzzled but immediately forgot it when the trailers began (we both love watching the trailers).So many summer blockbusters at Marcus theatres to look forward too!
Finally it was time for the main freature. The lights dim, the surround sound hits you like a thunder bolt fills you with anticipation because you're about to enter the land of the summer blockbuster escapism. My son was quiet the entire movie, I wasn't sure you liked the film because he literally did not move. Turned out, it's now one of his favorites right up there along side La La Land! Then recounting our favorite scenes and giving each other our critics opinions.That magic continues long after you leave the theatre
In conclusion I just have to say this: If you have been tired of sitting on your couch and being in your home so long, watching bingeing on a small screen, take my advice and hit up your local theatre and escape to a different world!