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| Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Whatever The Hell Else Might Be Apropos from Movies At Dog Farm! |
I'm a horrible, curmudgeonly old bastard. As such, one of the many things I simply can not tolerate during the holidays is the compulsion to reflect upon the year that was. Do we really need to dig that up again? But that's pretty much been the modus operandi for the entire month, so why switch gears now?
This fifth and final edition of The Dog Farm's Best In Show 2013 gets meta by looking back upon two posts that look back upon a simpler time. It's kind of like listening to your grand-dad tell you about the dark days before Pearl Harbor. The first post, Movies At Dog Farm Remembers . . . The Drive-Ins Of My Misspent Youth, is about the local drive-ins of my childhood, all of which are long since gone. We still have a few here in Virginia, but I haven't been to one in decades. The few that remain play family fare and blockbusters, and that's just not what I want to see at the drive-in. If it ain't skeevy, it ain't a drive-in movie.
The second post, Movies At Dog Farm Remembers: The Early Scares And Formative Horrors, covers how we old-timers got our genre movies at home back before instant streaming and digital video discs. Yes, they were "talkies", smartass.
Movies At Dog Farm Remembers . . . The Drive-Ins Of My Misspent Youth
Movies At Dog Farm Remembers: The Early Scares And Formative Horrors
I hope everyone has enjoyed this month's look back at the Dog Farm's first year, but you should stop reading this now, bookmark it to check the links later, and go spend some time with the people you love. The Dog Farm remembers that being pretty nifty, too. I desperately need a nap before Gunnar wakes up and decides it's time to open his presents, but I'll be back in the new year refreshed and ready to get back to work.
Merry Christmas, everyone, and a Happy New Year!
Another great pair of articles! Like many others, I'm jealous that you got to see so many classics in their first runs and that you got to see so many greats at the Drive-In. Growing up, we had just one Drive-In near us (Tri-Town Theater) and I remember going to see flicks like The Last Action Hero, Cliffhanger and Home Alone there. Not exactly the same as getting to see Mountaintop Motel Massacre on a big open air screen....but still fun. At that point they had changed from the crappy speakers to broadcasting the movie's soundtrack over an unused AM or FM station, so my best friend and I would always bring our boombox and set up camp outside the car. Lawn chairs, sleeping bags (it got damn chilly out there at night sometimes!) tons of snacks and drinks. It was a pretty awesome time.
ReplyDeleteWhile I didn't have any traditional horror hosts broadcasting in my youth, I did grow up in the ago of USA's Up All NIght, TNT's MonsterVision as well as a slew of other early cable shows. I suppose those were my drive-in, in a sense. Sitting alone in my room, watching Laserblast unfold before my eyes while I munched on Doritos and Dr. Pepper.
It seems to be a financial imperative now for drive-ins to play more mainstream fare to survive. Speaking of speakers . . . my dad has exactly one possession I hope to someday inherit. He has a window speaker on the pole with the slab of concrete that held it in the ground at the Skyline Drive-In. Of course, that's totally impractical, but that's why it's cool. He also has a drive-in space heater from the Skyline. Way, way back (before my time, even) the drive-in stayed open year round, and they handed out the heaters to their patrons at the ticket booth.
DeleteI watched a lot of TNT MonsterVision myself. I'm a big fan of Joe Bob Briggs. If you search Gore De Vol on Vimeo (another horror host) you can find videos of him hosting Creature Features. Gore used to broadcast out of D.C. but he's been hosting Creature Features online now for years.
That's pretty bad ass that your Dad has the drive-in speaker complete with concrete on the bottom! I had no idea that Drive In's used to stay open year round! I love, love, LOVE to idea of going to a drive-in during the winter and having a little space heater. That's pretty hardcore!
DeleteLikewise, I'm a big fan of Joe Bob Briggs. Besides MonsterVision he also hosted a few other "movie shows" on TNT such as Joe Bob's Summer School. Man, they just don't make 'em like they used too! I've seen a few clips of Gore De Vol, actually! He's quite good. I get Svenghoolie on METV up here in Massachusetts on Friday nights. If I'm not mistaken, he is the only horror host currently able to legally show Universal movies.
Ok I had to laugh at you getting in trouble for lying about the boogers, the first movie I remember scaring me was Nightmare on Elm Street!
ReplyDeleteThe Booger Incident came up in conversation with my mother recently, and I tried once again to convince her I'd been framed by my dad. I must be a better liar now. I almost had her believing it.
DeleteI couldn't help myself. Had to check out and comment on the links you provided above. I get lost in your posts, Brandon. I love Best in Show. So nostalgic. I wasted all my good stuff on the links you provided. But I did forget one thing. Although I loved going to the Drive Ins when I was little, it was mostly to play on the swings. haha. Now, it's just too cold up here in the PNW, and I'm afraid to have the car running cause I don't want the battery to die. I'm such a wuss. lol. I'm seriously a failure. haha. People keep telling me the battery won't go dead. Well, ya right. That's all I have to say. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words, Warden. I wish I had more time to devote to writing. Best In Show was largely predicated upon my almost complete lack of spare time to devote to writing during the holiday season. I like giving some of my favorites a shot at some additional exposure, though. I'll probably do that every December. It sounds like you could use one of those drive-in space heaters I was telling Matt about up above. I wonder if those came about because of a wave of drive-in patrons dying of carbon monoxide poison. lol That's not really funny, is it?
DeleteI'll bet you're not far off! Check this out!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PA_j4ufWPE