Missing The Magic

 Lately I have been wondering where that old spark went. Have I gone too many miles in the same shoes? Have I sat still and let the parade pass me by?

Not so much a mid-life crisis, but a reflection about my love affair with movies. The anticipation of opening day for the most recent installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe gave me a hint that perhaps the bloom is off that particular rose. Maybe for good. 

To tell you that my wife and I did rush out to catch an evening (full price) showing of Captain America: Brave New World might suggest that nothing has changed. I'm still the fanboy and cinephile that I once was. But the fact that this was the first time I have been inside our local movie palace in several months might tell a bigger story. I no longer look for reasons to head out to the theater. I am more than happy to sit and wait forr some streaming service to wend its magical passive way into my living room and show me what I may or may not have missed. 

Which is not really news, I suppose. I had surrendered a great portion of my seats in theaters when COVID came along and made it easy to satisfy my film cravings in the comfort and safety of my own home. The motion picture business as a whole took a giant leap into the aforementioned living room during that time. Which didn't exactly leave me heartbroken or satisfied with the access to so very much content. 

These days I tend to satisfy my cinematic needs by watching oldes movies in the same way I listen to old songs: as they appear on someone else's algorithm. This puts me in that demographic that sits on his couch, staring at Vision Quest for what might possibly be the twentieth time and grumbling something along the lines of "they just don't make 'em like that anymore." On Valentimes Day my heart nearly broke when I turned in to see that I was only going to see the last fifteen minutes of Casablanca. I knew full well that with the slightest bit of button pushing and clicks, I would see the whole thing, but it wasn't the same. 

Maybe it has something to do with the relative ease we have been allowed to have when it comes to going to the movies. The specialness of standing in line, sitting in a packed theater of first-nighters wondering what was in store because they had not been already primed with Internet spoilers and promotional videos is missing. A long time ago, I started a bit about how I would only go and see a movie that had its own web site. That stopped being funny when every film, big and small, was featured on Al Gore's Internet. 

Maybe I'm just old. 

You kids get offa my lawn.