Different words to describe a remarkable sensory experience.
The viewing experience has changed as the movie theater is no longer needed. Cable and the internet have made the movie theater unnecessary, or at least not required. The Saturday matinee or date night no longer are confined to “going out.”
Prior to the Pandemic, the traditional film release paradigm was already evolving. Look back in modern history at the rise and change of the movie theater. They used to be grand, ornate palaces. Even in small towns, the movie theater was one or two screens with a large number of seats for big crowds. Later, these theaters were passé, inefficient, expense to maintain and not where people were at. Shopping center theaters opened up with multiple screens. Then shopping centers started going under and big, stand-alone theater metropolises replaced them. Drive-in theaters started dying long before that, but a few niche drive-in and arthouse brick and mortar theaters have survived.
Since I’m calling the celluloid (or digital) entertainment it different things, I am going list impressive films in different categories, just for the fun of it. Many of these were theater or drive-in delights. A few were even seen at revivals and special screenings.
Horror
The Thing
Psycho
Jaws
The Blob
War of the Worlds
The Exorcist
Don’t Look Now
Carnival of Souls
Rosemary’s Baby
Night of the Living Dead
Creepshow
Thriller/Mystery
North By Northwest
Night Moves
All the President’s Men
Chinatown
Evil Under the Sun
Touch of Evil
A Year of Dangerous Living
Michael Clayton
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Twilight
Rear Window
Crime
Bullitt
The French Connection
Lethal Weapon
Thomas Crown Affair
The Killers
Dirty Harry
Charley Varrick
The Mechanic
The Godfather
The Late Show
The Untouchables
Goodfellas
Drama
To Kill a Mockingbird
Inherit the Wind
The Andromeda Strain
Stand By Me
Citizen Kane
The Apartment
12 Angry Men
Witness for the Prosecution
Apollo 13
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Mississippi Burning
Coming Home
In the Heat of the Night
Bad Day at Black Rock
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Absence of Malice
The Sting
Cool Hand Luke
Hud
Romance
When Harry Met Sally
Casablanca
The African Queen
A Good Year
Moonstruck
The Princess Bride
Falling in Love
The Americanization of Emily
Murphy’s Romance
Comedy
Bananas
What’s Up Doc?
Man’s Favorite Sport
The Graduate
Animal House
That Darn Cat
Office Space
It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
City Slickers
Arsenic and Old Lace
American Graffiti
The Pink Panther
Some Like it Hot
Dark Comedy / Parody
The Hospital
Dr. Strangelove
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Catch-22
Blazing Saddles
Network
Airplane
High Anxiety
Young Frankenstein
Fear and Loathing in Vas Vegas
Hot Fuzz
Raising Arizona
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Western
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Magnificent Seven
The Wild Bunch
Support Your Local Sheriff
McClintock!
Rio Bravo
Stagecoach
Once Upon a Time in the West
The Professionals
Bite the Bullet
Jeremiah Johnson
Tombstone
Science Fiction
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
The Martian
Ad Astra
Blade Runner
Total Recall
Westworld
Altered States
2001: A Space Odyssey
Planet of the Apes
Gravity
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Forbidden Planet
Fantasy
Field of Dreams
Back to the Future
Jumanji
The Terminator 2: Judgement Day
The Time Machine
Galaxy Quest
Ghostbusters
Big
The Absentminded Professor
Men in Black
Groundhog Day
The Love Bug
Animation
Up
The Lion King
Toy Story
Monsters, Inc.
Ratatouille
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Yellow Submarine
Bambi
Mary Poppins
Rango
Action/Adventure
Dr. No
The Rock
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
The Bourne Identity
Die Hard
The Parallax View
Syriana
The Poseidon Adventure
The Package
Ice Station Zebra
Payback
Conair
Ford v. Ferrari
Spy Game
To Have and Have Not
Star Wars
Iron Man
War
Action in the North Atlantic
Operation Petticoat
Sahara
Hell is for Heroes
The Battle of Britain
The Great Escape
Saving Private Ryan
Patton
The Longest Day
A Bridge Too Far
Apocalypse Now
Biography
Walk the Line
Judy
Ed Wood
Darkest Hour
Patton
Green Book
Hidden Figures
Serpico
Coal Miner’s Daughter
Ghosts of Mississippi
October Sky
Erin Brockovich
Hidalgo
Young Mr. Lincoln
Sports
We Are Marshall
North Dallas Forty
Bull Durham
The Sandlot
Slap Shot
Chariots of Fire
Rudy
Dreamer
Invincible
Tim Cup
Rollerball
The Bad News Bears
Documentary
The Wrecking Crew
Twenty Feet from Stardom
Mach of the Penguins
The Last Waltz
The Fog of War
RBG
Muscle Shoals
Runnin’ Down a Dream
Musical
A Hard Day’s Night
Fiddler on the Roof
This is Spinal Tap
The Concert for Bangladesh
Woodstock
Singing in the Rain
Ticket 2 Ride 
We lived in a conservative, mid-sized Midwestern town/city that had several drive-ins out in the cornfields. Most of the films there (1970s) were either B-grade exploitation or X-rated pics. Sex, violence, and car chases. Titles like “House of a Thousand Pleasures,” “The Big Doll House,” and “Mama’s Dirty Girls.” And a few hard-core porn classics which I won’t name. Trashy delights perfect for adolescent males, but you had to have a set of wheels.
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Interesting times. I do not think that would pass today, although there are many fewer drive-ins now. As a kid, sneaking into the drive-in was part of what kids did. There was one only a block from my house. We didn’t sneak in to watch the movies, it was the sport of it and to visit the snack bar. Great times.
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There are some really good classics in your list. Indeed a treat to watch them in the theatre. Thanks for this 🙂
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Thank you for reading and your comments!
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Infact I did write about how cinemas have re-opened in India after the lockdown and my pov on the first time I went for a movie. Am sharing the same – hope you like it !
https://appamprawns.wordpress.com/2021/11/29/back-at-the-cinemas/
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Nice blog!
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Thank you for reading !
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