Entertainment and Sports

Drive In The Drive-in Again

At a regular theatre, good manners preclude the kind of fun you can have at a drive-in.

By Kevin Somers
Published June 26, 2017

I'd forgotten how much I love drive-ins. On Father's Day, I told my father I'd been to the drive-in with my daughters, who are 18 and 20. "Oh, yeah?" he said. "The one in Stoney Creek?" Affirmative. "I was there fifty, no sixty years ago."

My mother said, "I remember when we got one on the island (PEI). They put a drive-in in Charlottetown. We thought the whole world had arrived."

In this short clip, great entertainers share their fondness and memories of the drive-in.

Our family went to the drive-in when I was young. I remember bouncing on bench seats: up, down, across, from front seat to back, over the backrest, when the big car was parked at the drive-in and while driving to it, as my dad smoked and drove fast with one hand on the wheel.

Those were the days.

In high school, we'd take car-boats full of people with trunks full of lawn chairs and beer to the drive-in.

Those were the days.

It had been 30 years, so when RTH editor Ryan McGreal asked if I'd be interested in a doing a review of The Starlite Drive-in Theatre, I responded, "I'd love to."

Me and the girls settled into our small car and drove off at a sensible speed, buckled in safely, two hands on the wheel, and nobody smoked or drank.

These are the days.

Neither had been to a drive-in and we were excited to see Wonder Woman. I want them to be wonderful, wondrous, wonder-working, working women, so it felt right.

While the rest of the world raced ahead, not much changed at the drive-in. It's still easy to spot.

We immediately felt welcome.

We found great real estate and parked at the perfect angle.

There are plenty of lots to choose from.

Don't worry about pot holes, at the drive-in.

There are great, groovy signs, at the drive-in.

The drive-in is pet friendly.

Watch them play outside, then enjoy a drive-in movie with your kids: good parenting.

A drive-in demands indulgence. You have to cheat at the drive-in. The girls and I shared a funnel cake (deep fried dough covered in ice-cream, icing sugar, and strawberry syrup) and a bag of melted butter with salty popcorn in it. It was a decadent, delicious, perfect napkinfest. I'd forgotten how much I love drive-in snacks.

Wonder Woman is a huge success; raking in killions. There's already a sequel in the works. Again, I find myself out of sync with society. In an alphabet, I thought Wonder Woman was an atrocious, boring, catastrophic, dreadful, endless, frightful, gluttonous, hopeless, idiotic, joyless, knuckleheaded, long, mindless, narcissistic, obscene, pointless, questionable, ridiculous, stale, terrible, unwatchable, vexatious, witless, x-rated, yucky zit of a movie. However, it's irrelevant at the drive-in.

We never cared if our daughters were athletic or academic, only that they are pleasant to be around: kind and funny. During pregnancy, I'd tell jokes into the womb. It paid off, evidently. With biting, cutting, incisive comments, me and the girls enjoyed shredding Wonder Woman. We shared laughter and took wonderful, comedic tangents together.

At a regular theatre, good manners preclude such fun. As Erin said, "You've got a great comment, but you have to keep it in." However, you can let fly at the drive-in.

Had the film been riveting, we would have been riveted.

Then, it was time to go. The last sign of the drive-in:

Come back soon? It's already planned. We love the drive-in.

Kevin Somers is a Hamilton writer.

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By liam (registered) - website | Posted July 01, 2017 at 06:10:03

wonderful things you shared with us , Thank you

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