Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2017 5:55:44 GMT
What was the first movie you can remember seeing in a movie theater? How old were you? Was it just another childhood outing, or did it make a big impact on you? Share your stories!
First movie I remember seeing in a theater was "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial", not that long after my 4th birthday. We actually saw it in a Drive-In movie theater.
I loved the drive-in movie theater, as a four-year old I thought it was the most amazing thing ever. I was actually wearing my pajamas, and I had the blanket and pillow from my bedroom with me (and my favorite stuffed animal pal). We were in my mom's old 1976 Ford Maverick, which had a bench seat in the front and the back, so you could stretch out fairly easily up front. My older brother was off sitting in the outdoor picnic table seats with friends he met up with there, because he was too cool to be seen with his family, so I had the front seat all to myself. All stretched out, eating Junior Mints and popcorn (the really good old-fashioned kind they used to serve, popped in coconut oil at the stand). Mom was stretched out in the backseat, taking the opportunity to relax.
I wasn't as thrilled with E.T., though. He freaked me out with his long neck, and weird voice. I didn't want anybody to hurt the little guy, so I was invested in the story and wanted him to make it home, but he still creeped me out. I hated the part when they started doing experiments on him, that whole sequence scared the hell out of me. I wanted my mom to get in the front seat with me, but when I turned around to ask her, I realized she was fast asleep. She was snoring, and she had her bare feet sticking out of the back window. I decided to go find my brother.
So there I was, four-years old, traipsing around the drive-in parking lot in my pajamas, my blanket wrapped around me like a wizard's cloak (complete with hood, since I had it draped over my head), carrying a pink stuffed rabbit with me. That might sound crazy and dangerous to people nowadays, but back then, drive-in movie theaters were almost like public parks in terms of atmosphere (at least, ours was). There was a compact area where all the cars were parked, there were lots of lights, a playground area, and another area around the concession stand/bathrooms where people could sit and watch if they didn't have a car. People milled about everywhere, and little kids were running around everywhere too. So while I probably looked rather odd in my blanket cloak, it wasn't a big deal to see kids wandering around.
My brother is a full nine-years older than me, so you can imagine how awesome it was for a 13-year old boy to be sitting there with his friends as his disheveled little sister came hobbling over to the table. Even more awesome: I pointed to our car, where his friends could clearly see our mom's feet sticking out of the window. They were laughing their asses off, but my brother looked like he wanted to die (or kill me)(or both).
He told me to go back to the car at first, but when I refused, he let me stay at the picnic table as long as I promised to be quiet. I tried very hard to stay quiet, but when E.T.'s skin started turning white in those experiment scenes, I started crying, much to my brother's chagrin. One of the older boys, I think he was probably 15 or so, hoisted me on his lap and told me to hug my rabbit. He said I could look away and he'd tell me when it was over. I remember it because I thanked him for being nice to me in a loud voice, so my brother would hear me say it. My brother just rolled his eyes. I guess he felt bad, though, because he took my rabbit and started making it dance on the table to make me laugh, which I finally did.
One of the mothers came over to the table and said it was time to leave, and all the boys decided to disperse. My brother took me back to the car, and even though we slammed the door and everything, my mom didn't stir from her nap. We watched the big bicycle chase, and yet again I started crying at the end of the movie when E.T. finally got to go home.
Mom was still asleep as all the other cars started pulling out of the parking lot, and my brother got an evil look on his face. He rolled down the passenger side window, leaned out, and started tickling my mom's feet with a straw wrapper. Took awhile, but she finally woke up with a start, instinctively yanking her feet back into the backseat. My brother and I were hysterical over that, but mom was not as amused. She called us a couple of smartasses, and finally realized she had slept through the entire movie. She wasn't bothered by that, she just told me to hold her can of Tab as she got us ready to leave.
By the time I was 6-years old, just a couple of years later, that Drive-In had closed down. There was another Drive-In a little further away where we went to see 'The Karate Kid' and 'Splash', but that one didn't last much longer either. I'm really glad I saw my first movie at a Drive-In, even if E.T. did kind of scare me.
First movie I remember seeing in a theater was "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial", not that long after my 4th birthday. We actually saw it in a Drive-In movie theater.
I loved the drive-in movie theater, as a four-year old I thought it was the most amazing thing ever. I was actually wearing my pajamas, and I had the blanket and pillow from my bedroom with me (and my favorite stuffed animal pal). We were in my mom's old 1976 Ford Maverick, which had a bench seat in the front and the back, so you could stretch out fairly easily up front. My older brother was off sitting in the outdoor picnic table seats with friends he met up with there, because he was too cool to be seen with his family, so I had the front seat all to myself. All stretched out, eating Junior Mints and popcorn (the really good old-fashioned kind they used to serve, popped in coconut oil at the stand). Mom was stretched out in the backseat, taking the opportunity to relax.
I wasn't as thrilled with E.T., though. He freaked me out with his long neck, and weird voice. I didn't want anybody to hurt the little guy, so I was invested in the story and wanted him to make it home, but he still creeped me out. I hated the part when they started doing experiments on him, that whole sequence scared the hell out of me. I wanted my mom to get in the front seat with me, but when I turned around to ask her, I realized she was fast asleep. She was snoring, and she had her bare feet sticking out of the back window. I decided to go find my brother.
So there I was, four-years old, traipsing around the drive-in parking lot in my pajamas, my blanket wrapped around me like a wizard's cloak (complete with hood, since I had it draped over my head), carrying a pink stuffed rabbit with me. That might sound crazy and dangerous to people nowadays, but back then, drive-in movie theaters were almost like public parks in terms of atmosphere (at least, ours was). There was a compact area where all the cars were parked, there were lots of lights, a playground area, and another area around the concession stand/bathrooms where people could sit and watch if they didn't have a car. People milled about everywhere, and little kids were running around everywhere too. So while I probably looked rather odd in my blanket cloak, it wasn't a big deal to see kids wandering around.
My brother is a full nine-years older than me, so you can imagine how awesome it was for a 13-year old boy to be sitting there with his friends as his disheveled little sister came hobbling over to the table. Even more awesome: I pointed to our car, where his friends could clearly see our mom's feet sticking out of the window. They were laughing their asses off, but my brother looked like he wanted to die (or kill me)(or both).
He told me to go back to the car at first, but when I refused, he let me stay at the picnic table as long as I promised to be quiet. I tried very hard to stay quiet, but when E.T.'s skin started turning white in those experiment scenes, I started crying, much to my brother's chagrin. One of the older boys, I think he was probably 15 or so, hoisted me on his lap and told me to hug my rabbit. He said I could look away and he'd tell me when it was over. I remember it because I thanked him for being nice to me in a loud voice, so my brother would hear me say it. My brother just rolled his eyes. I guess he felt bad, though, because he took my rabbit and started making it dance on the table to make me laugh, which I finally did.
One of the mothers came over to the table and said it was time to leave, and all the boys decided to disperse. My brother took me back to the car, and even though we slammed the door and everything, my mom didn't stir from her nap. We watched the big bicycle chase, and yet again I started crying at the end of the movie when E.T. finally got to go home.
Mom was still asleep as all the other cars started pulling out of the parking lot, and my brother got an evil look on his face. He rolled down the passenger side window, leaned out, and started tickling my mom's feet with a straw wrapper. Took awhile, but she finally woke up with a start, instinctively yanking her feet back into the backseat. My brother and I were hysterical over that, but mom was not as amused. She called us a couple of smartasses, and finally realized she had slept through the entire movie. She wasn't bothered by that, she just told me to hold her can of Tab as she got us ready to leave.
By the time I was 6-years old, just a couple of years later, that Drive-In had closed down. There was another Drive-In a little further away where we went to see 'The Karate Kid' and 'Splash', but that one didn't last much longer either. I'm really glad I saw my first movie at a Drive-In, even if E.T. did kind of scare me.