The Last Movie I Saw
Josh and I have been struggling to remember the last movies we saw in a theater. We definitely saw A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood before the pandemic.
We saw Knives Out, and I thought we saw a second movie that weekend, but I didn’t write down what it was in my bullet journal. In December, we saw The Rise of Skywalker. Was that it? Did I end my long run of movie theater visits with those films?
We still go to live theater because it’s the only way to see live theater. But we’ve moved to watching movies at home.
It feels so strange to not be able to remember that last experience of seeing a film surrounded by strangers. To not know that was my last tub of movie theater popcorn. My final film out of the house.
We can remedy this and go out on a better note (or not go out at all). Josh suggested we see The Testament of Ann Lee, which looks amazing.
But then I saw that it would be released on streaming this week. And then I wanted to see The Drama, which I admittedly know nothing about but liked the trailer:
So we have to make a decision because I’d like to remember the last thing I see.
Have you been to a movie theater recently? And what did you see?
5 comments
Pre-pandemic, we used to go to the movies, perhaps not EVERY Sunday afternoon, but I would guess at least once a month. i think the last one we saw was “1917” (which was one of those movies that really should be seen in a theatre, on a big screen). I’m not entirely sure why we haven’t gone since the covid situation improved. It has gotten ridiculously expensive, and I’m told there is no one at the front selling tickets anymore; you have to buy in advance or at a kiosk, AND you now have to choose your seats; you can’t just sit wherever you want. I have not kept tabs on the new releases the way I once did either, so I’m not sure what I’d want to see (although there’s been a few I’ve been interested in). I have barely heard of any of the movies up for Oscar nominations and that’s a weird feeling, because I have followed the Oscar race so closely for most of my life. (I will still watch the Oscars on Sunday night, though!)
I saw Oppenheimer in the theatre and loved doing so. Also Barbie which, ditto though … 2 very different movies.
I have almost exclusively been going to the mystery movie at AMC theaters. There haven’t been many i’m willing to pay to see, so a discounted mystery movie works for me. I did see One Battle After Another with my nephew – it was really good. And my friends and I watched the last Downton Abbey movie, where one of them fell asleep. I don’t think the last movie I saw was very memorable.
I’ve been going regularly – of course, in NZ we COULD go to the movies in the pandemic, so never really got out of the habit. I still will wear a mask if the theatre is full, or there is a lot of sneezing and coughing going on. I last saw Wuthering Heights a few weeks ago, which I liked – it was like the antithesis of Barbie, but similarly styled. I go to Film Festival films (last I remember was Count of Monte Cristo) with a friend at our favourite arts theatre which has a lot of cheap days. (Of course, not working full-time allows us to choose those days). So buying films online (eg through Apple) is not necessarily cheaper. DH hasn’t been going the last year or so since he has been sick. But going to movies is an event, and I love that.
So this is anecdata and may not feel relevant to you, but I have one of the devices that measures CO2 concentration in the air, which is a great proxy for telling how dirty the air is. The movie theatre complex we frequent, no matter which screen is showing our film, has much better air than any of the facilities at which we watch live performances (orchestra, musical, play, etc.).
Would I go to the movie theatre for opening night for a big film with a sold out crowd? Probably not. But I have been going semi-regularly with the kids to see stuff, and I feel if we’re masking there is minimal risk. It’s expensive, so we don’t go often, but it is a fun treat and there have been films where it was absolutely worth seeing it on the big screen.
I don’t know why you haven’t gone back to the cinema since the pandemic started, and if you don’t miss it, then it doesn’t matter. But if you did want to go but felt it was too risky, just wanted to share our experience.