Movies, oh boy!

Today is Monday, February 23, 2009. It is cloudy and cool. Supposed to rain today. I thought the sun was going to shine but not so.
I wrote about movies and then when I went to preview it, it disappeared. Can I rewrite it? Well, I want to try.
We were talking with some friends the other night about movies. It all started when I asked them if they were still going to a movie every Monday afternoon like when they first moved here. Their life has changed and so they don't do it any more. And as we talked we determined that it is getting pretty hard to find a decent movie every Monday.
Quite different from the "old" days. When Glen and I were first married 50 years ago, we went to the movies nearly every week. For part of our lives we went twice in a week, every change of show. We lived in a small town with only one theatre. The theatre was closed on Wednesday. One show started on Thursday and showed Friday and Saturday. The next show started on Sunday and showed Monday and Tuesday. Of course, we didn't go to the movies on Sunday. We always went to Church.
It cost a whole 50c to go to the movie. We'd go on Tuesday night and then again on Friday or Saturday. And every movie was good, clean, and decent. Oh, there were mysteries and such, but not bad language and other objectionable features. We'd take our two little children and enjoy the night at the show.
While we lived there we had two more children and we still kept taking them to the show. All of us love movies. But nowadays it is hard to find decent movies to go see. They all seem to have so much swearing and taking the Lord's name in vain. Or else they are full of bathroom talk. That's offensive, too. I heard someone say once that you wouldn't hold that stuff in your hands, why would you let it come out of your mouth. True, true!
Gone With The Wind was the first movie that used a cuss word and people were so shocked. The trend didn't take over, thank goodness, for a long time. I remember the cuss word that was used in Hello, Dolly. That shocked most everyone, too. But, sad to say, I think that started a trend. DARN!
And nowadays it seems that every movie has bad words and bad scenes. You don't dare recommend any movie to friends because of those offensive parts. One of my all time favorite movies is "Dave." But I can't recommend it to anyone. It has that one scene, one scene, mind you, that adds nothing to the story. In the "old" days the camera would have spanned the clothes strewn on the floor and everyone knows what was going on. But "no," the camera couldn't stop there and leave the rest to the imagination. The story is so great and the most of it is fine. Why, oh, why! Well, another one is Kindergarten Cop. Such a great story. Just one or two things that are offensive.
We search carefully the newspapers and other reviews before we decide to spend our hard earned money on a movie nowadays. Thank goodness there are some good ones but they are few and far between. Some weeks there is nothing showing in town but R rated movies. I don't think we could ever go to the movie even once a week without being offended by the language and the unnessary scenes.
We also talked about being able to walk into a movie and sit through the second showing or whatever part of it you wanted to see. "The Sting" was the first movie you had to see from the very beginning. The theatre wouldn't let anyone in after that show began. And now, if you go in late they chase you out of the theatre at the end. Never again can anyone sit through more than one showing, so, of course, you don't want to be late to start the show.
When my mother took me to Kansas City to see Gone With The Wind, I talked her into sitting through it three times. Can't do anything like that anymore.
I miss the newsreel and the cartoons, too. Of course, with TV I guess people get all the newsreel they could ever want. I don't know too many adults that sit and watch cartoons on TV. It would be fun to see the Road Runner or some of those cute cartoons we used to see in the "old" days.
I'm glad TV broadcasts some of the great shows we watched in the theatres when we were younger. I love all the beautiful costumes and the clear photography - be it western, murder mysteries, musicals, comedies, or whatever. The only problem is I miss the big screen and the atmosphere of going to the movie theatre.
Thank goodness there are some good movies these days but they are too far and few between. I sometimes wonder why they can't make movies that are unoffensive . With all the fantastic equipment and "stuff" we have, good movies could be so plentiful. Don't the movie makers know they have lost a huge audience? I sure wish they'd make more decent shows for those of us who love movies.