Unfortunately, I was one of the more than 36 million viewers who recently watched the Academy Awards ceremonies for more than three and a half hours before learning that the movie "Slumdog Millionaire" had won "Best Picture" to go along with seven other Oscars.
Just the week before, I could have saved big bucks by not viewing "Slumdog Millionaire" with my family at a Pacific Six Theater. Admission at a Pacific Six Theater is $10.75 per adult and $7.75 per child from 2 to 12 years old. So the cost just for admission of my wife and I and our two grandchildren was $37.00. After we got into the theater, I felt as though I was robbed at the snack counter, where they rang up a family size popcorn ($6.00); two hot dogs ($4.25 each); two orders of nachos ($5.75 each) and four medium drinks ($4.25 each). Count the tickets and food and it came to $80.
Although my family members and I enjoyed viewing a great movie, in my view, the cost for a family of four to go to the movies at these multiplex theaters is outrageous.
When it comes to making ends meet, many of us would like to be able to afford taking their families to the movies near their neighborhoods.
Looking back to the time when I was growing up, in the 1950's and 1960's, most Americans counted television as a main source of family entertainment. On Saturday's, my grandmother would reward me for being a "good boy" by paying my way to go to the movie theater located not far from her apartment. For just a few dollars, I could pay admission and buy popcorn, a hot dog, candy and a big soda.
I still remember how excited I was when my step-dad first took our family to another kind of theater — the drive-in that was located not too far from our house. For me, it was amazing to be sitting there in a car, watching a movie and listening to the audio over a speaker. As a kid, it was about one of the coolest things ever.
I have not been to a drive-in for many years. It seems that wherever drive-ins used to exist, the locations have been taken over by swap meets or multiplex theaters — or they are now housing developments. So when I decided last weekend to try to save some money by taking my family to the movies, I was stunned to find no listing for the locations of drive-ins in the daily newspaper. I went on the Internet to DriveInTheater.com, where I learned that there were many "Dead Drive-Ins" in metropolitan communities throughout Los Angeles County, including the Compton Drive-In, the Vermont Drive-In, the Century Drive-In, the Lakewood Drive-In, the Long Beach Drive-In, the Centinela Drive-In, the Paramount Twin Drive-In, the Rosecrans Drive-In, the Roadium Drive-in, the Torrance Drive-In, and many more. But with further research on the Internet, I was happy to learn that the drive-in phenomenon isn't quite dead yet, even though the whole concept might be in intensive care.
In Riverside, California, approximately 40 or 50 miles from Los Angeles, I found one operating drive-in that I used to visit, a place called the Van Buren. I was amazed to see the long lines of cars awaiting to pay in order to get in the place. Admission to the Van Buen Drive-In was $7 per adult and $1.00 per child from 2 to 12 years old. So the cost of admission for my wife and I and our two grandchildren came to $16.00. There were three screens showing two recent feature movie releases each. Since I did not arrive early at least 30 minutes before show time, I was forced to squeeze into a self created parking space. The price for 2 family size popcorns was $3.00 each; two nachos($3.50 each) and four medium drinks with no ice($3.00 each) for a grand total of over $43 with tax.
With the savings that consumers will receive by viewing two of the latest movies at a drive-in, a family of four or more will have the fun of getting out of the house while at the same time making budget ends meet.
Ronald Ellerbe is editor of Hub City News and columnist of LA Beez.
Photo of "The World's First Drive-In Movie - Camden NJ - 1933" from www.dvrbs.com
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