drive-in movies Archives - Owl Medicine: Shamanic Healing

Sideways

Today was a day. It started with a flat tire and progressed (regressed?) from there. We all have them, though. Those days when we wake up and feel a vague sense of anticipation – only to have everything go sideways in completely unexpected ways.

The stress only escalated when the ‘donut-spare’ was discovered to be flat as well. We seemed to be in the midst of a comedy of errors. Murphy’s Law seemed to be the operating principle for several hours. Eventually, though (after morning turned into lunchtime and then progressed into a hot and sticky afternoon before we accomplished a darn thing), we discovered that the flat was caused by a nail, thus rendering it easily reparable. Yes! I’ll take it! And call it a small, if significant, win.

Things Got Better

But you know what? We managed to salvage the day and retrieve our attitudes from the mulch pile where they’d been stuffed earlier. Saving the day was accomplished by indulging in the relaxing and nostalgic fun of going to a drive-in movie again. You might recall our foray into this ‘old-timey’ manner of enjoying the summer while in the safe (both outdoor and distanced) company of other people last year.

Re-reading that post and looking at the photos of the animation that danced across the big screen during the intermission between the main feature and the second movie of the evening makes me laugh all over again. I love that the Shankweiler’s Drive-In keeps those dated animated spots.

Honestly, it’s amazing to see how much more risqué and sarcastic a lot of early tv and movie entertainment used to be. Old-fashioned humor is often much more subtle than we’re used to now. In a lot of ways, in spite of the much more overt sexuality, violence, and profanity we see nowadays, sarcasm and naughtiness was every bit as present 50-60 years ago. Viewers just had to work a little harder to ‘get’ it. Or maybe it’s that we don’t expect it to be as odd as it actually was.

It was quite the dance… – Photo: L.Weikel

Grateful

I’m just grateful we were able to salvage the day.

In case you’re wondering, we saw Black Widow. I thought it was good; mostly I enjoyed the dialogue and personalities of some of the characters. I have to admit, though, I find seemingly non-stop ten minute long relentless footage of car chases or shoot-outs or aerial assaults extremely tedious and boring. Just because the special effects are available doesn’t mean we have to be relentlessly bludgeoned over the head with them. Then again, it is a Marvel movie, so it was in character.

The second movie was Cruella. I admittedly had pretty low expectations for it, to be honest. And given our experience with the second movie of the evening last year, we’d made a pact that if it really stank we’d leave early. Given all those doubts, it was pretty good. It had more recognizable faces in it than I was expecting and it gave an interesting backstory to the villain of 101 Dalmations.

All in all, the day turned out tremendously better than it started. Thanks, Tiffany, for the great suggestion!

“The Oldest Drive-In in America” – Photo: L. Weikel

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Shankweiler’s Drive-In – Photo: L. Weikel

A Pandemic Pleasure

If we squint hard enough, every now and then we can discover a sweet spot in our lives that Covid-19 has either made possible or highlighted from another era. One such bonus to society, actually, is the resurgence of drive-in movie theaters. We could almost call our experience this evening a pandemic pleasure.

Part of the reason going to a drive in movie nowadays (as opposed to when I was a teenager) is actually a delight is the digital experience and the ability to have the audio delivered via radio. Does anyone reading this remember the speakers that were attached to the poles along each parking space?

More saliently, does anyone remember a time when those speakers weren’t dilapidated pieces of heavy metal crap with severed wires hanging from a vast majority of them? The audio on those speakers was abysmal, all crackly and only sporadically audible.

Just as I was growing up and coming of age drive-ins were becoming passé. They were falling into a state of disrepair. Malls were being built and movie complexes alongside them. Everything was changing with movies.

I do remember watching Jaws with my mom, older sister and brother-in-law, and their kids. We were at the drive-in theater in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod. It was the ‘perfect’ summer movie to watch when all we did was basically live on the beach and swim in the ocean all day!

Tonight’s Feature

I have to say, though, tonight’s adventure at Shankweiler’s (America’s oldest drive-in!) was an absolute delight. Because they’d scoped it out earlier in the season, my son and daughter-in-law knew exactly what to do to transform a ‘movie night’ into a pandemic pleasure. They knew just how early we needed to get there to snag a great location (although there probably aren’t any bad locations at Shankweiler’s – it truly is a sweet location).

It’s been at least nine months since we saw a movie. And even though local indoor theaters are open, I personally have no desire to roll the dice for a chance to sit inside a building with pretty much anyone to watch a movie I could rent at home.

But going to the drive-in tonight was so much fun! We each contributed to a delicious tailgater’s evening of snacks and salads and then watched as the sun set and the stars came out. The weather couldn’t have been better. While the three of them got comfy in chairs set out in front of and between our two cars (which were all spaced out with double the room due to social distancing rules), I made myself a nest of blankets and pillows.

We watched Bill and Ted Face the Music, which was a cute, campy movie. I have to admit, it made me sigh a little deeper to realize that the original in the series, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure came out 31 years ago. Holy cow.

We had two little kids at that time, so we didn’t got to see it in the theater. But I know for sure that we rented it (and probably watched it on a VCR also rented from the video store!).

Wow, have things changed. And yet…here we are. I don’t know what the stats are, but I’ll bet drive-in theaters are doing extremely well this year. It’s a pity the drive-in we used to take our sons to down in Warrington is now a Lowe’s parking lot. That makes me sad.

Intermission – hot dogs! – Photo: L. Weikel

One Last Thing

The old fashioned interludes they play on the big screen both prior to the main feature and then at the intermission between films are worth the price of admission. They’re hilarious. Here’s a still from one of the ones that graced the screen tonight. Seriously.

If you have a chance to go to a drive-in this fall, go! Especially while the summer weather is still around and the hint of a cool fall breeze is just becoming a feature of its own. It’s a veritable pandemic pleasure. And a super way to spend some socially distant time with friends or family in the great outdoors.