Smokey and the Bandit At The Drive-In Theater
Sadly, the great Burt Reynolds passed away recently. One of my husband and I's favorite actors, we were sad to hear of his passing. Locally, our drive-in theater is doing a Burt Reynolds tribute weekend by showing Smokey and the Bandit instead of some modern big name movie.
Tonight a group of seven of us went to the drive-in just to see Smokey and the Bandit one last time on the big screen. I really enjoy seeing old movies played in movie theaters. So many modern movies are just undesirable to see. I don't do superhero movies which is a dominant genre and it's been a long time since I've been excited to see any modern movie.
Big and Little Enos and The Bandit At The Drive In
This marks my almost two year old daughter's first movie in a "theater." The great thing about a drive-in is that you can sit in your car. We went and got a $5 pizza at Little Caesars and brought our own popcorn and drinks. Drive-ins are so much cheaper when you can bring your own food. Indoor theaters have ridiculous prices for food and don't allow outside food and drinks.
It was my daughter's first time having popcorn. She sat on the armrest in between my husband and I in the front seat with her own little cup of popcorn and happily munched for a little while. Then, as toddlers do, she got bored and started to meddle. She played with the air conditioning controls and other buttons. She explored the car and different people's laps. I came prepared for toddler boredom and downloaded a few episodes of Muppet Babies onto my laptop knowing she'd quiet down and watch them in the back seat. Muppet Babies and a slice of pizza got my Little Rabbit through the last hour of the movie.
Little Rabbit In The Dark of the Car Meddling
It was a really nice time. It was fun going with a group in two cars. We passed pizza from one car to the next through the windows and Little Rabbit had plenty of people to entertain her. It was relaxing and it was nice not having to leave Little Rabbit with a babysitter and having her with us.
I'm sad that Burt Reynolds passed away. We recently saw a movie of his on Amazon Prime called The Last Movie star about an elderly actor in the last years of his life reflecting about his career and life. They movie almost seemed like Reynolds was really reflecting about all the things he did in life and regrets he had. It was funny and sad at the same time.
It's sad to see time pass. I wish I could have been born earlier in time. It would have been so much fun to see Smokey and the Bandit in theaters when it was first released back in 1977. It's such a great movie. I'm glad our local drive-in decided to air it so we could enjoy it in a theater.
Oh that is so cool that you even have a drive thru!! I have not been to one in well lets just say ages... Without too much detail, some of my best times were at one lol!
Yes indeed time is passing...a bit too quick for my taste. I was 11 and the perfect age to really enjoy Smokey and the Bandit. OMG I wanted one of those cars!! Oh you missed the whole CB radio craze as well then!
Awww come on! You should tell some stories about those best times lol! I'm pretty sure my dad was into the CB craze. I've heard stories he tried to be like Burt Reynolds with similar dress and car and CB.
haven't been to one of those in a long time! you're right plenty cheaper the way that you did it bringing your own food
Oh yeah. You can bring a big old feast to the drive in and no one cares. People bring picnic tables and chairs and nice setups. It's owned by an elderly couple who want to keep it like the old days and a good community place.
picnic tables! 😂😂 haven't seen that
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TrufflePigA drive-in theater! We used to have those up here, but they're few and far between, these days. THey were always a bit of a hard sell, here, where winter can be brutal and last up to six months.
There was a movie theater about five blocks from where I lived in Eau Clair, WI, that would occasionally play old black and white movies. The admission was $1.50 so, if you didn't get anything to eat, it was very affordable. Popcorn and soda were high. That's probably how they made ends meet.
On the topic, we have this beautiful old movie theater downtown Rochester, MN. It was turned into a Barnes & Noble for awhile, then purchased by the city (with help from Mayo Clinic, of course). Now, it sits locked and empty, while the city looks for a way to profit from it. Any other city would have used it for the arts, but not Rochester. It's too bad, really. The walls are made to look like a castle, and the ceiling is painted a deep night-sky blue.
Ours almost went under but they won a contest which got them a new digital projector so they can show new movies. I think ours will close for the winter next month but will be back in April.
We use to have a two room movie theater. The theater is around 90 years old now and the building is neat and historic looking. Sadly the jump to movies being all digital killed it. They couldn't afford the transition. It sat empty for a while then was turned into a restaurant which tanked. Recently the city bought it and renovated it and now it has a stage for plays and such to perform. It seems hard for the old theaters to survive in any form these days which is sad. The brand new theater they built is fancy and you can order dinner foods to be delivered to you at your seat like a restaurant/theater. Its so expensive! I'd rather go to our old drive-in.
You should do a movie theater photo shoot. The castle one sounds pretty cool.
Alas, that amazing castle theater is closed and locked up tight while, in typical Rochester style, city governance tries to find a way to monetize it. The mayor isn't seeking reelection, so maybe that could change. I wish they weren't so greedy and would let the arts community use it for plays and such.
Rochester, MN is artistically stunted, because the city doesn't budget for the arts. In the rare times that they have, they tried to recoup costs from artists by charging exorbitant usage fees and such. Even tiny towns like Zumbrota and Plainview have more vibrant arts communities, because they value and invest in the arts.
But anyway, maybe things will change after we get some fresh faces in city government...
The dinner theater sounds like overkill! Most movie theaters make their profit off the food sales, but really...
That's a shame. I'm glad our local gov finally bought our old movie theater. It sat empty for a long time and the roof was ancient. The cafe owners couldn't afford the upkeep. Thankfully the city realized it was a historic site and bought it. I hope your castle sees glory days again.
We are thinking about sharing Smokey and the Bandit with the kiddos too. I don’t remember any inappropriate scenes.
But he is a legend I want to share, we have been loosing a lot as of late too 😔💔
Also we don’t have a drive-in here in Alaska. Not a single one that I know of. I had one when I was a little kid in Idaho. I miss the experience and sharing that with my kids