Call me Mr. Tibbs (Drive-In)

Sometime last week, I bought a bunch of drive-in intermission films on DVD-R. Why? Because I'm a crazy bastard who actually wants to watch 12 hours of crude animation and unappetizing food. Actually, it's another weird nostalgia trip for me as we used to hit the drive-in growing up. I think the most recent film I remember seeing with the family at the drive-in was Ghostbusters II. But, I remember seeing other stuff like Stripes and Star Wars a little farther back than that.

Coincidentally, because I hadn't told her I bought these discs, my fiance suggested we take in a movie over the weekend and let's go to the drive-in. She'd never been. I don't think I've been since the mid-80s when there were actually several drive-ins still operating in Indianapolis. Today, the Tibbs is the only one left.

Tibbs is a four screen drive in showing first run movies. The admission is $9 and the snack bar prices are reasonable. I was a little disappointed they don't have the speaker boxes anymore, but I wasn't terrible surprised. The FM sound is a lot better than I remember drive-in FM radio sound being.

And that brings me to the fact that drive-ins are not for people who would get bent out of shape over not having 5.1 surround and THX optimized screens. Part of the charm of going to the drive-in is the throwback feel to the place.

Of course, the other part is seeing a movie in your car. I can't emphasize enough how sweet that is. I love movies but I hate going to them because I hate people. Plus, it's very difficult for me to not riff on movies. I've been doing it since I was a little kid; it was just something we did to amuse ourselves growing up.

Tibbs is also very appealing to the anti-corporate side of me. It's family owned. You do get bombarded with Scion and cellphone ads in between shows, but the amazing thing is, the films actually start when they are listed as starting. No fifteen minutes of prevues and commercials before the show. Yes, there is the standard ten minute intermission I mentioned above, but that's part of the drive-in experience.

I only wish they had more of the old intermission films showing. :)

So, that's the deal. You can see two films in your car for $9 and the money is going to actual people, not a faceless corporation. You can't beat that, really.

Here's an old InTake article about the drive-ins close by... http://www.intakeweekly.com/articles/1/020854-5421-141.html

BTW, we saw Ricky Bobby. Kristen liked it. I felt it leaned too heavily on very cliche French and gay humor. There were a few scenes worth watching. I think we took in five minutes of Little Man, or whatever the current Wayans brothers travesty is called before deciding to call it a night.