Why Theatres?

Why would I post a 16-second video clip?

For the sheer joy of seeing a classic movie marquee in my city again, and seeing people lined up in front of it.

I love new technology.

New technolgy is wonderful.

But it's nice to think back to a time when we watched a movie in a huge, dark room with a group of people.

And then maybe going to a coffee shop to discuss it afterwards.

And yes, I did see The Empire Strikes Back in the summer of 1980 at this theatre, the Paramount.

On a cold, rainy, probably-August day, in the same summer that my sister and I discovered cable TV (13 channels and not 4? What heaven!)

My sister convinced my mom to let us go by saying, "But Mom, we always play Star Wars at recess and lunch!"

So off we went downtown to the Paramount: me, my sister, Mom, my sister's school friend who's now a very well-regarded musician in Japan, and his mom.

As the movie unfolded, I immediately had two questions:

1) If the planet in the movie was in a galaxy far, far away, why the heck did it look so much like Edmonton in winter?

2) And why were the big loud guy and the lady with the thingy in her hair yelling at each other and then talking this mushy "I love you" stuff? (Boy, if I could only go back in time and explain that one to my nine-year-old self...)

Of course I was probably the only person alive in 1977 who hadn't seen the original Star Wars in its first run. But I saw the double feature in 1983, in preparation for Return of the Jedi, at the Capitol Square, just down the street from the Paramount. So it all made sense then.

MTMG