Long time no see, readers! Movie theaters have reopened and new movies are finally available to see on the big screen, including Christopher Nolan's Tenet, most notably. I'll confess right up front that I'm extremely hesitant to attend a screening of any kind at the moment. If I could guarantee that I'd be the only person in the theater I might consider it, but otherwise I think I'll wait it out just a little longer, as much as I miss the sanctuary of the dark, air-conditioned auditoriums and the glowing moving images of the screen.
I doubt I'd be lucky enough to be the sole patron for Nolan's latest based on the impressive box office numbers it's managed to pull over the Labor Day weekend. 20+ million isn't bad considering the limited seating and the fact that not all markets are open yet. Did you brave the ongoing pandemic to check it out? Tell me how it was in the comments so I can live vicariously through your movie-going experiences.
Meanwhile, as the title of the post and above photo suggest, I've finally made my first trip to the drive-in theater! I figured this would be the best alternative to in-door theaters, since I've been missing it so much. They were showing Tenet on the other screen, but since this was my first time at the drive-in and I wasn't sure what kind of complications would arise (mainly in regards to sound and projection), I decided it would be best to wait until it could be seen under more ideal circumstances. So that left us with New Mutants.
I hate to rag on this movie too harshly since the overall experience of attending the drive-in was a positive one for me, but no wonder it was in development hell for so long. This was shot three years ago and it's already covered in mold. I'm in no way familiar with The New Mutants comics or mythos (I barely knew this movie existed up until a month ago), so that definitely didn't help its case, but if this isn't for someone with a cursory knowledge of comics, then I want to know who the hell it was for.
Congratulations, Fox (RIP). You made an X-Men that isn't only interested in Wolverine, Proferssor X, and/or Magneto for once. Doesn't make this group of "heroes" any more compelling on their own. Let's see, the first lead is orphaned at the start of the movie and we Don't Know Her Power. The second lead can turn into a wolf and is in love with the first lead. Hooray for dramatically inert LGBTQ+ romance! There's some nonsense with Anya Taylor-Joy and her sock puppet, as well as a flagrant attempt from the movie to applaud her for being 1% less of a racist asshole by the end. Flame guy is a tool, but a lovable tool. And the Stranger Things guy has a southern accent, I guess? They're all being manipulated and abused by a mutant doctor who wants them to stifle their mutant identities. I'll grant that it's an interesting and unique angle to approach a comic book story in a 10 Cloverfield Lane-ish key, but the filmmakers simply fail to capitalize on the one thing that makes it stand out from its genre almost immediately. Otherwise, the result is as dull as your average YA dystopian adaptation.
But with that said, drive-in theaters are my new favorite thing. Our windshield would fog up occasionally and the projection was a bit dark (doesn't help that the lighting is already so damn dark in the movie), but otherwise it was a blast. The secluded, wooded setting created an intimate environment that mirrors an actual theater, you get to see movies with other people without having to worry about them being loud and obnoxious, and the prices are pretty reasonable. I hope to be back very soon.
New Mutants: D | Drive-In Theater: A
-- Have you ever been to a drive-in theater before? How was your experience?
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