I am a lover of movies—a cinephile of the highest order. This is a direct result of the fact that my parents eagerly dragged me (willingly) to the movies from the time I was a wee lad. That, in and of itself, is not unusual. Certainly, many parents take their kids to the movies. But what made my parents unique is that they took me to all types of movies, whether it seemed like a small child would be interested or not. Yes, when I was four they took me to see Disney’s animated Robin Hood. No big deal. But when I was six they took me to see All the President’s Men. I mean, what six-year-old doesn’t want to see a two-and-a-half hour drama about the Watergate scandal?
Ultimately, I think the movie didn’t matter to me at that young age. It was the
movie going experience that I loved. Whether I was viewing animated animals
frolicking through a forest, or serious journalists talking about politics, I
was simply enthralled to be in a darkened theater watching images flicker on an
enormous screen. Once I was old enough to go to movies without my parents, I
did so as frequently as I could. Sure, I also watched lots of movies on TV, and
eventually VHS, and eventually DVD, and eventually streaming—but the movie
theater going experience has always held a unique allure.
Over the years I’ve seen hundreds, possibly even thousands, of movies in a
theater. For three years in my early 20s, I lived in Manhattan within walking
distance of many movie theaters. I frequented those theaters…a lot. Eventually,
when I moved to Arizona, I may no longer have been within walking distance of
theaters, but I still went to the movies quite often—sometimes solo, sometimes
with friends, and eventually with my wife and kids. And this brings us to the
unique position that Sonic the Hedgehog
has in my movie-going life.
Unlike my parents, I have not dragged my kids to see movies that you wouldn’t
expect kids to see. For them it has been mostly animated or action pics. And
oftentimes, animated action pics. Some of the movies I take my kids to see I
end up liking and some I do not, but in the end, just like when I was a tot, I think
we all just enjoy the experience of going to the movies.
Way back in mid-February of this year, I took my younger son and his best friend
to see Sonic the Hedgehog to
celebrate my son’s birthday. It was a mediocre film that my son and his friend
loved, because it had characters that they knew and liked, despite the fact
that these same characters were slowly putting me to sleep. I didn’t mind, though,
because the kids had a good time, which was ultimately the point of the
excursion. What I had no way of knowing at the time was that Sonic the Hedgehog would be the first
and last film that came out in 2020 that I would see in a movie theater.
Of course, it was just a few weeks after we went to see Sonic that the world shutdown. And while some movie theaters have
opened back up in the past few months, I’m still not convinced that being in an
enclosed space with dozens of strangers chomping on snacks is the healthiest
use of my time.
So, while I saw 22 films that came out in 2019 inside a movie theater (thank
you IMDb for allowing me to keep track) 2020 will end with one single, solitary
flick that I’ve viewed inside a theater—Sonic
the Hedgehog. Sonic, you lovable scamp—you stand alone in my movie-going
history. Here’s hoping 2021 allows me to go the movies at least twice as much.
