They say that time is a river that you cannot step into twice, which may be true, but sometimes you can at least wade upstream a bit. By way of proof, tonight I went back to 1977 by renting a movie theatre and watched
Star Wars: A New Hope on the big screen.
Full points to the Dunbar Theatre for thinking outside the box during the lockdown. Obviously venues like movie theatres that involve large groups in close proximity were at the top of the list when shutdowns began, and as an independent theatre, the Dunbar might not have been in a great position to make it through until the restrictions were lifted.
However, the Dunbar has always had a reputation for good popcorn, and they decided to offer that along with other snack items as a takeout option for people watching movies at home. As to how they made the leap from that to private showings, I can only speculate that a customer may have joked about having the theatre all to themselves, and Ken Charko, who owns the Dunbar, realized that it didn't have to be a joke.
The result was weekday couples pricing of $100, and family/weekend pricing of $250. Weekday showings start at 1:30 and run until 9:30, and there are Saturday and Sunday matinees at 11:00.*
And, when you think about it, $50 each isn’t ridiculous for a night out at the movies. Yes, it’s more expensive than a normal movie ticket, but it’s not insane, and without the need to pay a distributor for the movie, four or five shows a day at either $250 or $100 would hopefully keep the lights on and give someone a job making popcorn and pressing PLAY on the movies - guests have the option of providing their own optical media or selecting from a range of streaming services.
And it’s such a unique opportunity! Think about it – how many movies have you never seen on a big screen, and how many movies will you never see on a big screen again? Let alone being able to watch it without other people at the theatre! And they throw in popcorn and drinks, which seems very fair of them.
My wonderful wife Karli, who initially suggested this as an option, was kind enough to let me take lead on our first booking - sadly, we missed the anniversary of the original release date by two days, but you can't have everything. So on Wednesday night Karli put on her silver X-Wing necklace, I donned my
New Hope Star Wars t-shirt**, tucked my Blu-ray copy of the movie into my jacket pocket, and off we went to the Dunbar Theatre.
The setup at the theatre was well thought out in terms of safety, based on a rotating system for seat usage. There were a couple of rows of possible seating to choose from, and a number of seats were flagged with tape as not available due to recent occupancy.
Although
A New Hope is available on Disney+, we were warned by Tia, the laconic staff member running the concession counter, that for some odd reason the opening crawl – and only the opening crawl – is in French. We decided to go with my blu-ray copy, handed it over, collected our complimentary popcorn, and went into the theatre to pick our seats.
(I suppose that strictly speaking, we might have been in violation of the threatening FBI notification at the start of most movies which announces the illegality of showing the following presentation for money, but if it came to litigation, I would contend that I had supplied the entertainment and that the exchange of funds was solely for the venue and refreshments.)
It wasn't completely perfect, but it was pretty close to it. I couldn't sit as close to the screen as my teenage self wanted to, and I've never approved of all the tweaking that George Lucas did to the movies over time, especially the scene with Jabba the Hut, but that's all just nitpicking. Ultimately, when the introductory scroll finished and Princess Leia’s ship blasted into the frame in a storm of laser fire, I laughed out loud in celebration, and watched for the next two hours in a state of complete enjoyment.
Interestingly, the big screen experience wasn’t the epic part - after all, sitting six feet from a big screen TV and 60 feet from a theatre screen gives you a somewhat similar viewing angle - but my god, the sound was incredible. Unless you are completely indifferent to your neighbours or live on a very large piece of property, you are not watching movies with the same kind of volume and quality that you get from a theatre sound system.
As British Columbia loosens the lockdown restrictions, movie theatres will get the nod to reopen, and it will be back to crowded seating and standing in line for popcorn, but until then, I completely recommend the Dunbar Theatre movie rental experience. Oh, and one final word of warning: do not go with the layered popcorn unless you're prepared to deal with a butter hangover a few hours after you leave the theatre - trust me on this.
- Sid
* This was the original pricing schedule, I can't guarantee that it's still in effect.
** As opposed to my blue AT-AT blueprint t-shirt, my
Black Spire Outpost t-shirt, or my
Rise of the Resistance t-shirt. It's important to have some range in your wardrobe.
