The Return of the Drive-in Movie Theatre??

[nycguydowntown]

theres one near me in the country---a cool 1960's style one --literally been there since the 1960's--its about 15 min drive and the word is it will be real popular this summer---more than usual...my sister is happy as she takes her kids there every summer---was a time when it almost closed as people like to be inside with big seats and in your face sound.

0'

 

[Vannie]

I remember going to one in California that was close to cows grazing. You can hear the moos during the movie

Love them and I hope they make a comeback. NJ has only one left in Vineland, New Jersey

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[Alistair]

^ the one I go to sits along a major freight train route. You have one going thru every 15 minutes or so. You have to keep the windows rolled up the whole movie.

 

[nycguydowntown]

theres one in Hyde Park NY across from the FDR Presidential museum ---used to be farm land but everything used to be farm land around here

 

[flamingo]

In Cumberland County, PA, I live within 25 miles of 2 drive-in theatres that have been operating since 1952. I hope they do a booming business when they are allowed to open. I'm betting that they will.

 

[me203]

No idea if the idea is viable. It might be more viable now with COVID-19 than it was. But then people are so used to regular theaters with surround sound. Regular theaters could theoretically do assigned seating at the time of ticket sales to have social distancing when things start opening up again, but there are still worries about COVID-19.

The one thing I can say: it's not likely I'd go to a drive-in movie theater. I'm so cheap that I never go and see a movie in its natural habitat, the movie theater. I wait until I can get it for free at the library on DVD.

 

[jjonn3]

Won't happen - land is way to expensive - you can only get 1 showing in a day - and when people have a 70 inch screen in their living room drive ins are only good for the quirky entertainment factor

 

[Kahaih]

Won't happen - land is way to expensive - you can only get 1 showing in a day - and when people have a 70 inch screen in their living room drive ins are only good for the quirky entertainment factor

Wouldn't that line of thinking apply, also, to sports stadiums?

Only imagining that other people are enjoying these things with you, as you sit alone in front of your TV, doesn't really seem to cut it for a lot of people, does it?

There seems to be a lot of people who are missing social interaction/inclusion.

 

[LeicsDom]

Only imagining that other people are enjoying these things with you, as you sit alone in front of your TV, doesn't really seem to cut it for a lot of people, does it?

It is other people that stops me going to the cinema

 

[jjonn3]

Wouldn't that line of thinking apply, also, to sports stadiums?

Not at all. Look at how many stadium seats they can fit where one car would park and the average price of a ticket. Plus a stadium can do day or night games and if covered can operate year round.

 

[Kahaih]

Not at all. Look at how many stadium seats they can fit where one car would park and the average price of a ticket. Plus a stadium can do day or night games and if covered can operate year round.

In our current situation, they can't operate at all.

Neither can indoor cinemas or concert halls.

And it's right now that I'm most concerned about. People are already getting restless, and we have no idea how long social distancing will need to be imposed.


And since cinemas and a lot of other places/businesses are currently closed and losing money, there is a lot of space/land available and a lot people who want/need to be making money.

 

[Rubber Rat]

Growing up in the early 1970s, there were a number of drive-ins in my hometown. Now, there are two within about 45 minutes from me.

 

[belamyi]

As much as the 3D theater experience, the drive-in suburban megamall or American big retail.

 

[Latimer]

I have a friend who went to one over the weekend with his wife. Two hours away.;

 

[belamyi]

I have a friend who went to one over the weekend with his wife. Two hours away.;

That's for the "The Trailing of the Drive-in Movie Theatre" thread, two corridors to the left.

 

[frankfrank]

^ so far they've been deemed non-essential but are waiting for the state government to allow them to open. They usually open first weekend in April.

When spring has sprung
And the grass has riz,
This is where the movies iz.

I remember going to one in California that was close to cows grazing. You can hear the moos during the movie

That must have been a really good moooo-vie.

 

[DepravedMuscleFTL]

it should be noted that drive in theatres are no longer a venue where you hang some static ridden speaker to your window - the sound is pumped in through your own stereo - so depending on your set up the sound quality could be very very good....

 

[Vannie]

That must have been a really good moooo-vie.

………...

 

[NotHardUp1]

Won't happen - land is way to expensive - you can only get 1 showing in a day - and when people have a 70 inch screen in their living room drive ins are only good for the quirky entertainment factor

That's not true everywhere. Suburbia has plenty of rural land where a plot that is not in demand for building or farming would gladly lease it out for decades to be rid of maintenance cares.

In cities, there are places where a community can spread a scrim in a park or on the side of a building and enjoy the feature. It happens today, usually for kids movies.

And drive-ins never showed only one movie per day. There was one showing at dark and another (sometimes double-feature) after.

Night owls are not a recent development -- my grandmother's diary commented in 1938 that they got out of the indoor movie at midnight and stopped at a bakery and bought a fresh loaf of bread, eating it on the drive home. This was in rural Louisiana.

And a lot of folks at the drive-in weren't watching the movie anyways.

There seems to be a lot of people who are missing social interaction/inclusion.

Cinemas are usually popular with adults in spite of the others present. There is no interaction with others like there often is in a museum, a restaurant, or bar. It's only kids, specifically tweens and teens, who go to cinemas to interact with peerage.

Adults go for the large screen and overpowered subwoofers, in being able to be lost in the illusion, unlike at home where a 70 inch screen is still surrounded by phones ringing, pets marauding, kids interrupting, and the ice-maker dumping.

Making a movie an event is what cinema is about. It venerates the form. Watching a superhero movie, or a panorama like Out of Africa is just a different experience when staring into the huge screen, jarred by the sound, and accompanied by $14 popcorn.

 

[Kahaih]

/\ Various degrees of intimacy, interaction, inclusion, and all . . .

It was Ricky and Lucy who started that 'filmed before a live audience', wasn't it?

A concept designed to make people feel as though they are enjoying the program with, or at least the same as, others. A concept still used and quite popular today.


Similar to dining out. Seems like a lot of people prefer going to a full restaurant where they can see others enjoying themselves even if there is no other interaction with the other customers.