SITINGS
I suspect that most folks on the web are too
young to have first-hand drive-in theater experience, although there is certainly no lack of bad films and TV shows offering a second-hand version of the same (with the most recent example I've seen being on
That 70s Show, a nostalgia pit for me since I was in high school in the midwest at that same time).
And the opportunities for having such an experience at one of the
remaining drive-ins
are fast dwindling, with the number
of theatres down to a few hundred from over 4300 in 1955.
On the bright side, perhaps the seemingly
permanent retro/nostalgia thing will eventually
get around to drive-ins and start a resurgence.
The chief chronicler of the demise of the drive-in as well as a masterful reviewer of those films worthy of being seen in such venues
is Joe Bob Briggs. His weekly column
offered film reviews from 1981 to 1997, after
which he took an extended vacation. He's back
now but limiting himself to TV appearances.
Fortunately a good record of his film reviews and other writings is available in several
books, including Joe Bob Goes
to the Drive-In, Joe Bob Goes
Back to the Drive-In, A Guide to Western Civilization or, My Story,
The Cosmic Wisdom of Joe Bob Briggs and Iron Joe Bob (the last being a spoof of the men's movement of the early 1990s).
The best-known feature of Joe Bob's film reviews was his one-paragraph summary offered in a style that has since been copied by many.
A typical summary is, 'Three dead bodies. One
breast. Two motor vehicle chases with crash and burn. Heads roll. Electrons roll. Two
Martian transvestites in clown suits. One webmaster geek. Kung Fu. Monkey Fu. Bimbo Fu. Deja Fu. Drive-In Academy Award Nominations for John Stewart for saying "Do you have sex in public with all your friends?" and
for web-geek Patrick Spreng for doing it the
drive-in way. In other words, no plot to get in the way of the web site.'
Ethel the Blog-Bob sez check him out.
posted by Steven Baum
10/14/1999 01:31:24 PM |
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