(This is a nostalgic piece about what I miss most.)
COVID has hit differently for us all. We all filled our voids with the promiscuity of learning new skills, creating that masterpiece that we just never got around to doing, finally beating the saved file of Mario Sunshine from your GameCube that hasn’t seen the sun since 2002. Others took this time to start companies, become Tik tok famous, or boycott Ellen DeGeneres. I, however, took a basic approach to kick off my self-isolation by attempting to learn the piano. That lasted a good two weeks resulting in a sink of $90 I’ll never get back. My progress was quite minimal. I learnt the beginner’s version of ‘Ode to Joy’ and thought that was good enough. When all my extra activities failed, my lockdown activated a binge. My partner and I have slowly been making our way through our film watch lists. Her, being an animator and me, being a theatre/film snob found it the perfect opportunity to enjoy some quality time together while enjoying one of our favourite dates: movie watching! Before the first lockdown, our ideal date would’ve been cozying up at the cinema watching the latest releases while shoveling the delicacy of movie theatre popcorn in our mouths. I admit I started drooling thinking of the velvet butter sailing through the sea of popped kernels.
2x Adult Tickets to ________
1x Medium Popcorn
2x Extra Butter Layered (Of course!)
1x Medium Root beer (for me)
1x Medium Blue Raspberry Slush (for my beautiful date)
In Grade 11, my best friend and I had a chemistry project. Now, the interpretations of it were open to our imagination as long as we discussed the chemistry behind it. So naturally, I persuaded her to make our project around the VFX and makeup used in film. There I learned the best tidbit: in the 1946 classic Christmas-drama, It’s a Wonderful Life starring James Stewart and Donna Reed, due to them filming during periods outside of winter they used fake snow. This was a ground-breaking discovery for VFX, they invented their own type of artificial snow. You’d naturally think, “okay, whatever.” But, in scenes where they had a shortage, they turned to corn-flakes. Yes, the cereal. It was a legitimate production job for someone on set to paint these corn-flakes white. And it wasn’t just this movie, many before it used the exact same technique. You may ask, “Kayla, why are you telling us this?” and that is a valid question- there’s a point, I promise! Flash forward to about a month later, I’m sitting across from a beautiful girl at a run-down Chinese buffet in Vernon, BC. This girl just happens to be my future partner and this just so happens to be our second date. We’re getting to know one another, as you do in the early stages. We get our Hogwarts houses out of the way and continue our conversation into discussing movies. I cockily drop the fact of the century and proudly state the only fact that I had bothered to have any research supporting. And let me tell you, I don’t hold back. I go into insane detail about the movie and its use of cornflakes and artificial snow. I like to attribute this as the selling point that really took our relationship off the ground. Maybe school wasn’t so useless after all?
To give further context, from my childhood, one of the fondest memories I have is going to the movies. I loved nothing more than the intense rush of the latest action film that I would then immediately re-enact with my toys the second we got home. My favourite part, however, was during the drive home. Here we’d discuss and analyze the film. This helped me fall more in love with movies. My parent’s worked a lot so, going to the cinema was one of the few things I could really enjoy with them. It became our thing. We soon began to extend that into holidays. “Oh, it’s Christmas? Let’s head on over to the movies!”, “New Year’s Day? I wonder what’s playing?”, “Why don’t we spend your birthday at the drive-in this year?”.
In Vernon, we, have a Towne Theatre (separate from the Cineplex). Where every year come Oscar’s season they’d play all the nominated films. This has always been one of the few things I look forward to every year. It becomes a game. Can you watch them all before showtime? Can you guess who’ll win Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Picture, Best Director, and so on? Similar to our holiday theatre trips, this became a tradition that I hold dearly.
As you can probably tell, movies have always been a big part of my life. They led me to my partner, they helped me bond with my family. I’ve made friend’s easily over movie talk. As a young girl, I dreamed of the chance to see myself on screen. That people would spend money for 1-2 hours of their time experiencing a story from my perspective. But the flame that sparks that desire seems to be slowly diminishing as time progresses. I miss seeing movies. I miss the excitement it brought to my life. I’m grateful that I’ve been able to save money by not repeatedly going out. But a part of my life feels empty. Similar to most, my mental health worsened as the lockdown progressed. One of the few joy bringers has been watching movies with the person I love most.
Going back to our binge, we watched a lot of movies. I would now like to share my take away from them. But, in the interest of time, I’ll only point out a few worth-mentioning titles. These movies have been viewed on multiple streaming services. Ranging from Prime to Netflix, to Disney+.
So, without further ado, I present:
Kayla’s Quarantine Binge!
Funny Girl (1968) – Uncomfortably good for how much I do not want to be like Rachel Berry.
Kramer vs Kramer (1979) – Goddess, Meryl Streep killing the divorce drama scene! I’ve made it a personal mission to watch the entirety of her filmography. Currently, I’m sitting pretty at 11% through.
The Goonies (1985) – Can you do the Truffle Shuffle?
Back to the Future (1985) – Pretty weirded out by Marty getting hit on by his mom.
Dirty Dancing (1987) – Let It be known, tackling the final lift is not as easy as it seems.
Heathers (1988) – I was to play Heather Duke in the UBCO’s musical MIS/FITS. I watched this under the pretense of character study but ended up falling in love with the film in its entirety.
Hairspray (1988) – Not the musical, but nevertheless a worthwhile watch.
Back to the Future Part II (1989) – What kind of name is Biff?
Silence of the Lambs (1991) – I can never look at Anthony Hopkins the same.
The Shawshank Redemption (1994) – I honestly thought more people would’ve been shanked.
Hercules (1997) – The Muses were the best part, hands down!
Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) – Disco Beyoncé. Need I say any more?
Saving Face (2004) – The early 2000’s lesbian romcom that we always knew we needed, but never knew where to find until now.
Kronk’s New Groove (2005) – Picture this: you’ve rented a suite at the romantic Sparkling Hills Resort to celebrate your 3-year anniversary. You suddenly become too bloated and slowly slip into food-coma after eating so much room service. You switch on the TV and are greeted to none other than Kronk. Obviously, you place your dreamy plans on hold and keep watching!
Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) – I wonder when Helena Bonham Carter got typed-casted as our beloved grimy matted-haired woman? Am I right, or am I right?
Twilight Saga (2008- 2012) – She finally did it folks, my girlfriend trapped me into a one-night binge of these films.
Fast Five (2011) – Was anyone else as impressed as I was during the robbery of the safe? Realistically, physics would’ve not been on their side. Also, can we just appreciate Gal Gadot?!
The Handmaiden (2016) – Absolutely stunning.
First they killed my father (2017) – In 2018 I travelled to Cambodia, it just made sense that I sit down and watch this.
Crazy Rich Asians (2018) – This has become a comfort movie for me. Everything is so on point. I’m currently reading the trilogy that this was based off- I highly recommend the books!
Midsommar (2019) – The boyfriend is like Christopher Robin inside of Winnie the Pooh.
Book Smart (2019) – A fun coming of age movie.
Parasite (2019) – I’ve seen this movie twice and every time it gets better and better!
Where’d you go Bernadette (2019) – Cate Blanchett accompanied by penguins. That’s all a woman really needs.
The Lighthouse (2019) – I honestly have no idea what to write about this film and that’s one of the great beauties of it.
Queen and Slim (2019) – Soundtrack slaps.
Hamilton (2020) – Like most musical theatre nerds, I became far too invested in this musical. I’m not even ashamed to admit this was my sole reasoning (besides baby Yoda) for subscribing to Disney+.
Over the Moon (2020) – Did y’all know Ken Jeong could sing? Phillipa Soo, *Chef’s kiss*!
Candance Against the Universe (2020) – Come on, I HAD to put this movie on this list.
Have a Good Trip: Adventures in Psychedelics (2020) – Archived footage of Carrie Fisher speaking on her past trips… Sign me up!