Kevin Hillier asks how you keep up with the latest movies …
A school holiday family outing to the movies brought back a lot of good, and bad, memories for me last week. We went to watch the west’s own Shane Jacobson’s new movie Oddball, the true story of a Warrnambool chicken farmer who came up with a pretty radical way of saving the local fairy penguin population. It’s a delightful movie that has no graphic violence, no swearing, no adult themes or nudity. Shane goes dangerously close at the start of the film, but we are all saved by a daggy old dressing gown. It’s a good old-fashioned family film, a rarity these days.
As a kid, I can remember going to the drive-in with mum and dad in my pyjamas, all rugged up in the back seat and reminding dad not to drive off with the speaker still attached to the driver’s side window. I don’t remember the movies as much as the family adventure.
As a teenager, the movies were the place to hook up with your mates or try your luck with the girls. My local cinema was run by a very strict disciplinarian, who brandished a torch and was known universally as Porky. He disapproved of talking during the movie and would give you a tap on the head with his torch if you transgressed. If you were sitting with a girl, the torch would be used to make sure no shenanigans were going on. We loved to push the boundaries, and rolling Jaffas down the sloping wooden floor seemed hilarious.
The introduction of videos, DVDs and cable TV means we can see the latest movies in the comfort of our own home – no torches or Jaffas.
Going to the movies now involves negotiating a huge arcade games area and draining the ATM to afford the snack bar. Home theatres are more common now, but there is still something special for me about watching a movie on the big screen, even though as a family we rarely do it.
Gold Class has become a treat once or twice a year and, once you have done it, it’s hard to go back to normal cinemas. Last week’s experience in a country cinema was something of a flashback but an enjoyable one.
I would love to know how you keep up – is it Gold Class, normal cinema, cable, DVD? Let me know.
If you have any news or events, let me know at kevin@howdypartnersmedia. com.au
