Remembering Good Times at the Cinema

[JediMichael]

I have probably posted this somewhere here before, but heres me back in 2000, long hair and all, pushing this sweeper that I named, "The Joey", after a kinda weird employee that pretty much only wanted to push that thing. I actually carved that name into the front of it.

...and 2018, right before I moved from FL. The manager, who actually started a day after me was still working there, 20 years later.....
I'm guessing with the covid shut down last year, she probably retired.

 

[PoopaPapaPalps]

The REAL IMAX, not the "regular digital screen in an AMC with IMAX branding on the door" kind!

(the link wouldn't post correctly, cut and paste this text, removing the space after the HTTPS)
https ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uFyp1WS1Fw&list=FLE3tpBy7P8vuNhhmq4Ol2XQ&index=31

The only real IMAX is at our local museum. It doesn't seat as many as the cinema screens but man, the screen size and picture quality, the sound---it ain't no joke. I remember catching Inception and TDK there a second time just for the IMAX quality. Most other times, they're playing PBS documentaries. I think they had one on F1 and one of the Apollo missions that I wanted to see but missed the chance. The whole thing takes up an entire side of the the museum and it had to be extended and dug into the back of the hill it sits on to have it all fit. I remember hearing that the cinema was getting IMAX screens back when and I thought, "Gee, they're all gonna be this good?!" Boy, was I wrong.

 

[Mottrex]

The only real IMAX is at our local museum. It doesn't seat as many as the cinema screens but man, the screen size and picture quality, the sound---it ain't no joke. I remember catching Inception and TDK there a second time just for the IMAX quality. Most other times, they're playing PBS documentaries. I think they had one on F1 and one of the Apollo missions that I wanted to see but missed the chance. The whole thing takes up an entire side of the the museum and it had to be extended and dug into the back of the hill it sits on to have it all fit. I remember hearing that the cinema was getting IMAX screens back when and I thought, "Gee, they're all gonna be this good?!" Boy, was I wrong.

The only Real IMAX I have been to was in FL on a visit to the Kennedy Space Centre( the one with all the rockets of the past not the Launch centre ) it was a while back... we watched JJA's Star Trek..
The Beats from The Beastie Boys Oh My!
That Screen was so high and wide you almost felt like you would fall into it..
The opening space Battle was Awesome..

I've not had anywhere near the same experience here in the UK with our IMAX screens which to be honest are 4k screens with Dolby Atmos..
Heck I can get that in the comfort of our own home these days with our Home projector, it does throw an obscenely large image in crisp 4K

Roll on more True IMAX theatres in the UK

 

[Halliwax]

I have probably posted this somewhere here before, but heres me back in 2000, long hair and all, pushing this sweeper that I named, "The Joey", after a kinda weird employee that pretty much only wanted to push that thing. I actually carved that name into the front of it.

View attachment 1523131

...and 2018, right before I moved from FL. The manager, who actually started a day after me was still working there, 20 years later.....
I'm guessing with the covid shut down last year, she probably retired.

View attachment 1523132

Awesome story and photos!

 

[Halliwax]

One good time I remember was riding my bike to the cinema to go see small soldiers with my friends, 1998.. 14yrs old. I’m pretty sure that was the first time I went to the movies with just friends and not my family

Felt really independent lol

 

[Halliwax]

Another funny one.. I’m sitting at my table eating cereal laughing while typing my pervious post

I was a huge Pokémon tcg player.. I traveled the east coast competing until I think 2018..

Anyway in 2000 the second movie came out and they release the ancient mew card in America

This was a super rare, super popular card among everyone in Japan and we could only dream of getting one..

So me and my friend went to the theater, got our card, watched the terrible movie. When it was over we wanted to try and get a card for the owner of the comic book shop I worked at

So my buddy after the movie, goes to the front desk and says he didn’t get his card

Now the girl is basically our age.. maybe a year or two older.. so we both look like weirdos going into a Pokémon movie together to begin with

She reply’s “I remember giving you both your cards because I Thought you were alittle old for this movie”

LOL I thought my buddy was gonna cry he was so embarrassed, I was laughing as loud as I could

She ended up giving us a extra one. (She was disgusted giving him the extra card, had the strangest face) And we gave it to our friend who displayed it behind the counter at the store until the store closed..

I always talk about the ancient mew card when I think of the cinema.. which was torn down and turned into a solar field today…

 

[Lightning]

The only real IMAX is at our local museum.

Our only IMAX, which is at the aquarium, is being removed. They never showed Hollywood movies there, and it just takes up too much space for the amount money it brings in. It think most of the area will be the insectarium, which is moving there from a different building.

 

[JediMichael]

Another funny one.. I’m sitting at my table eating cereal laughing while typing my pervious post

I was a huge Pokémon tcg player.. I traveled the east coast competing until I think 2018..

Anyway in 2000 the second movie came out and they release the ancient mew card in America

This was a super rare, super popular card among everyone in Japan and we could only dream of getting one..

So me and my friend went to the theater, got our card, watched the terrible movie. When it was over we wanted to try and get a card for the owner of the comic book shop I worked at

So my buddy after the movie, goes to the front desk and says he didn’t get his card

Now the girl is basically our age.. maybe a year or two older.. so we both look like weirdos going into a Pokémon movie together to begin with

She reply’s “I remember giving you both your cards because I Thought you were alittle old for this movie”

LOL I thought my buddy was gonna cry he was so embarrassed, I was laughing as loud as I could

She ended up giving us a extra one. (She was disgusted giving him the extra card, had the strangest face) And we gave it to our friend who displayed it behind the counter at the store until the store closed..

I always talk about the ancient mew card when I think of the cinema.. which was torn down and turned into a solar field today…

Thats funny. I remember that movie. I built the standee to it and helped with the promotion, filmed and edited the event. That pic I posted above with my old manager was the one running it. A gew months later she hands me a $20 and says they won a small prize for the promotion. Its one of the few times I got something extra like that.

 

[Halliwax]

Thats funny. I remember that movie. I built the standee to it and helped with the promotion, filmed and edited the event. That pic I posted above with my old manager was the one running it. A gew months later she hands me a $20 and says they won a small prize for the promotion. Its one of the few times I got something extra like that.

She sounds like an amazing boss

 

[JediMichael]

She sounds like an amazing boss

She was, but she could also be strict about certain things, so not everyone liked her.
I usually try and get along with everybody.

 

[OzReturner]

Something I really miss is going to the concession stand for nachos or pretzel bites, and getting a big, thin plastic tray overflowing with chips (or pretzels), and so much cheese in the little section of the tray that it spilled over into the chips. The cheese was from one of those heated dispensers, like soft serve ice cream. Overpriced, but I felt like I was getting my moneys worth. Now you buy nachos and you get a skimpy individual bag of chips and a to-go cup of cheese. This was always part of the experience for me, and now it just isn't the same. I do understand it's a cross contamination risk, but I don't care. Maybe there are still theaters that do it the old way, but definitely not around where I live.

 

[JediMichael]

Something I really miss is going to the concession stand for nachos or pretzel bites, and getting a big, thin plastic tray overflowing with chips (or pretzels), and so much cheese in the little section of the tray that it spilled over into the chips. The cheese was from one of those heated dispensers, like soft serve ice cream. Overpriced, but I felt like I was getting my moneys worth. Now you buy nachos and you get a skimpy individual bag of chips and a to-go cup of cheese. This was always part of the experience for me, and now it just isn't the same. I do understand it's a cross contamination risk, but I don't care. Maybe there are still theaters that do it the old way, but definitely not around where I live.

Yeah, that was the best part. At the end of the night, if there were any pretzel bites left, we were able to eat them.
There was a few times where there was one tray left....we had to wait about 20ish mins after the last movie started. You would get that customer who would come with 5 mins before closing, (movie already started) and buy that pretzel bite tray....there went our dinner.....

 

[PoopaPapaPalps]

My concession snacks have always been Nestle Buncha-Crunch, small popcorn, and Red/Blue mixed Icee soft drink. I've not strayed from that ever, even with the new snacks and hot foods (which I find absolutely abhorrent to have in a communal viewing experience), these are the staples I get each and every time.

 

[OzReturner]

My concession snacks have always been Nestle Buncha-Crunch, small popcorn, and Red/Blue mixed Icee soft drink. I've not strayed from that ever, even with the new snacks and hot foods (which I find absolutely abhorrent to have in a communal viewing experience), these are the staples I get each and every time.

You mean you don't eat a big, sloppy hot dog during the film?

 

[PoopaPapaPalps]

I had an experience at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin that swore me off forever eating a hot meal at the theater ever again. I was a bit peckish and I ordered from their movie themed menu and it wasn't until I got my order and started eating that I noticed just how hot and loud the room became from everyone also doing it, and the sound of people noshing on food stuffs damn near drowned out the movie. The smell, too. God, it smelled like the inside of an airplane on a long trip. I swore from that day on, I'd never be this kind of a person again. If I'm gonna eat, it's gonna be after the showing or at home. Never at the cinema.

 

[Halliwax]

I could never afford the concession stand.. we smuggled it in in our socks and belt. Hell.. went to spiderman last night and my water bottle was still in my sock

When my brother and I went to see amazing Spider-Man 1, he bought a bottle of water and when the girl said 3.99 he replied “no miss, I asked for 1 bottle not the whole case” LOL he’s always been quick like that.. anyway

I love popcorn though.. especially their butter.. we downed 2 large buckets last night

I remember when i worked at block buster video, my buddies and I there would travel to go rate movie theaters

We watched and ranked movies all day long, so we developed this hobby of driving out to a theater and ranking and rating everything

The wait time in lines for buying tickets, the cleanliness, the bathrooms, the seats..the sound system.. the wait time for the concessions, the arcade (if they had one) and how hot the chicks were lol

This was years before recliners and restaurants built into theaters.. we traveled up near Boston to hit up a regal super cinemas..

It was like entering a airport.. it was unreal. 3 floors of theaters, largest theaters I’ve even been in.. this was before imax. I counted one day the rows and that one theater held 800 seats..

But they had a deluxe lever where you sat above the audience, you got a couch, love seat, recliner, coffee table.. small lamps.. it was set up like a mini living room.. it was insane.

You click the light on on the end of the couch and a waitress would come out and take your order.. she was dressed differently then the other staff that worked there, like a black blouse and mini skirt, she gave you a menu. you had complete meals.. i believe they served alcohol too.. best theater I’ve ever been too..

The food was great, and talk about concession stand.. each level had the concessions in the middle with the escalators. 3 floors but 2 of them were under ground.. it was just insane..

Best theater we ever been too..

I have another funny theater rank story.. but I’ll save that for some time next week lol

 

[OzReturner]

I smuggled a can of pop into the show once. My car broke down in a parking lot about 1/2 mile away, so we walked to the theater. Didn't realize all that walking would shake the can like it was in a paint shaker, and it exploded all over me when I sat down and opened it. Justice was served, I suppose!

 

[PoopaPapaPalps]

Winter was the best time to go to the movies with friends for me. We'd put on our biggest winter jackets, specifically the ones with the most and largest pockets, and we'd smuggle a buffet of junk in. I remember one time, a few of them were hungry and we stopped at an Arbys before the the theater, and I smuggled all of it for them in my coat. Until the day I had to get rid of the jacket, it smelled of kitchen grease.

 

[JediMichael]

Anyone remember the old Fandango ads that used paper bags?
We made a bunch of our own. That was one of the things that was played in the theater itself.

 

[Halliwax]

Anyone remember the old Fandango ads that used paper bags?
We made a bunch of our own. That was one of the things that was played in the theater itself.

Never seen any of those in my life