I’ve said it before, several times. The drive-in has been a savior for my summer. Deprived of a regular summer movie season by the ‘Rona, I’ve been able to both catch some nifty new flicks at the drive-in, movies that I might not have seen otherwise (THE WRETCHED, THE OTHER LAMB, THE VAST OF NIGHT, FOLLOWED, and THE RENTAL, to name a sampling) and catch some classic on the big screen, some that I hadn’t seen at a theater before (THE LOST BOYS, FRIGHT NIGHT). I’ve gotten to know the owners of one of the drive-ins I frequent, and I’ve even made suggestions to them regarding movies I think they ought to show. (I’m still waiting for THE LEGEND OF BOGGY CREEK!)
This past weekend, one of the previews they showed before playing GREMLINS was for the new Russian Sci-fi/Horror SPUTNIK, which is basically ALIEN if the infected spaceman had made it back to Earth while still “impregnated” with the chest-buster. And if he was Russian, and this all happened in the 1980s. It was the first footage I’d seen and it looks great. I immediately hit ‘em up to get the flick. They assured me they’d do their best.
A theater where I get to help decide what movies play there? That’s not a bad consolation prize for a cinematic summer suspended by ‘Rona. Not bad at all.