07 - Cinema

Alamo Drafthouse

Anyone who’s known me longer than 10 minutes knows there’s nothing in this world I love more than films.

Not just the movies themselves, but going to an actual movie theater - something I haven’t done since February 29th of this most hellish year. 282 days; almost a full calendar year.

That drought has left me more appreciative of the moviegoing experience, though I certainly wasn’t lacking such appreciation to begin with, penning several articles on this site alone about how great films and the theaters that play them are. 

Still though, because I’ve decided to write about different things I love for every single day of this month - I have to include cinema on that list.

So just a refresher: Films are great because they’re an amalgamation of other great artistic mediums. Acting, writing, directing, photography, and music.

They can be eye candy; they can make you think, laugh, or cry - sometimes all within the same film - they can inspire, they can educate, and above all else, they can entertain. 

Films are an escape. Especially so when you’re watching them in a theater, untethered from your phone for a solid two hours, becoming one with a fictional world for a moment in time. 

Like with music, there’s a genre out there for everyone. Horror, comedy, drama, action, thriller; the list growing every generation as more genres blend together to form new ones.

And also like with music, films are a universal language. There’s something out there for all cultures and walks of life. There’s characters we identify with, lines of memorable dialogue we can’t help but incorporate into our day-to-day lives, storylines that grip us, and visuals that blow our minds, no matter where we come from.

I anxiously await the reopening of theaters, so I can reclaim a part of me that’s been missing for close to 300 days. That feeling of comfort I get when I walk into Alamo Drafthouse for the thousandth time. A familiar, cozy feeling not unlike returning home after a long, emotionally and physically-taxing trip. Settling into my favorite spot (third row, middle seat), ordering a gluttonous snack, and leaving the worries and concerns of my personal life behind, if only temporarily. 

As long as it’s been since I’ve experienced that simple, yet therapeutic feeling - I know I get closer to its return with every passing day.