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.

Racing Across America

   On-Demand Films (in theatres)

   Before I get to the interesting part about racing across America (more specifically the portion occupied by the United States), here is a brief introductory aside which is also interesting.
   In the city of London we have a fair number of cinemas and a much larger number of screens, most of which are showing the same movie for kids. Right now we are fortunate that the few remaining ones are playing Cats or Frozen II.
   One theatre that is not like the others is The Hyland which is located about a block from our house. It shows foreign films (I guess most films in Canada are ‘foreign’) and even movies for adults (but, not Adult Movies, let me be clear). They on occasion also have films that  appeal to hardly anyone, but which have been requested by small audiences which, in the aggregate, become large ones.
    The concept is a new one and it needs a better descriptor then 'On-Demand'. It has been described as “like an ‘Airbnb for cinemas", but that doesn’t help much either.  'Event Cinema’ is another term that is sometimes used (I will provide sources below). Basically if you and your small group of philatelist buddies find a good documentary about stamp collectors you can request to have it shown. A  company (an Australian one) will take care of the rest; the theatre will host it and if enough people show an interest, all you have to do is buy some popcorn and enjoy the movie. Right now, for example, How To Bee (about a beekeeper) is being offered and you can request Scotch: A Golden Dream. You can also request the documentary, The Rise of Jordan Peterson, but I suggest you don’t since there are many who think his ideas should not be displayed  and there have been boycotts. I have seen two such films. One was Dawn Wall (about climbing) and the other was Four by 3000: A Journey Through the Toughest Bike Race in the World which is about racing across America on bikes.

Racing Across American On Bicycles

   The film Four by 3000 is what led to this post. It is a documentary about a relay team of four men who cycled non-stop from a pier in Oceanside, California to a dock in Annapolis, Maryland. They were participating in the Race Across America (RAAM) which has been held since 1982. There are solo participants as well as relay teams of 2, 4 or 8 people. Unlike the Tour de France, RAAM is a one stage race. That is, the button on a timer is pushed at the start on the shore of the Pacific and again only when one reaches the shore of the Chesapeake. Although cycling long uphill or flat stretches can be tedious for both the cyclist and the spectator, Four by 3000 is quite good. You can learn more about the film and see a trailer for it by consulting some of the sources provided. 

   How long does it take to cycle across the country? 

   The record times vary depending upon such things as the weather encountered and the route taken. A single man has completed the race in seven days and an eight man team did so in just over five. Here are some statistics:

Solo Man - 7:15: 56 - Average Speed 16.42 (mph) (26.43 km/h) for 3020 miles (4860.2 km/h)

Solo Woman 9:04: 02 - Average Speed 13.23 covering 2912 miles.

2-Person 6:10:08

4-Person 5:08:17

8-Person 5:03:43

RAAM begins again on June 16.

Racing Across America By Car

HOW QUICKLY CAN ONE DRIVE ACROSS THE COUNTRY? 

   The answer is provided above from the screen of the Garmin device which recorded the event. The car left a garage in Manhattan and arrived at a hotel in Redondo Beach 27 hours and 25 minutes later. 2825 miles were travelled (4546k) at an average speed of 103(mph) (165kph) and the top speed reached was 193mph or about 310 kph. During that time the car was stopped for only 22 minutes.

  Such an event was done illegally, of course, and clandestinely as it alway is. The car is typically modified to look like a very plain one. For this event:

"The car was further modified inside and out, including cutting out part of the back seat to make room for a cooler and supplies. An added fuel cell helped load the car with more than 60 total gallons of gasoline.

The team also deployed a laser defuser, which alerts the driver when police use laser guns to register speed. The device scrambles the laser for a couple seconds, which is long enough to slow down, Toman said. A brake light kill switch also helped the team avoid signalling police that they were braking.

Other devices included a radar detector, police scanner, CB radio, several GPS devices and an old-fashioned kitchen timer. That helped cut down on the math of time-zone changes, Toman noted. A hunting scope mounted on the roof helped detect roadside deer and parse heat signatures of police in speed traps.

Their secret weapon, though, were spotters along for the journey in other cars and in the back seat. Chadwick, a college student armed with gyro-stabilized binoculars, was tapped to look for police cars ahead or going the other way."

   I do not wish to be seen as promoting such an activity and now will simply direct you to sources where you can learn more. 

Sources:

  For On-Demand films see:

The Canadian website is here

For the Canadian introduction see: "Demand Film Launches in Canada," Jordan Pinto, Playback, Aug. 28, 2017.

“The company’s goal is to set up one-night cinema screenings for feature films (typically documentaries) on evenings when theatre attendance is low (usually Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday). Since it was founded four years ago, the company has expanded to the U.S, U.K., Ireland, Singapore and Germany and has now launched in all the provinces across Canada. 

Demand.Film’s model is designed to give filmmakers and producers a way of getting projects that appeal to niche audiences into cinemas. In order for a screening to take place, a person must first request a film (from Demand.Film’s catalogue of titles) to be screened in their own market. Once tickets go on sale, the number of tickets sold must reach a certain threshold for a screening to go ahead. In Canada, 50 tickets is the threshold in order to make a one-off screening profitable. If less than 50 tickets are sold for a particular theatre, the screening does not go ahead and ticket-buyers aren’t charged. If a screening is locked in, Demand.Film typically confirms four or five weeks in advance."

  For the Australian background: "Perth Cinema On-Demand Startup Demand.Film Thinks Global With Launch Into North America", Angele Castles, SmartCompany, June 19, 2017. The name of the company originally was Leap Frog Films and was changed to Demand.Films.

For information about Four by 3000 the kickstarter website where they sought funding. 

For the Race Across America see the Wikipedia entry and the RAAM website. 

There is even a tougher cycling race for those who compete alone and without support. See the Wikipedia entry for The Trans Am Bike Race  or the official website. 

For the illegal 'Cannonball' Event see these two recent articles and the very good and long account on Arne's Antics. With good photos. 

"These Guys Finished a Record Cannonball Run From New York to L.A. Averaging 103 MPH: Here's How," Alex Horton, Washington Post, Dec. 6, 2019.

"These Guys Just Drove an E63 AMG Across America in a Record 27 Hours and 25 Minutes: The Cannonball Record Has Been Broken Again," Benjamin Preston, Road & Track, Dec.3, 2019

"My Journey to the Fastest Drive in History,"by Arne's Antics, Dec. 3, 2019.