my summer of 1987 at the movies

This year (2015) has the same day/date correspondence as 1987 did (that is, the dates fall on the same day of the week in both years). And that is why I thought today would be a good time to post this. In the summer of 1987 I was 19 and was home from college, between my freshman and sophmore years. I had been strongly into movies since 1982/1983 when I was early in high school, when we got our first VCR and joined our first video store, and began going to alot of movies in theaters, 1983 being our first big summer of that. We also went to alot in the summer of 1984, but did not go to many in the summers of 1985 or 1986, and 1986 had been a rather bad year for me. Things picked up a little early in 1987, and I was definitly glad when that summer came and I'd be home for four months (from April 28 to August 28). And I'd planned to go to alot of movies in the theater that summer, partly to make up for the last two summers (and also the last year, when I had not gone to any movies in theaters at all). I also went to summer school that summer, to accelerate my studies and try and get some courses out of the way. I went to a small private college near my hometown, commuting, and had planned to go for three sessions, in May, June, and July, taking two classes each session and getting 20 hours. That did not really work out for me, for various reasons, and I only attended the May and June sessions and only got 6 hours (both in history). But my movie going did work out very well that summer, as I went to my local theater 20 times that summer and saw 16 different movies, all at the same theater. It was the Cinema 4 in Rock Hill, SC, about 20 miles from my small hometown. And it expanded that summer, in early June, adding three new auditoriums and becoming the Cinema 7. It had opened in December, 1982 and was the county's first multi-screen theater. I had gone to it alot in 1983 and 1984, usually with my mother and sister, then to one movie each in the summers of 1985 and 1986. I could not drive then and my mother had to take us, but in August, 1986 I did learn how to drive, and in the summer of 1987 went to most of these movies by myself.

The first movie I went to that summer WAS Creepshow 2, on the night of Wednesday, May 6, 28 years ago tonight. I liked it and it was a good kickoff to this. I then went back two days later, on the night of Friday, May 8 to see Crocodile Dundee, which had originally come out in the fall of 1986 and was in rerelease. I then went to this theater the next four Friday nights, May 15, 22, 29, and June 5, and saw The Gate four times. I did like it alot, but part of the reason for this was I just really wanted to go to the movies at this time. I then went to see Harry and the Hendersons on Friday night, June 12, and earlier that day they had officially opened the three new auditoriums and changed this theater's name to Cinema 7.

I then went to see The Untouchables on Friday night, June 19, though I had actually asked at the box office for a ticket for Predator, but she must have misunderstood me, or more likely hit the wrong button. But I went on in and saw The Untouchables, which was allright, though to this day I have never seen Predator. During these times of going on Friday nights in May and June I always got a large popcorn and soft drink, and went alone, but things did change a little after this, as on Friday, June 26 I went with my mother and sister in the afternoon to see Spaceballs. That was their first time going to this theater in almost a year, my mother drove, and as we pulled into the theater she asked me where to park. The three of us then went again on the afternoon of Tuesday, June 30 to see Dragnet.

I then went alone one weekday afternoon in early July (don't remember the date) to see Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the Disney classic which was rereleased for its 50th anniversary. I had actually never seen it before and wanted to and took this opportunity, though my mother thought it was a little strange I wanted to see this movie (?). I then switched from going on Friday nights to going on Saturday nights, and stopped getting concessions, and on Saturday night, July 18 went and saw Jaws: The Revenge, and the following Saturday night, July 25 went and saw Superman IV-The Quest for Peace. And in between those two I went on Thursday night, July 23 to see Adventures in Babysitting. It had actually opened on July 1 and I really wanted to see it and had planned to but never got around to it, and that day figured it would leave this theater the following day and this was my last chance. So that night I drove over there and saw it, and was definitly glad I did, as it turned out to be my favorite movie of 1987 (and it did leave this theater the next day).

Then on Wednesday afternoon, July 22 I went back with my mother and sister, and I saw Jaws: The Revenge again, while they went into another auditorium and saw Dragnet again. Then on Tuesday afternoon, July 28 I went back with them again and she and I saw Summer School, while my sister went into another auditorium and saw La Bamba. I then finished this movie going summer out alone with four movies on Saturday nights in August, seeing The Living Daylights on August 1, RoboCop on August 8, Masters of the Universe on August 15, and The Monster Squad on August 22.

I then continued to go to this theater occasionally from 1988 to 1992 to see various movies, but then did not return to it until June, 1998, about a year and a half after we had sold our long time house and moved (in January, 1997). I was living homeless in Charlotte, NC at this time, about 20 miles to the north, and did go to this theater once in the summers of 1999 and 2000 to see one movie each year. I then did not return until the late summer of 2002 on two occasions, and by that time it had become a second run theater, showing movies after they had been out a few months and completed their initial run. I then went a few times in 2003 and 2005, then once in 2009, and that would be the last time I would go there until this past Friday, January 16, when I went that night to see two movies and rented a hotel room for that night, then walked back up to Charlotte the next day. But I really liked doing that, and this coming July I think I'll walk back down there again, get a room at this same hotel and see two more movies there on a Friday night, then walk back up the following day. I do still like going to this theater for nostolgic reasons and remembering all the times I went there in the 1980s and early 1990s. And the summer of 1987 is the time that most stands out for me in relation to this theater.

"I happen to be a vegetarian". Lex, from Jurrasic Park