Field Trip: The Movies

Some may not consider going to the movies in East Hampton much of a field trip, but, in my book, any destination that is two towns away and necessitates dodging deer on a highway qualifies.

Don't get me wrong. I'd much prefer the option of going to the movies in Montauk, but the town's only theatre, aptly named, "The Movie," closes up right after the Hamptons Film Festival in the fall, and, judging by the sign currently on its marquee, may not open in the spring. Or ever. The building is for rent because the owners cannot afford the equipment costs associated with switching to digital-only projection.

Fade to black?

A few words about Montauk's movie theatre. No one would mistake it for a multiplex. It's more Last Picture Show. The theatre's been owned and operated by the same family since it opened and they are a quirky lot. For one thing, they're very stingy with the AC in summer. Just as you start to think - Is it warm in here or is it me? - the fans, which sound like a jet engine revving up, kick in again. We have a friend who knows where the switch is and more often than not takes it upon himself to turn it back on. Imagine doing that at the Regal Deer Park Stadium 16.

Then there's the refreshment stand. Dad, who doles out the popcorn and candy, has been around awhile and should probably not be dealing with tourists anymore. "Raisinets, please," I requested before one show. He looked me in the eye. "Do you see any Raisinets? Admittedly, I had not thoroughly scoped out the case, but I thought Raisinets were a given. I thought movie theatres, by law, had to sell Raisinets. Then there was the time I bought a Hershey bar, opened it in the theatre, and found it had turned that whitish gray that chocolate sometimes does for a variety of reasons. Fat bloom. Sugar bloom. Or some such. I brought it back to the refreshment stand and politely asked if I could exchange it for another bar. "Well," I was admonished as he begrudgingly gave me another, "if you'd opened it after the lights went out, you would never have known the difference."

Without fail, however, the son in charge of the box office asks me for ID before he'll fork over that senior ticket. So the theatre is not without its charms.

Fortunately, the East Hampton multiplex is a great alternative and not just because the ticket I was paying $10.50 for in Huntington is $8 here, although this is certainly worthy of note, given that there are not many bargains in the Hamptons, if you don't count the Raisinets that Dylan's Candy Bar was briefly, and inexplicably, selling for $1 some months back. (Again with the Raisinets?)

And in winter there's an added bonus...the town lifts the two-hour time constraint in the main parking lot so you don't have to walk half a mile in the dark to retrieve your car.

The parking gods smile in winter.

Summer or winter, however, I rarely go to the movies in East Hampton without remembering that prior to its latest incarnation, it was the Edwards Theatre. It showed one movie and had a great make-out balcony. And what is now the Sunglass Hut was the Marmador, a classic old luncheonette where we all hung out and your mom could track you down if she needed to just by calling the guy behind the soda fountain, who not only knew how to make a great egg cream, but your name as well. But that's a story for another blog.

Anyway...Life of Pi. Better than the book.

After a week of this...

East Hampton is a veritable metropolis.