Movie Magic

I was SO not in the mood to work on the sun quilt thang today. Perhaps I should've buckled down and worked on it anyway, but I didn't. I played hooky and took myself to the movies. I love movies. I love to cuddle up on my favorite corner of the couch, with a cup of tea (or coffee, or hot chocolate - I love them all!), and the warm, fuzzy afghan my mom crocheted for me, and my evil kitty purring on my lap, and watch an old favorite (or something new!) on DVD. But I also really love to go to a theater and sit in the dark, and eat movie-theater popcorn, and gaze at the big screen. I lose myself in the movie more in a theater than I do at home. It seems more magical somehow. I don't go as often as I'd really like to though, and here's why: There's only one movie theater relatively near me. It's about 20 miles away, which isn't bad when you live as far out in the boonies as I do. On the plus side, it has super-cheap ticket prices --- only $3.00 for an adult matinee ticket...how many places do you still find that?? And they still make the popcorn right there in one of those old-fashioned square glass thingies with the round metal popper thing on top, instead of shipping in that pre-popped stuff. (Gee, I really know my popcorn-making terms, don't I? Snort!) On the minus side, it's a small theater --- only four screens, and with movies coming out as frequently as they do, that means they usually don't keep any one movie for very long. Also, they only have daily matinees during the summer, when the local schools are on summer break. The rest of the year they have one or two evening shows a day, and matinees only on Saturday and Sunday. This wouldn't be such a big deal except that I have some serious night vision problems that make it a Very Bad Idea for me to drive after dark. And J hates movies. Well, no, that's a little harsh. He doesn't hate them, but he doesn't love them like I do. And if he's going to watch them, he'd really rather wait and see them at home. He doesn't get the whole "magic of a dark theater" thing at all. So mostly if I go to the movies, I go by myself, which I kind of like...back to the whole "dark theater, no distractions, lost in the story" thing. But it does limit WHEN I can go, since I need to make sure I can drive home before dark. And because the theater never keeps any one movie very long, I end up not seeing a lot of the ones that interest me until they are released on DVD. So today, when I woke up in the mood to play hooky and take myself to a movie, and realized it was Saturday, which meant matinees were showing and I actually COULD take myself to a movie, I indulged. I'd love to tell you about some deep, complex, and moving story I watched, but...um...no. I went to see "Ice Princess". :-) Hey, it has Buffy's little sister, pretty sparkly costumes, and figure skating, which I love to watch, although I've never quite gotten over the disappointment of Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner having to miss out on the Olympics all those years ago. That's pretty much enough to make me plunk down my three bucks. And I had an excellent time. The popcorn was good. The other movie-goers were quiet. And it doesn't matter that I can't actually stand up on ice skates in real life. For a couple of hours I mentally soared along the ice with the actors, spinning, and leaping, and sparkling. It was a lovely way to spend a cool, cloudy Saturday afternoon.