THE FIRST movie I saw on the big screen in 2022 was West Side Story.
I was feeling comfortable with the cinemas in the US on the second year of the pandemic.
I mean, I’ve seen No Time to Die in Montana (of all places!), and Eternals with my sister and brother-in-law in Los Angeles in 2021.
I really wanted to see Steven Spielberg’s remake of the West Side Story as it opens at the American big screens on December 10.
But as luck would have it, I would find myself in the UK on December 1.
***
Now, I was a little scared of the Britons who seemed to have abandoned the mask mandate at that time.
After all, they will have their government to support them if they got sick.
It’s a different story if you are a foreigner.
And although I got travel medical insurance, I didn’t want to risk it.
***
But the British ways have a way of rubbing off on me.
In the end, I watched a live theatre show on West End. The Prince of Egypt, it was.
And in Southampton, I went to see a panto. Cinderella, it was.
In Newcastle up north of England, I actually met a few boys off Grindr.
If I could kiss them, I could go to the movies, I thought.
***
One of my dates led me to the cinemas.
It wasn’t a successful date.
We kissed, and that was it.
I mean, we kissed and groped, and I said we could take it in the movie house, if he lived so far away.
He wanted to do it in the park. At 2pm!
So, I said no.
(I got luckier with someone else later in the night!)
***
Because I was already so near the cinema, I watched West Side Story alone.
I thought it was beautifully done.
West Side Story is among the first musicals that I memorized by heart.
And so, I really loved that Doc’s character was replaced by his wife, played by Rita Moreno, the original screen Anita.
This wife was not in the original productions.
***
Coming back to Los Angeles, I watched The Batman in March.
Again with my sister and brother-in-law.
If it sounds like a pattern, it is.
My nieces feel that they have grown old enough to choose their movies, or watch it with their boyfriends instead of their parents.
***
I spent two months in New Jersey after my trip to Iceland.
I watched a lot of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and even Disney Plus movies.
But we never went to the movies because my cousin also streams a lot of movies while doing her work-from-home job.
She doesn’t really watch it like I do.
She just likes the sound.
Like it keeps her awake to do her job.
***
But she said that she’s pretty excited for Top Gun: Maverick, and Jurassic World: Dominion.
The original Top Gun was released when she was born.
The original Jurassic Park, while she was in her third grade.
I offered to go with her watch Top Gun in her local movie house.
But she said that it’s just a small cinema, not that impressive.
So, on the way to my Maryland, I checked if Top Gun was available in my favorite local IMAX.
***
It turned out that it was, and there was one remaining showtime for the day.
So, she worked from 5:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Then, we drove three hours and a half from Washington, New Jersey to Reisterstown, Maryland.
We arrived at my brother’s home at 6pm and promptly had dinner.
I offered an adult’s night at the movies with cousin, aunt, brother, and sister-in-law.
My brother begged off.
***
So, I decided it was going to be a ladies’ night out.
(I’ve always been an honorary woman in many adult settings! Haha.)
I offered, I paid.
I was kind of floored when the bill came up to $87 for the four of us.
And that’s including a senior’s discount for my aunt.
P4,350 for the movies!
But that’s IMAX for you at $17.59 per head prime time.
If you watch it before noon, it’s just $13.49.
Well, the movie better blow us away.
***
Fortunately, it did.
I enjoyed it immensely.
Tom Cruise looks so f*cking delicious at his age.
Perhaps yummier than the young Maverick, whose photos grace the new movie update, some 36 years after the original.
***
The women were happy, and raving about the movie.
People also applauded, and I’m glad they liked it as much as I did.
The movie gave me such an adrenaline rush.
I couldn’t sleep even though we came home just before midnight.
I ended up having a drink, and checking my Grindr to finally settle me down.
***
I found a guy that I used to go out with.
We chatted.
And just scheduled a date for Top Gun this weekend./PN
