Ever been to a Drive-in?

..and why not?
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GoogaMooga
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Ever been to a Drive-in?

Postby GoogaMooga » 04 Nov 2018, 16:43

Nope, never had the occasion. In my region, in Zealand (Sjælland), there was only one. I think that they were primarily an American phenomenon, it being car country. And one could also mention that the repertoire was very B movie, popcorn fare. There's even a kind of subgenre called "drive-in movies". Dark Star would be perfect for a Drive-in.
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Re: Ever been to a Drive-in?

Postby pcqgod » 04 Nov 2018, 17:22

About a year ago I went to our local drive in and watched 'John Wick 2' in the rain. It's the same drive-in we've had operating here since at least the mid-20th Century, and which my family used to go to to watch Mexican comedies with Cantinflas when I was very young.
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Re: Ever been to a Drive-in?

Postby GoogaMooga » 04 Nov 2018, 17:26

Mexican comedies? Do you think they were shown at the drive-in because they could not get theatrical distribution? Back then cinemas were studio-owned, right?
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Re: Ever been to a Drive-in?

Postby Matt Wilson » 04 Nov 2018, 18:19

Used to go all the time when I was a kid in the '70s. It was already dying out by the eighties - though I still went sometimes. I was shocked to hear from one of my students last week that he still goes to one. So apparently, there's still some around.

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Re: Ever been to a Drive-in?

Postby pcqgod » 04 Nov 2018, 18:29

GoogaMooga wrote:Mexican comedies? Do you think they were shown at the drive-in because they could not get theatrical distribution? Back then cinemas were studio-owned, right?


I'm sure a bunch of the old theaters in my area also showed the same fare, since we're right on the border. Even today, the mainstream theaters will still play Mexican films fairly frequently.
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Re: Ever been to a Drive-in?

Postby GoogaMooga » 04 Nov 2018, 18:39

Ah yes, that would explain it. But how about the chain theaters? Maybe the studio-owned theaters (if they still are) would put them on because there is money in it.
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Re: Ever been to a Drive-in?

Postby GoogaMooga » 04 Nov 2018, 18:41

There was even a drive-in movie critic, Joe Bob Briggs, who would parody the highbrow critics.
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Re: Ever been to a Drive-in?

Postby BARON CORNY DOG » 05 Nov 2018, 15:40

I went a few times when I was a kid. It shut down sometime in the late 80s, I imagine. They’re a “thing” now, and a few cool old drive ins are still around. But not the one in my hometown.
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Re: Ever been to a Drive-in?

Postby pcqgod » 05 Nov 2018, 17:33

GoogaMooga wrote:Ah yes, that would explain it. But how about the chain theaters? Maybe the studio-owned theaters (if they still are) would put them on because there is money in it.


I meant chain when I said "mainstream." The major chain in this area is Cinemark, and there is also one AMC theater. Cinemark and AMC seem to be major nationwide chains. The local Cinemark theaters will play popular Mexican movies. One local Cinemark theater also plays a lot of Filipino movies in Tagalog, for some reason I can't fathom.

I'm not sure if there are any studio-owned theaters in the U.S. anymore, since the US Supreme Court ruled against Paramount in an anti-trust suit in 1948. I'm guessing the drive-ins and old fashioned downtown theaters that played a lot of Mexican movies in past decades were mostly privately owned and operated.
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Re: Ever been to a Drive-in?

Postby Hightea » 05 Nov 2018, 19:30

all the time as a teenage in the 70's. We would load up the car with kids as it was only one price per car load. When they changed it to a head count we started put people in the trunk or had a few sneak thru the fence. We even snuck in kegs of beer. Drive -ins usually played scary movies and did double or triple movies. There is still one about 1 hr north of me but never went.
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Re: Ever been to a Drive-in?

Postby Snarfyguy » 06 Nov 2018, 05:19

Obligatory:



Ideally, the kind of movie you want to see is like the Marlon Brando version of The Island of Dr. Moreau.
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Re: Ever been to a Drive-in?

Postby harvey k-tel » 07 Nov 2018, 17:02

Used to go with my parents when I was a kid - I'd wear pyjamas because I'd invariably fall asleep during the movie. Went a few times as a teen, as well, but have no real abiding memories other than seeing Chitty Chitty Bang Bang when I was young.
There's still a drive-in near my hometown, called the Mustang.

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Re: Ever been to a Drive-in?

Postby GoogaMooga » 07 Nov 2018, 17:04

Beautiful photo!
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Re: Ever been to a Drive-in?

Postby sloopjohnc » 07 Nov 2018, 18:22

We had a drive-in in my hometown for years. I first went when I was three years old and went with my friends up until my 20s. There was also another one a couple towns away we'd go to.

When I moved across the Bay, they still had a drive-in. I never went to that one. Maybe because the kids weren't around then.

A few years ago, we vacationed in San Luis Obispo. They still have a drive-in and we took the kids to one of the Pirates of the Caribbean Movies on a double-bill with Planes, the Cars offshoot. Great fun.

Here's photos of San Luis Obispo's drive-in. Still going.

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Re: Ever been to a Drive-in?

Postby sloopjohnc » 07 Nov 2018, 18:24

Hightea wrote:all the time as a teenage in the 70's. We would load up the car with kids as it was only one price per car load. When they changed it to a head count we started put people in the trunk or had a few sneak thru the fence. We even snuck in kegs of beer. Drive -ins usually played scary movies and did double or triple movies. There is still one about 1 hr north of me but never went.


We'd sneak through the fence, get in the trunk, or curl up under people's legs in the backseat too.
Don't fake the funk on a nasty dunk!

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Re: Ever been to a Drive-in?

Postby sloopjohnc » 07 Nov 2018, 18:27

I took a girl to the drive-in in my early 20s. It was raining, so when I went to the snack bar, I had to walk across the wooden railing that separated the screens because the puddles were so big. A group of guys were partying, watching a movie and started throwing their empty beer bottles at me, trying to knock me down. They were bad shots and they missed, but it was kind of a scary price to pay for some popcorn.
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Re: Ever been to a Drive-in?

Postby $P.Muff$ » 09 Nov 2018, 03:21

With my parents in the early '80s. I don't remember any of the films we saw but my folks pretty much let me watch whatever when I was a kid. The screen to one of the drive-ins we went to is still there, overgrown with kudzu.

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Re: Ever been to a Drive-in?

Postby watts » 06 Dec 2018, 09:45

We lived at the drive in. We'd pile all 9 kids into the nash rambler and the park and unload lawn chairs and a cooler and watch two movies in a row all summer long as kids. My drive in is still there.

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Re: Ever been to a Drive-in?

Postby bobzilla77 » 11 Dec 2018, 21:38

I remember going to them with my parents a few times in the 70s, and then as teenagers in the 80s when my older friends got their driver licenses. We would sit around and drink beer all night and puke in the cornfield behind the screens.
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