Then and Now 24 - Movies

Then and Now 24 - Movies
Time: Mid-2007, at my bud's aunt's place.

I've always been a fan of the Harry Potter movies, though I've never read the books. My best friend was also a big fan, to the point where he actually bought one of its awful tie-in games to play on his PS2. We actually went out twice, two grown adults, to go see a Harry Potter movie in the theaters just so we could keep the ticket stubs as mementos. Both he and I decided we were going to collect a stub for each of the movies that would come out, just to prove that we had been there when the Potter craze started.

I saw all four of the first movies and kept the ticket stubs in my memories box, but I didn't catch the fifth one before I left America. So when I got to this country, I was happy to see that it was still playing in the theaters, and that I would have a chance to get another ticket stub, this time in a foreign language.

I asked my bud if he wanted to go, but he stubbornly refused, not being a fan of the series, so I shrugged and decided to head out on my own. I got my wallet, dressed up and headed downstairs past the many pieces of furniture that my bud's aunt sold, and out onto the street.

My bud and I had been to the movie theater area several times before. After turning right on the sidewalk outside of his aunt's store, I followed the low overhang of the buildings above me, and the awnings of the stores next to me, until I found a little alley and turned right on it. Above and ahead of me was a little dentist's office. I still remember the name and how it was written in English, and how it contained a pun that only a speaker of both English and the local language would be able to understand. I walked through a little outdoor market, with little stalls in the middle of the road and several more lining the curb, selling clothes, bags and other items. And finally, I came to the "busy" part of the sleepy city my bud and I lived in.

The movie theater was sandwiched between two other shops, and were it not for the posters outside, would have seemed like a regular store. I went inside and bought a ticket, some popcorn and a Pepsi with the words I had just learned a week prior, and went downstairs to find my seat. The girl who took my ticket was an absolute knockout. I chatted her up a bit in the local language, but because my skills were still poor, I broke off my attempts to get to know her prematurely to go in and find my seat.

At the time, I rationalized that I was probably going to be moving to the main city in a few weeks, and I shouldn't start something with a girl that I couldn't finish. In truth, though, I was still a bit shy and unsure of how to proceed with conversations with people, and not just because they were in the local language. I had been so out of practice with talking to strangers in my depressed days that I had to re-learn all the basics of social interaction, and I still faltered here and there. Regardless, I was still feeling quite good. I had some good eats and an awesome movie to watch, and I was doing it all by my lonesome. Little by little, I was coming out of my shell.

The movie was excellent, through and through: subtitled in the local language and in spoken English, so I had a chance to practice my language skills as I enjoyed it. When it was finished, I headed out in the fading light to meet back up with my friend at his aunt's place.

He was inside, playing PSP and watching some TV. His laptop was on and sitting next to him on a little table, and he was playing some of his favorite tunes, but the only two songs I remember him playing at that moment were "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" and "California Love." We flipped stations for a while, until we finally settled on a movie channel that plays lots of subtitled B-movies from America. Unlike most of the people I knew back in America, my bud wasn't the type to constantly overtalk and snark on bad movies, incessantly pointing out fake CGI or plot holes that are plainly obvious to anyone else watching them. My best friend, my bud and I, all three of us, preferred to have fun and just roll with it.

Watching that channel over several weeks, my bud and I had lots of fun with those movies. We would make bets on who would survive or who would die, and I always bet against John Rhys-Davies, one of my favorite actors, who seems to die in every B-movie he's in. We would talk about what weapons or tactics we would use to fight the giant random animal monster that was eating people. Or we would try to find familiar faces and remember other movies they had been in.

The movie we watched that night was about a giant Pterodactyl flying around and killing a bunch of people. We flipped to other channels a couple of times, but that stupid dinosaur kept pulling us back. When we had watched about half the movie, "Love Rollercoaster" started to play on my bud's laptop. When the chorus came up, I got this big, stupid grin on my face and started to sing along. "Pterodactyl... of love! Pterodactyl... ooh hoo hoo hoo!" I sang. My bud busted up laughing, and we both sang together on the next part: "Your love is like, a Pterodactyl baby baby! I wanna ride!"

Every time we came back to that movie from flipping around the TV, one or both of us would just start singing again, and we would stay on the flick even longer than the time before. That song was a little joke between us for the next entire month; we sang it almost every day for no reason at all.

I loved that channel. In fact, there was a man I saw in almost every B-movie that my bud and I watched together, who was a very natural actor and very fit. He started to grow on me, little by little. When I got internet access in the hostel about two months later, I did some research and found out his name: Mark Dacascos. Whenever I see him in any movie, or just watch a B-movie in general, I can't help but feel nostalgic for those old days before I got married, and the good times I once had.

As for today...

I woke up at 10:00.
I ate lunch.
I played video games.
I took my son to the arcade, then we went home.
I played cars with him.
I went to work.
I taught students.
I came home.
I ate dinner.
I surfed the net.
I showered my son.
I cleaned up the floor and table.
I did the dishes.
I slept.