Go OUT To the Movies

 A BIG Screen
   We are fortunate to live one block away from an independent theatre - the Hyland Cinema. If you click on that link you can see what they have to offer and they will keep you informed via email. It was one of their messages that prompted this post, which is meant to encourage to go out to a movie, rather than stream one to your couch. Independent cinemas have had a difficult time since television was invented and the covid pandemic didn't help. 

For the Kids
   The message sent by the Hyland indicated that on the Saturday morning, they were going to provide cereal to the children who came to watch cartoons. 

For the Oldsters
   The Hyland has to try many things to continue to lure viewers and once you arrive you can donate a little extra to help pay for the new projection equipment required these days, or 'buy' one of their 400 seats and have a plaque with your name inscribed on it. On Mondays, older people can come for movies that are subtitled. 

   The Hyland tends to offer films not found at the major cinemas, which is a good thing since most of the movies shown in them appear to be made for very young customers. Here I will provide one link that will take you to five movie venues in London, where you can see what is available on the many screens. The Cineplex Odeon Westmount, for example has 8 cinemas with 3 VIP screens. See: London Showtimes. 
   By the way, if you have not gone out to a movie in a while, you may not know that the seats are now often very comfortable, with recliners and BarcaLoungers available to reserve. In some locations, wine is even served. If you prefer a solitary experience to a shared one because of the tendency of some in the audience to be talkative these days, the Hyland is still an option because during the previews it is announced that people are expected to be quiet and not use their phones. 

   

Drive-ins
  They still exist and the days are getting shorter so you don't have to wait, here in the north, until 10 for the feature to show up on the very big screen. Here are some options:

   The Mustang Drive-in is on Wilton Grove Road and is open seven days a week. 

The Oxford Drive-in is not far away, on Highway 2 on the way to Woodstock.

 You can go to The Boonies Drive-in Theatre in Tilbury and for an extra $10, camp overnight. They are open Thursday to Sunday, 

  If you are going to the cottage up Muskoka-way, you can go to The Muskoka Drive-in, which has two screens showing four movies each night.  According to this article, it opened in 1952 and is the longest continually operating drive-in in Canada. "Looking for a Unique Drive-in Movie Theatre Experience? Here are 15 Things to Know About the Muskoka Drive-in," Brent Cooper, Gravenhurst Banner, Aug. 14, 2025. 

The Bonus:

   There was recently a fine photo essay about drive-ins in The New York Times. I won't provide the photos, but here is some of the information from: "The Enduring Appeal of the American Drive-in: Has Anyting Really Changed at Drive-in Theatres Across the Country?" Janie Osborne, May 22, 1925.

   "It doesn’t take long to see that no two drive-ins are alike. The American Dream features original 1950s speakers, a vintage auto night and cheese fries. The Motor Vu touts an enormous movie screen (approximately 6,400 square feet), an expansive parking lot (470 spaces) and a packed community night with a bouncy house for kids. The Silver Bow has beautiful mountain views, twin screens and a longstanding place in the community (it opened in 1977).

   One commonality, it seems: Every drive-in claims to have the best popcorn. And all three of the theaters I visited are family owned and operated.

HISTORY

   Richard Hollingshead opened the first drive-in theater in New Jersey in 1933. By some accounts, he was inspired by an effort to accommodate his mother, who was uncomfortable in traditional theater seats. The invention — he patented the idea — gained popularity with the introduction of in-car speakers, and by the 1950s and ’60s there were more than 4,000 drive-ins throughout America.

   Today that number has dwindled to around 285 theaters, according to the United Drive-In Theatre Owners Association."
                       Go out to a movie and help save a theatre.

Beyond the Palewall (9)

 

 This is another in a series about news items of which you should be aware. For those who prefer a table of contents: 1) The first story is about yet another Canadian apology and we may soon have offered one to every group that has been offended. I don't think the apologies are being done alphabetically, since the last one was to the Italians. For more about that, see my post "Apologizing Again", where you will learn there is even a book about such a subject: A Guilted Age: Apologies for the Past. If you feel traumatized by long ago events or feel guilty about something that happened in the last century, you should have a look. 2) This one is about children now allowed outside in Toronto. I have also dealt with this issue in an insightful piece about "Children and Risk." 3) This one will be useful since you probably don't have a local newspaper to read and 4) A very interesting piece about the shootings occurring outside of theatres in Canada where people supposedly don't have guns. Even more interesting are the comments posted by readers of the articles, who apparently are not thrilled with the current government or sold on the virtues or multiculturalism. 

1) Apology Parity

“B.C. To Apologize For Historical Treatment of Doukhobor Sect,” Mike Hager, Globe and Mail, Jan. 31, 2024.

Back in the middle of the last century about 200 children were seized “ from their parents in southeastern British Columbia and sent to the New Denver residential school by the province after their sect, known as the Sons of Freedom, refused to send them to public school. The tiny group had broken away from Canada’s Doukhobor population, a religious group that settled in the region and Saskatchewan after they were banished from Russia in the late 19th century for their pacifist views, rejection of the Orthodox Church and refusal to participate in the military.”

They will now be getting an apology:

“B.C. Attorney-General Niki Sharma’s office confirmed a public apology to the survivors, who may number about 75, and their families will be made Thursday in Castlegar. A corresponding proposal for financial reparations is expected by the descendants of the Sons of Freedom community.”

B.C. Ombudsperson, Jay Chalke, says the  "government’s apology needs to be “unconditional, clear and public.”

He said he has also communicated to the Attorney-General that the wider community needs to be compensated, as well as the individuals who were sent to the New Denver residential school and their progeny.

“Clearly there has been intergenerational trauma from the events that happened in the 1950s and I don’t think government should be seen to have the amount of compensation they pay reduced through their own delay,” he said in a phone interview.”

2) Children Allowed to Play Again: The Return of PLUCK
 [There will be no image of children playing since it might be too disturbing for some.]

                      Playing Even Sanctioned by The Toronto Star

   “'We Aren't Talking About Sending Them Into Busy Streets or Near Rough Water.' Canadian Paediatric Society Recommends Risky Play for Kids, Toronto Star, Jan. 25, 2024

"Unstructured outdoor play, in particular risky play, is essential for the physical, mental and social development of children, according to new recommendations from the Canadian Paediatric Society."

"We have to reframe how we view risk and understand that risk is a part of life and it's a part of our children's lives," said Dr. Suzanne Beno, a paediatric emergency medicine physician at SickKids, chair of the injury prevention committee of the

CPS, and author of the guidance document released Thursday.”

The new recommendations say children should be kept "as safe as necessary, not as safe as possible," and land on the heels of a tussle in Toronto over whether the city should be closing tobogganing hills that have served neighbourhoods for generations....

The city has closed 45 hills this year, due to concerns about hazards including trees, wading pools, stairs and benches. It maintains a list of toboggan runs it considers safe.

Risky play helps build physical and mental health and resilience among children and youth and can help prevent or manage conditions like obesity, anxiety and behavioural issues, according to the CPS."

For the actual CPS report see:  "Healthy Childhood Development Through Outdoor Risky Play: Navigating the Balance with Injury Prevention.”

                   Playing No Longer Condemned by the CBC

   The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation imprimatur guarantees that a reasonable bit of playing should be allowed while wearing helmets.

   "Pop the Bubble Wrap and let Kids Play Outdoors, Pediatricians Say:

Pediatricians Encourage Parents to Allow Children to Take Risks, Even if it Leads to Minor Cuts, Bruises," Amina Zafar · CBC News · Posted: Jan 25, 2024

"The group said opportunities for risky play fell over recent decades as unscheduled free play outside gave way to planned activities. Now, kids spend more time indoors, often on screens.

The 2022 Participaction report card gave Canadian children a grade of D overall for physical activity and a D– for active play.

"It's the move away from helicopter parenting, from over-parenting, over-scheduling and the recognition that it's probably healthy and good for kids to be kids and to be allowed to experience developmentally and age-appropriate challenges."

3) News Deserts - Oases Shrinking

   Weekly a writer for The Atlantic sends out a newsletter, “Up for Debate.” In a recent one he asked his readers to respond to this question: “What is the state of local journalism where you live, and how does it affect your community?” There were many replies, all lamenting the loss of local reporting. Here is one from close-by Pennsylvania and, with a change of newspaper names, it could probably have come from any province in Canada.

"There are four newspapers covering a county of about 150,000 people. On paper, we’re not a news desert by a long shot. But the reality is we’re a de facto news desert because our newspapers are zombies. Three of the four newspapers are owned by Gannett, which, according to the online staff directories of the Chambersburg Public Opinion, Greencastle Echo Pilot, and Waynesboro Record Herald, employs exactly two journalists across all three newsrooms, which sporadically cover local government. The Echo Pilot lists no staff at all. The fourth newspaper, the Mercersburg Journal, is print-only and owned by a local chain. It covers our borough council and other local events in our tiny town reasonably well, and local officials tend to be extremely aware that what they say and do could end up in the paper the following Wednesday. For me, that’s evidence that traditional dead-tree news remains essential, though I wonder how sustainable it is.”

  This is a very important subject. For more about it see:

In Canada: Local News Research Project.

For the United States:

Northwestern University: The State of Local News Project.

University of North Carolina: Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media. 

4) Shoot-Out at the Cineplex Corral

  "Cineplex Pulls South Indian Film Following Drive-by Shootings at GTA Movie Theatres," Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press, Jan.30, 2024
TORONTO - Cineplex has cancelled screenings of a South Indian film following four drive-by shootings at theatres throughout the Greater Toronto Area the day it premiered.
       Coming Soon To A Cinema Near You
   "Cineplex Pulls South Indian film Screenings After Incidents of Threats, Intimidation and Talk of Turf War," Joe Castaldo, Globe and Mail, Jan.31, 2024.
   "Movie exhibitors including Cineplex Inc. CGX-T -1.70% have pulled screenings of a South Indian-language film across Canada after individuals opened fire at four cinemas in the Greater Toronto Area last week, the latest incidents of intimidation related to Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam blockbusters.
   Videos obtained by The Globe and Mail show a person in a hoodie shooting a gun multiple times through the passenger window of a vehicle at the entrances of Cineplex locations in Scarborough and Vaughan. In a separate video, the driver of the vehicle fires at a Cineplex in Brampton. York Cinemas, a theatre in Richmond Hill, Ont., was also hit by gunfire. The shootings shattered glass and left bullet holes in windows. According to York Regional Police, the incidents occurred in the early morning hours, when the theatres were closed….
   Film distributors have contended that a turf war is being waged and that a group of individuals is trying to control the lucrative market for South Indian-language films in Canada, using vandalism and intimidation to pressure theatres and distributors to drop certain titles and ensure the films run in favoured cinemas.
   In recent years, Telugu and Malayalam movies have been affected, too. The Globe has found more than 20 incidents at Cineplex locations, independent theatres and other chains such as Landmark Cinemas across Southern Ontario, Ottawa, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton and Surrey, B.C.
  In December, noxious substances were sprayed inside three GTA Cineplex theatres, forcing audience members to evacuate.
The illustration above is the poster for the currently contentious film, Malaikottai Vaaliban. As far as I can determine, it is not necessarily the film that is problematic, but rather the issue of who gets to decide which South Asian films should be shown. 

WARNING

 

YOU WERE WARNED!

  I was riled a while back when I surfed past Turner Classic Movies and was presented with a WARNING about the upcoming showing of Gone With the Wind. The good news is, I suppose, that the movie was still being aired. Apparently HBO stopped showing it until a proper Sensitivity Disclaimer was composed. 

   Similar warnings are now required for other movies, such as Breakfast at Tiffany's (!)  and My Fair Lady,(!) and Disney+ is putting them before all of episodes of The Muppet Show. Sensitive times indeed.  

Disclaimers For Dummies
  Some time has passed and I am less riled now, but I still think the profusion of such pronouncements is excessive and likely to be counterproductive. TCM is probably "Reframing" films, partly to protect itself from the newly sensitized who may start picketing. I like Ben Mankiewicz and generally enjoy the analysis and background he provides. I have also benefitted from the insights of film critics who explained what some complicated movies were all about. But, this new didacticism which re-educates us as to what is right or wrong or good or bad about a movie and needs to "contextualize" it for us and point out that attitudes about such things as race and gender and cowboys and Indians were different back in olden times, assumes that most movie viewers are cretinous. There have always been some warnings and, for example, the Motion Picture Association provided ones for guidance, but they were intended to suggest to potential viewers, whether a film was appropriate for children. 

  There are thousands of films and even entire genres of them that are now unacceptable to the new sensitivity scrutinizers. Propriety Pronouncements are probably being produced as I write so we will know what to think about a film. Perhaps instead, this simple, old generic one can be used and placed before every movie - "Viewer Discretion Advised." 

Sources:

  About the changes at TCM see, "Turner Classic Movies is Changing, and Trying to Stay the Same," David Itzkoff, New York Times, Sept, 1, 2021.

  The piece about the awful, hurtful Muppets is here: "Disney + Adds 'Negative Depictions' Disclaimer to Multiple Episodes of The Muppet Show", Rosy Cordero, Entertainment, Feb. 21, 2021.

Post Script:

  It didn't take long for the conservative folks and Fox News to make fun of all this as the images above indicate.

The Bonus: Someone just paid $25,000 for the book - Gone With the WInd - I hope they know about it. 

Movie Posters

 

Better Than The Oscars

   The Oscars are on tonight and it seems as though many people are not enthused and are more likely to watch reruns of Schitt’s Creek up here in Canada or Gunsmoke below the border. I offer another option - movie posters - which were always, mostly better than the movies. They are found in a research library, but you can view them from home.

   I have lamented the fact that many university libraries are getting out of the library business, but that is not true of The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas. Ever since the oil money started pouring into their budget, they have been accepting, collecting and buying just about anything of value, and many things that most Texans would agree are not valuable at all. Like old movie posters. 

   Although the Ransom Center has been digitizing words and images for many years, the movie poster project began in 2018 and there are 10,000 available, of which about half are now online and viewable and searchable. More are coming.

   To learn more and view them go to the Movie Posters Collection, where you will also see a link to the other Film Collections at Ransom. I told you they had a lot. For just one example in this genre, you can have a look at all of the material they have about and from the actor Peter O’Toole. 

The Bonus:
   The Harry Ransom Center probably has more Canadian material than any Canadian library. They have, for example, the papers of a chap who passed through London a few years back. Perhaps you have read one of his books or seen the movie, The English Patient. 
See: "Archive of Michael Ondaatje, Author of "The English Patient"", Acquired," Suzanne Krause, Ransom Center Magazine, Sept. 25, 2017.