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.

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.