and so, recently (as opposed to some date in the future), i, along with the 75% of my family you all like a good deal more than you like me, look you see, were at the cinema. this was something of an unexpected trip to such a facility, and it was to see a film which had a quite unanticipated re-release in the year that is the year 2020, despite it being something of a 40th anniversary.
the film in question (although question sounds harsh), to remove any elements of speculation of cliffhanger sort of shenanigans, was one of them Star Wars ones, specifically The Empire Strikes Back. ostensibly this was the second to be released, but due to the volume of films which have been released since which strive to play dice with any normal sense of sequence, i am reluctant to call it something like "the second Star Wars film" as that will upset someone somewhere. maybe.
i would suggest, even if just speculatively so, that the reason (or reasons) for something like The Empire Strikes Back being, well, back at the cinema are rather well known. but, for the sake of completeness, the decision to re-release it, and several other movies from the past (rather than the future) comes as a consequence of this new plague business. cinemas, ostensibly being places where reasonably large groups of people meet, were adversely affected by all this "lockdown" business, in that they were closed.
now, as we slightly emerge from the invisible war, they are open. the big movie studios are, however, reluctant to throw any new motion pictures at cinemas, for genuine and justified fears that anticipated new films (Black Widow, the new James Bond and the Top Gun sequel, for example) will both attract larger crowds that are advised to be in place, and will become unfair financial losses as they simply cannot be exhibited to the size of audience for which they were intended.
so, to test out how audiences would react to, or be accepting of, returning to cinemas, and indeed to assist in enabling the economy to be "kickstarted", they, the cinema chains and the movie making industry, has elected to re-release (in some instances re-re-re-release) certain classics. films that would enable such tests and checks, being films that it is believed audiences would wish to see.
whereas i am of an age where i am most happy to wait for a film to come out on video, or disc, or be shown on the tele, James is not. neither is William, for that matter. and my (considerably) better half also really rather likes going. to this end, what with schools remaining (mostly) closed, the three of them have been off to spend an afternoon and most of an evening watching the so-called Dark Knight Trilogy at the cinema, as well as the original Jurassic Shed. mostly for matters of being at verk and the times i have been unable to go. but, also, with respect to Jurassic Shed, i went to the cinema some four or five times to see that one, and have bought all the tapes and discs since. they have extracted all the coins they are going to from me for that one.
for The Empire Strikes Back, though, James (and partially William) (but not my (considerably) better half to any extent) was most insistent that i come and watch it, that it should be as a family we attend a cinema to see a Star Wars movie. after some pretty persistent asking, at the last hour rather than the last minute, off we went to do this one afternoon on one weekend whilst it was on.
in regards of the fiscal elements of going to the cinema, quite reasonable and mostly agreeable. the tickets cost, whether you be child, adult or someone of adult age who has yet to grow up, are £5 each, which is a substantial discount. no, things like drinks and snacks have not been discounted in any form, and the basics for eating and drinking something modest as we watched the film cost roughly twice the amount paid for the tickets. yes, then, some things in the "new normal" feel very normal.
a big concern for most, understandably and obviously, shall be the safety of going to the cinema. no one, that i am aware of, after all, wishes to catch this rather nasty new plague. it may well be so that most are now bored of the war and assume all is well, but this is not so, and all this coronavirus, or variation of of covid, still seems to roam our land. no matter how good a film is (or was), it would be unlikely that it would be worth being made ill as a consequence of seeing it.
despite professing to be of no expertise or to have any great knowledge, from what i can see the measures in place are just fine. meticulous cleaning of surfaces goes on, some sort of unobtrusive disinfectant spray blesses the cinema, everyone gets ample support and facilities to maintain, or practice, all requisite social distancing measures. people in the cinema auditoriums are sat in what they call pockets, with plenty of space separating different patrons.
though i had no real qualms about going anywhere as the invisible war rages on against the exciting new plague, it was all the same reassuring to know that every practical safety measure (bar leaving the cinemas closed) was taken, or put in place. should for some reason you be here looking for an opinion on if it is safe to go, well, somewhere quite north of a week (or two) since we went, none of us appear to have any symptoms of the wretched infection.
how was the film itself? well, with The Empire Strikes Back being, to date, the only Star Wars film to feature all three of the characters widely considered to be the greatest, best and most important - Lobot, Lando Calrissian and Boba Fett - it was a good choice to show again, and fantastic to watch. but, also, it was "quick". familiarity with the film from the last 40 years, watching it at the cinema at the time (in Leicester Square, no less, with Mum, Dad, Richard and Gillian) of original release, and of course again and again on the tele, on video (both VHS and Beta) and on discs, it is one of those films i could close my eyes and watch from memory.
what came to mind was what Mum told me of the time she and Gillian went to see Tommy as a stage, or if you like musical, production, i believe with Kim Wilde in the pivotal Mother role. yes, i was indeed "jealous" of not being able to see it myself. anyway, she said it was absolutely brilliant, but a problem was that when you are really, really familiar with Tommy, both from the album and the Ken Russel film, it felt like the experience flew by in the blink of an eye, for you knew the story entire.
so, a splendid afternoon out, with my beloved family, watching one of the all time greatest films of all time which was a great film. life tends not to get too much better all that often.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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