Last Picture Show

When I'm stuck in a city and feeling stressed, the movie theater is my escape. The refuge of a chilly theater with sticky floors from the assault of the melting asphalt heat of the concrete zoo on a hot summer day is instant relief for whatever weariness may have gotten hold of either my body or soul.

One of my favourite memories of India was momentary sanctuary from the heat, but also the crushing crowds and noise, in a darkened theater with my self appointed guardian Bablu and a Japanese girl traveling the world on a gap year. Bablu was the only one of us who understood the dialogue but the plot was formulaic enough it didn't really matter. Indian audiences are expressive in the way of Rocky Horror Picture Show fans. They don't wear costumes but they boo the villain and throw popcorn at the screen during scenes they don't like. If this is their second or third time seeing the movie they'll sing along to the musical numbers and they applaud wildly at the end if they liked the show. To be in the midst of this, I assure you, is worth the price of admission.

Temperatures on Wednesday reached 37 with the humidity and I stopped by the Green Tree Cafe to take a break from running errands.

"Can I help you?" asked the petite middle aged lady behind the counter.
"Do you serve milkshakes?" I asked her hopefully.
She shook her head, "No."
My face fell and I made a quarter turn to go.
"Well, wait now," and, opening her freezer, she asked, "what kind would you like? I have vanilla ice cream and frozen strawberries, raspberries or blueberries."

In five minutes I was sitting on a bench outside slurping on a homemade raspberry shake ($2.25 and it was the perfect size so I was able to finish it all) and eyeing the posters on the wall of the cinema next door. This is the same cinema where I saw my first movie, "The Lone Ranger" with my brother and Uncle G. when I was barely six. With a twinge of nostalgia I tried to remember the last time I'd seen a movie in a genuine theater, not a Cineplex and I realized it was "Rainman", in that same theater, over half my lifetime ago.

So I returned in the evening to see "Inception". The lobby had been renovated since my last visit but the theater itself still had the red velvet curtains and the front fifteen rows still had the small, hard backed seats with worn and faded red upholstery. The last fifteen rows, however, were armchair style leather seats. I got an aisle seat, my favourite, in the last row before the old seats began. I had enough room to put my messenger bag beside me and curl up with my feet on the seat with plenty of room left over for my popcorn. All of this for the price of $6 admission and $5 for a popcorn and drink.

Small town living is where it's at.Unless you have to live there.

("Inception", by the way, is brilliant. If you liked "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" or "Memento" I'd recommend you see it. A few times.)