Go See a Movie. Yes, I Mean in a Theater.

Before I begin this one, a brief disclaimer for anyone concerned: yes I will be continuing the Summertime Setup for Getup Series, I just felt like writing about something else today.

Yesterday I had the absolute and terrifying pleasure of seeing Curry Barker’s Obsession. I drove 8 miles out of my way because it was the nearest theater showing the film in the next hour. Which made me remember something I had forgotten. I love going to the movies. 

First, let me sing some praises for Obsession. It is a low budget, I guess it could even be called an “Indie,” horror film about a boy who makes a magic wish for his crush to love him more than anyone in the world. As you can imagine, things go horribly wrong. Obsession blew me away. I went in knowing it’s a horror movie, but I had seen the director and a supporting actor before, making silly sketches on Instagram. How scary could it be? 

Man. I was shaking in my boots from the ten minute mark. For probably 60% of the movie, I was hiding in my hoodie, face and nose covered, and just my eyes exposed for fear of Nikki coming out of the screen. Despite the pure terror gripping me like shackles, my heart racing like an F1 car, and my balls securely placed in my throat, I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. The cinematography, lighting, and sound design were spectacular. If you had told me they made the film for a cool one million dollars, I’d have taken you to a hospital for a CT scan. For those who don’t know, making a major motion picture on a budget of just a million dollars is like trying to finance a brand new McLaren. It doesn’t happen, or if it does, it’s near impossible. 

As much as I thought Curry Barker’s direction and editing were exceptional, this film simply would not have worked without the performance of Inde Navarrette as Nikki. Her ability to switch from the gentle, loving girlfriend of Bear’s dreams to the psychotic and childlike demon that will haunt my nightmares for the next few weeks was utterly disturbing. Halfway through the film I remarked to myself that she’s earned the Oscar for Best Leading Actress, and it’s not even June. No one will top that performance this year. 

I told my friends I’d let them know my thoughts after I saw the movie, and the first thing the group chat read was: 

“Fellas I don’t think I want to find a girlfriend anymore.” 

The thought of romance gone wrong was that scary. It was there, in the car in the theater parking lot, texting my friends, that I realized something. I hadn’t gone to the movies in forever. Before yesterday, I can’t remember the last movie I saw in theaters. I believe it might have been Marvel’s Thunderbolts, but I’m not sure. And honestly, I got kind of sad because of that thought. 

Admittedly, I’m a stranger. An oddball if you will. I have seen more movies in the theater sitting by myself than with friends or my family. I’ve seen major releases and small budget films sitting alone, the only person in the theater without a companion. And I love it. Going to the theater by myself is one of my simple pleasures in life. No one is asking me questions: “Where have I seen that actor before?” No one has forgotten to silence their phone or is rudely scrolling social media. By the way, if I take you to a movie, and you text your little friends, I’ll dump popcorn on your head. It’s deserved. Put the damn phone on silent or DON’T GO TO THE FUCKING MOVIE!!! I feel very strongly about this matter.

“What’s so special about seeing a movie in the theater, when I can just wait for it to come out on streaming in two months?” - you ask…

Go to hell. 

The silver screen is magical. For 2 hours, you, a bunch of strangers, and the Junior Mints are locked into the same story. A massive 75 foot screen, and speakers larger than an adult man, pull you into a tale of wonder, fear, or awe in a way no other room can. It’s a pitch black room, yet you’re wide awake. You can’t take your eyes off the screen, and neither can the person next to you. It’s a feeling like no other, and one I’ve loved since I was a little kid. So don’t tell me you’ll wait for the movie to come out on streaming. 

Have you ever seen a movie shot with IMAX in an IMAX designed theater? Probably, you just didn’t know it. The best way I can describe the feeling, that I can recall, comes from when I saw Christopher Nolan’s Tenet for the first time. (Underrated movie by the way, COVID absolutely ruined its theater run, and people immediately dumped the “mid” title on it because of that. Real ones know it's a banger.) At the end of the movie, Travis Scott’s The Plan plays. The song is incredibly reliant on bass and 808s, and my god, the building shook. The seats rattled and the screen vibrated so much that the credits were actually illegible. It was electrifying. 

That’s what you don’t get sitting at home. Most of us have a TV with internal speakers that are too small, and a screen with the wrong settings on, optimized for sports, video games, or something else. Not in the cinema. In the cinema, you’re at the mercy of the filmmaker. Every sound is distinct and every color is sharp as a tack. Everything is crisp, being shown exactly how the movie is supposed to be seen. 

Sure, I may be a cinema nerd with pipe dreams of seeing

“Written and Directed by W.P. Foley” 

as the credits roll, watching an audience erupt into cheers as they applaud something I created. But, the theater is where these dreams originated. 

Which is why it breaks my heart that people don’t see movies as much as they should. For the most part, whenever I ask a friend, “are you going to see ___?” The overwhelming response is, “What service is it on?” When I inform them that they’d have to go see it in theaters, I often get a response along the lines of, “Eh, I’ll wait until it’s on HBO Max.”

So, my challenge to you this summer is this: Spend the money. Go see a movie in an actual, real life theater. The slate of films for this summer is fantastic. Whether it’s an original concept film, such as Kane Parsons’ Backrooms, a retelling of a 3,000 year old tale like Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, the run of the mill blockbuster you’d find with Marvel’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day, or a biopic about the coolest person ever with Tony, get your butt into a seat this summer. Skip sunlight for a few hours, silence your phone, empty your mind, and watch a movie. Fall in love with cinema like I did years ago. Reclaim your sense of wonder through suspension of disbelief. 

The hard part about this will surely be the cost, and I get it. We’re a generation filled with people working two jobs just to pay rent, while other people our age are making millions by sitting in front of their phones all day. But don’t you want to forget about that for a little while? Don’t you want to be part of something that takes your breath away? Screw drugs, go see a movie. 

If you haven’t seen Obsession, I’d highly recommend it. It’s not for the faint of heart, but the premise, cinematography, and especially the acting are all superb. I’ll be seeing Backrooms when it comes out next weekend, largely because I love Kane Pixels' original YouTube series, The Backrooms. Fun fact, both films mentioned in this paragraph were directed by men in their 20s, who started their careers on YouTube. It’s incredible to think that one can go from a hopeful kid posting what they can, to the silver screen. This being the case, I hope to be supporting these guys for a very long time. 

That’s about all I have to say on this matter. You’ll catch me in theaters more often moving forwards. I like going to the AMC theaters, but for any movie that isn’t shot in IMAX or filmed for it, I’ll likely just go to my local cinema. It’s important to support the small-time theaters, especially because they pay way too much to run major films. I hope you’ll support your local theaters as well, but mostly I hope you’ll start going to the movies again. Thanks for reading.