Movie Date

I got quite a treat this fine Sunday. I got to go on a mid-day movie date. Dave and I almost never go to the movies. We are cheap skates yes, but for the most part it's really due to the fact that most movies are so stupid these days. We only go if my sister (the professional movie goer) gives a movie two really solid and callused thumbs up. So I'm sure everyone who saw a movie this wonderful weekend, went and saw The Hunger Games. I really did want to see it, but getting Dave into a movie theater is hard enough, without adding the excess of people who are seeing a movie on it's opening weekend. Dave doesn't do "people". He hates crowds and he isn't the least bit interested in sitting right next to a stranger at the movie theater. I'm lucky that he'll even sit right next to me. So obviously we are only going to see a movie that has been out for a couple of weeks. We saw 21 Jump Street and it was AWESOME! I love a good "R" rated comedy. I usually go see these sort of movies with my girlfriend Jessica because she also loves a raunchy R-rated flick. We laugh like crazed hyenas and it's just obnoxious. We usually go to the movies mid-week, mid-day to avoid putting the masses through this. Though she would have loved this movies, Dave also enjoyed it.

So we show up for the Sunday matinee and it's still $6.50 a person for a ticket. I haven't been to a night movie in over 5 years. I would seriously not enjoy the movie if I paid $9.00 to see it. I'd pay that for a David Beckham peep show (maybe even $20.00 if I'm being honest)....but that's about it. There would be hell to pay if I saw a horrible movie and the price tag was $9.00. But back to the story. We paid for our tickets and we must have been feeling like big shots because at the exact same time we both said, "Let's get some popcorn." So we walk up to the concessions stand and I'm feeling like I don't mind wasting $4.00 on some popcorn. Well, it turns out that a toddlers portion of popcorn is now $5.00. Now, we don't need a large or anything, but that would have set me back $8.50. I can feed my family dinner for less than that! We just looked at each other and said, "Um......I don't need it that bad." So we skipped that, but I'm no dummy so I'd already smuggled in a drink and two bags of candy.

So we settle into our fancy seats and it's great because hardly anyone is in the theater. The lights dim and we watch about 6 mini movies. I guess you'd call them previews, but they were really long and detailed and I really feel like I saw 6 short films. They have a category at all the award shows called "short films" and I've never seen a real one, but previews should start to count in that category. I haven't made it to a movie in time for the previews in forever. I enjoyed it very much because it was a little more bang for my buck. This is all a real treat for me because it really is that rare of an experience. So we watched the previews/ short films (and loved them all!) and wouldn't you know it, our candy was all gone before the opening credits of our feature began. Lucky for me, I didn't need treats for the real show, because 21 Jump Street is a treat all by itself. My mascara was smeared by the end of the show. I was crying from laughing so hard. That kind of laughter is totally worth $6.50. So we loved the show , but in my home life, I never really sit down for two solid hours, so when I get up after the show I feel like I'm in physical therapy. Like I'm learning to walk all over again. It's like one leg has fallen asleep or something. Now I have to go down all these theater stairs and they are really tall and long and I have to walk down them like a toddler. Two feet on each step. But walking like a toddler is fine because I went out on a real movie date and it was awesome! I encourage all the shut- in's of the world to leave the house and see a movie. It's incredibly loud and exhilarating! I sound so pathetic here, but I had a really good time. So I'll make a public plea to Hollywood and ask that they all try a little bit harder and stop putting out so many crappy-ass movies so that I can justify going to the movie theater a bit more often. And I found the cutest sandals on sale at Sears.....and I bought them, even though Dave was with me! What a day!