September 10, 2009

• I remember a friend of mine telling me "you never wait for us to see a movie," and my response to that was "because if I waited, I'll hardly ever get to actually watch movies." There used to be a time when me and my friends would at least watch that one big movie released for the weekend, but that was YEARS ago in High School / College. Now we all more or less have our own lives, that casually going "let's go watch a movie" needs to pretty much be planned in advance. Then there's the whole reality that not everybody has the same tastes in movies, so that in itself is limiting to what you can or cannot see. With all that in mind, I can see why movie critics tend to go by themselves to movie screenings, because it's a lot easier planning a trip to see a film when you don't have to worry about another person's availability or preference. This is something I've learned for quite a while now, and have actually been doing.

  As a person who loves watching movies, it oddly enough means more for me to be able to see a film that's still currently released. The problem I find is that there are many movies currently in limited release that I also want to see, and sometimes I have to drive far just to see some of them. There are a few movie theaters nearby (around 10 miles away) that on occasion show these limited released films, but they don't happen as often as I would prefer. Lately I've taken advantage of going to the Laemmle Playhouse in Pasadena, CA (30 miles drive), that specializes in limited released films. The other option that I've also taken advantage of is streaming recently released movies that's actually available "on-demand" via xbox LIVE movies, Netflix streaming, or Cable/Satellite, which is really a cool thing to be able to do this day and age (I'll expand on that in another blog post). Because of all these options I now have today, I have already been able to see 47 of the movies released in 2009 so far. Compare that number to how it was in 2004, when I was only able to see a total of 33 movies that were released in it's first run that year (the rest I had to wait for home video the following year).

  Clearly by now you can tell that I go to the movies because I love movies, and not for the social experience. Sure it would be nice to have a "movie buddy" (or buddies) that is willing and able to go to as many movies as you, but that's hardly an available option. So if you consider yourself a fan of going to the movies, then you should have learned that going by yourself is completely okay. Some people feel insecure about going by themselves, but that's not the kind of attitude an avid movie goer should have.

  • 7:04 pm
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