You think "theatre" and "cinema" is bad, wait until you get to "film", "movie" or "picture".
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Originally posted by Amor de Cosmos View PostDid anywhere besides the US and Canada have drive-ins? They seem very culturally specific to time and place (the remaining one in this area has some kind of provincial heritage designation.)
But in the past years, two new drive-ins were set up. One closed after a couple of years, and the other operates on weekends only. There are also outdoor screening venues, which are quite popular.
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There was one here, but it went bust about 20 years ago. I always wanted to go there, but I didn't have any friends with a car, and two hours in a stationary taxi would have been a bit too expensive.
I suppose i could have done the equivalent of thumbing a lift at the entrance, but I doubt whether there'd have been any takers.
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It looks like we do still have one drive-in here in San Diego even after the Santee one shut. It's way in the south, almost at the border. It's been in operation since 1958 so will qualify as continuously operational. Currently $10 for adults, $1 for under 10s.
There are also a bunch of places that set up ad hoc open air screenings during the summer, using portable inflatable screens. The inflatable nature of the screens means it's not "big screen", but is enough to watch some stuff. The most fun was the time we got to watch Top Gun on the deck of an aircraft carrier. But even San Diego doesn't really have reliably warm enough evenings to guarantee sitting outside without moving in the dark will not leave you shivering and wishing you'd brought a load of blankets with you. And it certainly isn't quiet enough. If you get annoyed by the rumblings of the superhero movie in the theatre next door, imagine how you feel when vital dialogue is swallowed by a plane landing or a police siren.
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There is an assassination attempt on a high profile but controversial tycoon/academic. Rather than appreciating that the police are attempting to keep them alive, the tycoon/academic is irritable and impatient with their questioning and desperate to get on with their tycooning/academia//self-promotion.
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Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
My cliche for today is suddenly leaving the house without checking three times that you have keys, wallet and phone.
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I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but it's been driving me crazy a lot recently.
I also appreciate that it's not a "cliche" so much as an incredibly lazy plot device, used in every style of films from spy thrillers to romantic comedies to political dramas to heist movies:
Parking. Someone is driving in New York, or London, or Prague, or anywhere. They scoot up outside the building they need to go in, even a major bank in a skyscraper or government building, and park right in front - there is an empty spot just waiting for them. They don't pay, they don't look at the signs to see if they're allowed to park, but even though parking is free the absolutely prime spots are always available. They can rock up in front of a restaurant in LA and there are spots in front. Nobody ever tickets or tows them. They come out and jump back in the car and go on their way. This even happens in cities our protagonists have never been in before, where we'd be freaking out about all kinds of traffic rules, like if we happened to be driving in Moscow or Shanghai. Not only that, if this is a thriller-y spy-y kind of film, if our protagonist is chasing or following someone you know their car will be parked exactly where the follow-ee is headed in his own vehicle - we won't have to follow a one way system around 4 blocks of stopped traffic just to get to the starting point by which time our followee is long since vanished.
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A character will be seen for the first time walking purposefully along a street, perhaps from home to work, or to the shops. We know this is a good person because as s/he walks there are cheery greetings from everyone they pass, with name ("Morning Abby!", "Looking good, Abby!"). The greeters are sweeping, or shifting things, or setting up for the day. Our hero(ine) does not stop to have a conversation, or to inquire politely about the health of the people who have greeted them so warmly, they might wave or greet but are on the move and the walking must continue, at pace.
Often shown during the opening credits, hence lack of dialogue.
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