Before the pandemic, I went out to see movies pretty frequently. I didn’t go to regular movie theaters that often, but I would go to screenings through my union or the SAG-AFTRA Film Society on a regular basis. I saw more movies than I think I ever had in my lifetime. I still got plenty of screeners for the SAG Awards that I watched at home, but I loved going out to a movie and seeing something on the big screen.
Of course, when the pandemic hit, that all changed. I don’t know exactly how long movie theaters were closed, but it was quite a while. And more movies were being released through streaming services so I didn’t have to go out to see movies. There were a lot of movies that also delayed their release so they wouldn’t be coming out while things were still really bad. I know things still aren’t great, but when comparing now to how things were in June 2020 it is better.
So I just haven’t been going out to see movies. There have been a few released in theaters that I would have liked to have seen, but most of them I was able to watch at home. And I didn’t feel like I was missing out on too much by not seeing them at a theater. But as this summer has been starting, there are more and more movies that I feel should be seen in a theater and I knew it was time to finally go to a movie again.
I’ve done a few things that are indoors with quite a few people, like going to the musicals, so I knew that since I had felt comfortable enough there that I would be fine going to a movie. So once I kept hearing from everyone that “Top Gun Maverick” was so good and needed to be seen on the big screen, I knew that would be the perfect movie to be my return to theaters.
I was talking to some friends about going to see it, and 2 of my workout friends said they’d like to go so the three of us made a plan to go this past weekend. I wasn’t too picky about what theater we went to, especially since I don’t go to regular theaters that often. So when one friend said they wanted to go to the AMC in the Marina, I was ok with that. It turned out that it was a dine-in theater that had nice recliner seats.
An added bonus of this theater was that since it had these recliner seats, there weren’t as many seats in the theater and they were spread out quite a bit. I was not close to other people seated near me. Except for my friends, the closest people were a few feet away from me. That helped me feel more comfortable, especially since masks weren’t required in the movie theater as they are when I go to the musicals. Also, recliner seats are obviously more comfortable than regular seats, so it was nice to be relaxed and able to stretch out since I’ve gotten used to watching movies on my couch.
And this was really the perfect movie to see on the big screen! I had seen the original “Top Gun” a ton of times, but it had been a while since I had watched it. So I decided to watch it the day before we went to see the movie. I would recommend doing that because there are so many callbacks to the original movie that I know I would have missed if I hadn’t seen it so recently. But even my friends who weren’t that familiar with the original enjoyed this movie. It was really a classic summer blockbuster movie and that’s something that hasn’t been happening recently.
I’ve said this a lot in the past 2 years, but the pandemic has made me look at the things I have been enjoying in my life and there are a lot of things that I have gained a new appreciation for. And going to the movies is something that I know I didn’t appreciate as much as I should have. It was such a routine and regular part of my life and didn’t feel special. But now I know much much I missed being able to see a movie on a big screen with other people around me. There’s no comparison.
This was also the first movie back for my friends as well, and I think we all felt so happy after the movie was done and we agreed that we need to plan another movie outing to see something else soon. I can’t wait to see what else we end up seeing and how much fun I’ll have back at the movies again. And I know that I will continue to appreciate the fact that going to the movies is something I can do again and I won’t see it as routine anymore.
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