Notes: Return of the Drive-In Movie Theater

What a year for cinema! With the postponement of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune (to 1 October 2021) and the 25th James Bond film, No Time To Die (to April of next year), it seems like 2020 will go without a blockbuster. It makes sense, of course, what with movie theaters being unsafe places to settle in for a few hours—and the tepid response to Christopher Nolan’s Tenet demonstrates that audiences in the US are not interested in returning quite yet. Financially, all of these factors have contributed to the temporary closure of all 536 Regal movie theaters in the US, and so many independents, too. But as someone who puts Marvel release dates in his Google Calendar (and who also attends film festivals professionally), this year has required a bit of maneuvering to find new distractions. I started an animated movie club with several close friends to catch up on classics I’ve missed—and I’ve become more and more fixated on drive-in movie theaters.

Of course, learning about Austin’s Blue Starlite Drive-In helps to reduce trauma from the permanent closure of Texas city’s iconic video store, Vulcan Video (an organization that educated so many filmmakers we might as well consider it a film school). But, of even greater importance and emotional impact is learning of the drive-in being used for change, as with the Wappingers Falls pop-up drive-in at the Double O Grill that raised money for the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley.

In a filmic period when we all yearn for new releases—and many of us rely on Sundance films finally making their way to streaming services—nostalgia for the drive-in is more than a story. It’s a bit of hope. And, as it turns out, beyond hope, the drive-in movie theater can be a vehicle for change itself.

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