At the Movies

I always liked the expression, to go to the movies. The idea of the movies as a collective makes me think of a bunch of old and young jazz musicians in a rusty bar, drinking wine, talking about everything under the sun. My lady and I, we both like watching movies and we've made it sort of a tradition to go to the cinema every now and then. 

Usually, I enjoy watching films at home, comfortably, in a quiet and safe environment, but there's something about movie theaters that I like a lot. I'm not talking about the bigger screen or the better sound. It's about the act of standing in line, the smell of popcorn, the moment the lights go down, and the trailers they play before the main screening.

There's something exciting about that. It's great, and sometimes it takes the absence of all of that to realize where the real magic comes from. We watched a film called Jeune et Jolie the other day. French audio with Korean subs. The cinema was an indy, artsy kind of place with no popcorn, no trailers, no gimmicks. They want you to really focus on the film.

So the room was dimmed and the film began. The only light was the reflection from the screen. There were maybe a dozen people in the audience. I looked to my left and saw Sumin, trying to get comfy in her seat, in a tiny movie theater somewhere in Seoul reading subtitles to a French film. And it's right there, in moments like these, where I see it. Magic.