can you believe i made it to the age of 37 without ever having been to a drive-in movie? my friends are stunned when i tell them, because the experience seems tailor-made for me — i can bring my own snacks without having to sneak them in, i can control volume levels, and i can talk as much as i want and only disturb the people in the car with me as opposed to the entire theater [i am someone who talks during movies. i won’t apologize for it].

as luck [fate?] would have it, i got my chance last week. indie memphis film festival was upon us, and due to the pandemic indie memphis had to get creative about how to allow people to see as many movies as possible while also being safe.

a great solution: drive-in movies. people stay in their cars, and unless they have to use the restroom they don’t touch any shared surfaces.

on thursday there was a great lineup of movies at the malco summer-drive in, including 1978’s the wiz, which i had not seen in at least 15 years, if not longer. i couldn’t resist. i dragged will perry with me, we picked up food from kwik chek, and we spend 2+ hours eating and laughing and reveling in the absolute weirdness of that movie.

it was a delightful evening and an experience i won’t soon forget. thank you, indie memphis, for allowing me to cross this one off my list.

xx