My mother and I used to love to go to movies and around Christmas of 1990, we went and saw Godfather III and mom kept talking about seeing the first one when it came out back in 1972 in the theaters. She said it was something no one had ever seen on the big screen before and an experience that was very hard to describe. Every time it would come on the small screen, she would always remind me what it was like to see it where it belonged, in the theater.
Imagine my surprise when I saw a few weeks ago that on February 25th, for one night only, The Godfather would be shown in the theater to honor fifty years since it was released. I bought my ticket, sat in the middle of the theater, turned my phone off, yes for real, turned life off as well and sat back. I got there early to take it all in and the place got pretty full which made me happy.
Three hours to sit back and watch this masterpiece on the big screen with all that fancy sound tickling your ears and scenes you’ve seen a hundred times, yet you have never seen them this way. Halfway through the movie, I looked around to see young and old and everything in between just taking it all in.
Then it hit me. This just might work. This just might be a great way to get people back into the theaters more often. Yes, your 85-inch 4K TV at home is beautiful but it doesn’t offer this ambience or this experience you get sitting there, watching it all as it was supposed to be. I was blown away, no pun intended, watching The Godfather in that setting. I kept thinking about my mom and her friends and the emotions they felt seeing the movie. It was a most cathartic experience.
As I drove home, a plethora of movies that were made in the 50’s into the 80’s came to mind that I would love to see and there is no wrong answer. Midway, Dirty Harry, the original Superman, Cool Hand Luke, Godfather II and on and on and on. Goodness, the list might be infinite.
Yes, this just might work and going to see it is truly an offer that no one should refuse.
