The Fourth Kind. Hmmm, not necessarily the film I would have chosen to be inducted into in my little town's Super Secret Movie Club, but then, any flick would have served the purpose.
Maybe "super secret" is a bit of a stretch, and maybe "club" is too formal a word to describe it. It certainly wasn't and isn't open to the public. It wasn't a fanboy moment or a midnight screening or a paid admission to pre-premiere. It was just a gathering of a special sort of tribe, a young, smart and kicky group of aficinandos, of movie heads, of great unsung popcorn slingers and college bound assistant managers. It was a late summer night, just another weeknight for some, a definitely later than usual night for me. But what more could I ask for? A different crowd, sure, but a bunch of kindred spiritis doing exactly what I would be doing at home but doing it out and about and in front of a big screen, instead.
But that didn't stop those youngsters from inviting me along to participate in the Super Secret Movie Club tonight and for that little gesture I am glad. I felt like it should have come along with a decoder ring, a gilded card for my wallet. I was the kind of thing that should have a super secret handshake to go along with it. Maybe when I am boss I will expect that, turn that little after hours movie club into a sort of speakeasy experience. In order to get the popcorn you need to whisper to the usher a password at the door. Instead of all that tonight I experienced the wonderfulness of youth and got to immerse myself in laughter, friendship and a light sort of cinematic spontaniety that had me racing back to catch one of the cheesiest horror films I have seen in ages.
Maybe "super secret" is a bit of a stretch, and maybe "club" is too formal a word to describe it. It certainly wasn't and isn't open to the public. It wasn't a fanboy moment or a midnight screening or a paid admission to pre-premiere. It was just a gathering of a special sort of tribe, a young, smart and kicky group of aficinandos, of movie heads, of great unsung popcorn slingers and college bound assistant managers. It was a late summer night, just another weeknight for some, a definitely later than usual night for me. But what more could I ask for? A different crowd, sure, but a bunch of kindred spiritis doing exactly what I would be doing at home but doing it out and about and in front of a big screen, instead.
I had no idea that this subculture I joined up with a month ago would open up so many new avenues of approach for me. Movie passes, sure, that I could grok to but having keys to the movie house and access to the projection booth is like having keys to the Kingdom of Celluloid. With a lightbox, open spigots of pop and a handful of dvds one's world changes overnight. Or, at the very least, and in this case, at least for one night.
I know that when and where that special time arrives when I am draped with the sacred managerial mantle that I won't have this group around me to help me take advantage of the space and time and the auditorium like this group did with me tonght. I am sure that I will have to look more closely at the bottom line, pay attention to how those extra hours of energy use add up, see where those extra ounces of flavored corn syrup are going to. Right now I am not in charge, I am not accountable, I am not the one signing on the dotted line. I am just a newbee, a volunteer worker bee, another one of the pack, in this case, the newest of the bunch, the funny old guy who sweats buckets fretting over the threading of the projector.
But that didn't stop those youngsters from inviting me along to participate in the Super Secret Movie Club tonight and for that little gesture I am glad. I felt like it should have come along with a decoder ring, a gilded card for my wallet. I was the kind of thing that should have a super secret handshake to go along with it. Maybe when I am boss I will expect that, turn that little after hours movie club into a sort of speakeasy experience. In order to get the popcorn you need to whisper to the usher a password at the door. Instead of all that tonight I experienced the wonderfulness of youth and got to immerse myself in laughter, friendship and a light sort of cinematic spontaniety that had me racing back to catch one of the cheesiest horror films I have seen in ages.
They may not be my people, but tonight we were all pals, a band of late night movie goers, a group with a purpose and a plan in mind, even if that plan was just to suffer through a silly movie together. That's what clubs do, you know! Share both the pain AND the glory!
Action!
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