Living Outside The Lines: Let’s Go To The Movies!

December 1895 the first commercial movie screening took place. Not long afterwards, in 1896 what is believed to be the first U.S. theater devoted to showing movies, opened in New Orleans.

Becky J Miller | Exclusive to Corridor News

In the span of about twenty years, from 1895 to 1914, the world of entertainment went from virtually nonexistent to Charlie Chaplin’s big-screen debut. December 1895 the first commercial movie screening took place. Not long afterwards, in 1896 what is believed to be the first U.S. theater devoted to showing movies, opened in New Orleans. By 1909 the New York Times was publishing movie reviews, and not wanting to be left out of the fun, in 1911 Hollywood opened its first film studio.

Movies were “silent” or without synchronized sound until 1927 when “The Jazz Singer”, the first “talkie” was produced. While there may not have been sound to match the picture, theaters provided pianists, organist and sometimes even full orchestras to accompany the narrative.

The industry has grown from 1925’s The Unholy Three which grossed a mere $704,000 to 2017’s Star Wars Episode VIII, the Last Jedi grossing $517,218,368! The average American spends about $2827 annually on entertainment i.e., movies. Let’s face it; most of us enjoy a few hours escape from our every day troubles now and then.

In the last month, I’ve personally gone to four movies. That number is a bit excessive and can be attributed to the holidays. Thanksgiving weekend my husband and I wanted to see Justice League, but sadly we waited too long and ended up missing it. We did however enjoy “Star Wars Episode VIII”. The weekend after Christmas I went with my nephews to see “Ferdinand”, based on one of my favorite childhood books.

Next was “Pitch Perfect 3” with my daughter and a good friend. I loved all the “Pitch Perfect” movies, but think the third was my favorite. I’m up to go see it again and will definitely purchase the Blu Ray version. “Jumanji” was a movie selected just to get out of the house, but it turned out to be an excellent choice, one I’d highly recommend.

Seeing all those entertaining movies however, didn’t fill the void I felt over missing the opportunity to see my favorite super hero, Wonder Woman, kick @$$ in Justice League. So, why did we miss Justice League? Well, because we’ve become movie theater snobs. When we first met in 1985, the $1.50 movie theater in Harker Heights, Texas was our thing. No matter that the interior was NASTY, we were young and it was cheap.

Eventually we matured, began earning a higher income, and became more selective in our theater choices, but it wasn’t until we discovered The Spot in San Marcos that we became bona fide theater elitist. This theater is unlike any other we’ve frequented. The seats are leather and recline, each patron has their own moving table AND the best part… The wait staff, easily summoned by a little blue button, serves a full array of delicious foods and spirits.

Does it matter this theater is now a two hour drive from our home? Nope. It is well worth the trip, which is why we missed Justice League, we were waiting until we could watch it at The Spot.  #sadface

If you’ve never visited The Spot, you don’t know what you’re missing. The ticket prices are comparable to other theaters, but the value far exceeds the competition. #trustme

Until Next Time,
Becky J Miller
“Warrior Princess”

Becky J Miller is a contributor and is exclusive to SM Corridor News. You can read more of Becky’s columns in Lifestyle.