Shortest double feature ever?

Posted on May 24, 2013 by mrdrivein

Here’s a tiny anecdote that doesn’t really mean anything. I noticed that over at the Redwood Drive-In (West Valley City UT), they’re showing Epic followed by 42 as one of their double features. That’s six characters. Has there ever been an actual drive-in movie double feature with fewer than six characters in the titles?

(And another thing, why does the Redwood 6’s web site show just four screens active without mentioning the number 6? Google’s aerial view clearly shows six screens, and its Street View shows six double features on its understated sign as of August 2011. Did the Redwood take down a couple of screens? Will it ramp back up to six shows later in the summer? But I digress.)

Now don’t just send me any two titles or speculate that somebody somewhere showed Mud with 42. (For some reason, Mud didn’t show up on a lot of drive-in screens I keep track of.) Earlier this year, we had Argo and Mama at drive-ins but no one-character movies to go with them. If you want to research some old newspapers or some old page at the Internet Archive, you might try to find something to go with:

Pi (released July 1998), not last year’s Life of Pi, this was an oddball film about a math genius.
54 (released August 1998), the disco-era retrospective with Ryan Phillippe.
O (released August 2001), the modernized version of Shakespeare’s Othello with Julia Styles.
P (released February 2005), an art-house horror movie directed by Paul Spurrier.
R (released June 2011), an art-house prison drama starring Pilou Asbaek.

Were there any three-character titles in the summer of 1998? Did some drive-in show a short-titled film with O or one of those art-house movies with ozone-friendly themes? If you find a shorter double feature, leave a comment here with a link to the proof. Start digging!

Outside food: feature or menace?

Posted on May 10, 2013 by mrdrivein

I was doing my usual web prowl, searching for fun stuff and news to share here. I stumbled on the Blue Starlite Mini Urban Drive-In (Austin TX), and first of all, I’m unclear whether it “counts” as a real drive-in. As I mentioned a while ago, there are lots of things that aren’t drive-ins that pretend to be drive-ins, and I don’t like to talk about them. Is the Blue Starlite a real drive-in? Is it a worthy facsimile? I’ll have to return to that question in a later post.

When I visited the Blue Starlite web site, I found a quote that inspired me to write down something that’s been bouncing around in my head. On the Blue Starlite FAQ page is the question: “can I bring my own food and drink?” If I were feeling fussy, my reply would be that it’s likely that you have that ability, but perhaps you’d prefer to ask whether you may bring your own food and drink.

But the Blue Starlite FAQ answer is much nicer. “Yes. We don’t like to limit our customers options and enjoyment. As well as their creativity. However we do ask that you patronize our concession stand as well at least for your popcorn, candy and soda’s (sic) if you do not buy a concession package in advance. It really does help support our ability to keep bringing you quality nights of entertainment as only the drive-in can in Austin TX.”

That’s beautiful. I know that when I go to the drive-in, which is as often as I can, I love to bring food and sometimes something to drink. It’s a great benefit and incentive that I can create my own experience in my car while I watch the movie. But I would never visit without buying at least a large soda and a large popcorn from the concession stand. The incremental cost of a large soda is maybe a nickel, and the popcorn probably costs a dime or two, so I figure my cash should go straight to the operator’s payroll and profit.

I’ll make some enemies for saying this, but hey you drive-in operators, instead of treating customers as thieves and cheats for wanting to bring in the food they like, maybe you should look to your own kitchen to make sure you’re cooking something they want. It’s a good idea to explain the economics of running a drive-in as you encourage patrons to buy your food, and if you give your customers a good alternative, your convenience (and sufficient quality) should win their dollars more often than not. The Blue Starlite gets it, and you should too.