That's Entertainment!

This evening we went to BYU for a terrific lecture and screening of Chapter One of the old serial, The Mysterious Doctor Satan, followed by a true cinema classic, Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard. What a great time. Rob and I discussed afterward cancelling our Netflix account, at least for the next few months, and taking advantage of the plentiful and diverse offerings at the university, all for free. American classics, new documentaries, all sorts of foreign films—there's more than enough going on to keep us busy. If we need a Harry Potter fix before the end of Winter semester, maybe we can hit up one of my lovely cousins. Oh, and did I mention that my cousin manages a Cinemark in the next valley up? If we get desperate to see something new, all we have to do is drive to his theater on a day he's working, and voila, it only costs us gas money.

I like the idea of going out for films and seeing them with an audience. We almost never do that now unless we catch one at the dollar theater. Going out for a show was still the only option when I was a young child—unless you got lucky and a movie you actually wanted to see was being aired on teevee. I remember with great fondness Saturday matinees in the summertime, the Northwoods Rocking Chair Theater, getting a black eye once when I was peeking between the doors waiting for the last showing to end and a guy coming out swung the door hard into my face, tossing Red Hots at people, welding my teeth together with Jolly Ranchers from the concessions stand, getting to go in for free because my dad did the newspaper ads for all the theaters in town. I like treating a movie like a special event. It's like James D'Arc said in his lecture this evening: A film is a cultural campfire where we come together to tell our stories. I believe that. I love that.

And I love BYU's wonderful cinematic venues. The only thing they're missing (according to Rob) is: popcorn. Check out their scheduled screenings if you're near enough to come and enjoy them.

Motion Picture Archives Film Series / Current and Upcoming Films

 Documentary Film Series

International Cinema