Dogs And Cats Living Together - Mass Hysteria!

The Spengler Trilogy: Ghostbusters / Ghostbusters II / Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA
This artwork from the very talented Tom Bifulco commemorates one of the coolest events that I've ever attended at the Mahoning Drive-In Theater.  This Friday and Saturday are dedicated to the franchise that came out of one of my favorite movies from my childhood.  The legendary 1984 supernatural comedy Ghostbusters spawned two fun sequels, several animated cartoon series, and video games released for consoles ranging from the Atari 2600 to the Playstation 5, and just about everything in between.

I've seen all three of these movies in theaters at different times in my life, but I'd still consider all three of these movies a bucket list screening because I never watched any of them at a drive-in before.  Movies hit differently here, and the Ghostbusters trilogy is no exception.

Show banner designed by Andrew Kern

Both Friday and Saturday nights included a triple feature of Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters II, and Ghostbusters: Afterlife.  There were also quite a few vendors on the lot selling toys, shirts, animated cels, and other memorabilia from Ghostbusters and other vintage favorites.

Tom Bifulco's artwork was used to create one of my favorite shirts that I've ever seen for sale on the lot.  It has the little baby Stay Puft Marshmallow Men crawling around a radio and a 35mm film reel with Slimer above them holding a Mahoning popcorn bucket and a carton of Hi-C Ecto Cooler.

Speaking of Ecto Cooler, Beth looked up some of the fan recipes that have been posted online and made a big batch of the Slimer-inspired beverage.  She got it pretty damn close!  It was the perfect beverage for Ghostbuster weekend on the lot.  The snack bar also had Ghost Dogs, which were grilled hot dogs with sauteed onions, sauerkraut and brown mustard, and a limited supply of Twinkies.  However, for as cool as all of these things were, the real superstar attraction on the lot this weekend was parked in the grass under the big screen.

Nick and Jay from Ectotech brought their incredible Ecto-1 NJ to the lot for folks to enjoy, admire, and take countless selfies with.  Of course, we were no exception!

 

This is our third year coming to the Mahoning and I've already had the opportunity to see the Batmobile, Doc Brown's DeLorean Time Machine, and Ecto-1, the latter two of which I got to sit behind the wheel of.  Here are some more photos of the 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor Sentinel that was turned into a screen-accurate Ecto-1 by the folks at Ectotech.

Seeing this is worth the price of admission by itself!

It wasn't lost on me that Ecto-1 sat in the shadow of the massive Godzilla statue from Godzilla-palooza.  That would be a hell of a crossover!

There were quite a few folks who showed up in costume, some of whom even came with their own proton pack, ghost trap, PKE meter and other ghostbusting devices.  Mark and JT gathered as many of them as they could find to come up to the front of the lot for a group photo.

 

The trailer reel started at around 8:30 with the first movie hitting the screen at around quarter to nine.

Ghostbusters is one of my favorite movies ever made.  It was originally released in theaters a month before I turned four years old, but I watched it countless times on VHS throughout my childhood.  Both my wife and I got to see it in theaters for the first time ten years ago, when it was the first film shown for the Splatterday Film Festival at the Kirby Center.  That event in Wilkes-Barre was fun, but it pales in comparison to the experience of seeing a 35mm print at the Mahoning.  We found out after the screening that Krista ran the film by herself, without any assistance from Rob or Jeff, and she did a hell of a good job!

During the movie, the Ectotech folks snuck up to Ecto-1 to get everything set up to turn the lights at the exact moment in the movie when the vehicle comes out of the firehouse and races through the streets of New York for the first time.  They synced it up perfectly!

Next up was Ghostbusters 2.  My grandfather brought me to see this at Church Hill Cinema in Hazleton when I was nine years old shortly after it premiered in theaters back in 1989.  I loved it when I was a kid, then grew jaded with it in my teens and early 20's, and then grew to appreciate it again in my 30's and 40's.  It's definitely not as good as the first movie, but it has a charm all of its own, and I'm very glad to have had the opportunity to see it at a drive-in theater for the first time.

The final movie of the night was Ghostbusters: Afterlife.  We watched this movie at the Regal Cinema in Hazleton twice during its initial theatrical run in late 2021, and it's one of those movies that I love more every time I see it.  It is still the gold standard on how to reboot a beloved franchise for a new generation, and the end brings a tear to my eye every time I see it.

 

And that's a wrap on the 2023 Ghostbusters Triple Feature Fan Event.  These are movies that I will never get sick of, so if they bought this back to the drive-in at some point in the future, you can bet that I'll be there.

The Eater Of Worlds

Bray Wyatt
1987 - 2023
One of the most brilliant performers in the history of professional wrestling has left this world far too soon.  Windham Lawrence Rotunda, who wrestled in WWE under the name of Bray Wyatt, passed away from a heart attack that was brought on as a result of a Covid-19 infection and a pre-existing heart condition.  He was only 36 years old.

Artwork by DaceDestiny

I wasn't watching wrestling too much when Bray Wyatt first came up through the WWE system, so my first exposure to his work was at the 2014 Royal Rumble.  He wrestled in the opening match of the event against Bryan Danielson, and his work absolutely blew me away.  It was the most convincing performance of a professional wrestling character that I had ever seen.  I began watching pay-per-view events on the WWE Network for the next several years almost solely because of him.  He blended elements of horror cinema with pro wrestling in a way that no one could match... not even The Undertaker.  He commanded your attention with everything he did, from his promos to his entrance to his terrifying work in the ring, which made you believe that a villain had stepped out of a horror flick and into a wrestling ring, and when the decision-makers behind the company he worked for failed to take full advantage of his first character, he reinvented himself into something else that we had never seen before.

Thirty-six years isn't nearly enough time to experience this world.  I'm thankful to have had the opportunity to see his work, both on television and in person at Raw in 2017 and the Royal Rumble in 2018, but for as much as the fans are going to miss him, I can't even begin to imagine how his family, including his four children, his friends, and his colleagues are feeling right now.  There have been quite a few folks who knew him personally and have shared their thoughts and memories, and by all accounts, he sounds like a wonderful man.  Rest in peace, Mr. Rotunda.

Isn't It Always The Same Question?

2023 Patreon Screening #5

Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA

We just got home from the August Patreon screening at the drive-in, and this one was my favorite one yet.  Bruno from the front gate brought in his own 35mm print of a foreign film that was first released in 1998 before making its way over to the United States one year later.

Val's special dessert for the night was apple strudel with a generous helping of fresh cream.  Each one had a little German flag sticking out of it, which was our hint at what country produced the foreign film that we enjoyed last night.  I had a pretty good idea of what it was going to be, and my guess ended up being correct, but we never know for sure until it hits the big screen.

We're not allowed to share the name of the secret features that we get to watch for our Patreon screenings, but there's no law against giving hints.  As I said before, it was a German film from the late 90's.  It was brought to theaters in the United States during the summer of 1999.  It was released on DVD before the end of the year.  I know that I rented it off of the new release wall at Hollywood Video, so I'm guessing that I saw for the first time in either the last few months of 1999 or shortly after the new year in 2000.  I bought the DVD shortly afterward, and it has kept its spot on the top shelf of my DVD rack (where I keep all of my favorite movies) ever since.  I never got to see it in theaters, so once again, the Mahoning Drive-In Theater has made a bucket list screening come true.

From The Double Cross Ranch

Terry Funk
1944 - 2023
One of the most influential and talented wrestlers to ever set foot in a ring has passed away at 79 years of age.  Rest well, Funker, and thank you for everything.

McTetris

Chicken McNugget Tetris
McDonald's (2023)
This summer, McDonald's restaurants in China introduced a Chicken McNugget shaped handheld Tetris game to celebrate the 40th birthday of their iconic bite-sized chicken.

Even though they're not available from restaurants outside of China, there are quite a few of them that can be purchased for a fairly reasonable price on eBay... at least for now.  I figured that this was going to be similar to a Tiger LCD game, and I suppose that it is, but it's a surprisingly decent version of the game.  The familiar song plays over the title screen and while there's no music during the game itself, there are sound effects.  It's not like this is going to become anybody's go-to for playing the game, but kudos to McDonald's for hiring someone who put in the effort to make this a legitimate game, and not just a piece of plastic that is sort of like Tetris.

This is the box that it came in

Instruction Booklet

Instruction Booklet (Google Translate)

Breakfast In Blakeslee

Chat N Chew Cafe

Route 940 - Blakeslee, PA

We met our friends for brunch at a very nice restaurant that I'd never been to before.  They specialize in breakfast and lunch foods and are open from 7:00 am to 3:00 pm everyday, with the exception of Tuesday when the restaurant is closed.  The place has a very cool vibe, and there's so many things that I wanted to try that I'm tempted to print out their menu as a checklist.

I had the ShortRib Benedict, which is Eggs Benedict with short ribs, sauteed onions, and a chiplote hollindaise sauce.  It was served with a side of home fries, and it was delicious!

The Macho Machine

WWF Macho Machine
ExerScience from NordicTrack (1993)
This commercial was on a VHS tape that was filled with episodes of Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers that were recorded off of The Sci-Fi Channel.  It features "Macho Man" Randy Savage pitching a piece of home gym equipment called the WWF Macho Machine.

The print ad for this machine uses the same gimmick as the commercial: a nerdy guy lays on the beach and gets sand kicked in his face by some jerk.  The nerd orders the WWF Macho Machine, and after just twelve weeks, he's built like Randy Savage and ready to kick the guy's ass.  Your results may vary depending on how many times you snap into a Slim Jim after your workout.

The commercial itself is pure gold, but it refers to two other pieces of media that may be even better.  The first is a booklet called the Workout Program Guide, and the second is a workout video.  Both of these feature Randy Savage, and they were given to customers who ordered the WWF Macho Machine.  I wasn't able to find either of them online, but I'll be keeping an eye out for them and will share them if and when I ever come across 'em.

One of the other commercials in the same block was a preview for the John Goodman movie Matinee.  It ended with the statement that the movie starts tomorrow.  From that, I was able to learn that this tape with the WWF Macho Machine commercial was recorded on January 28th, 1993.

Turner Turns The Corner

Trea Turner
Shortstop - Philadelphia Phillies

In tonight's game against the Washington Nationals, Trea Turner became just the third player in the 141 year history of the Philadelphia Phillies to hit two home runs in a single inning.

The only other times that this has happened was on June 2nd, 1949 when Andy Seminick hit two home runs against the Cincinnati Reds in the 8th inning, and on June 11th, 1985 when Von Hayes hit two homers off of the New York Mets in the 1st inning of the Phillies 26-7 route of their rivals.

Turner is the first Phillies player to hit two home runs off of the same pitcher in a single inning (Cory Abbott).  That has only happened six times in the Expansion Era (since 1961), and hasn't happened since August 12, 2008 when David Ortiz hit two homers off of Scott Feldman in the bottom of the 1st in a game between the Red Sox and Rangers.

But You Have Heard Of Me...

Pirates Of The Caribbean
Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA
This poster by artist Matthew Parton commemorates the 2023 community event at the Mahoning Drive-In Theater, which was a 20th anniversary screening of Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl.  The screening last night gave me an opportunity to see it for the first time since I was in my early 20's.  I know that I saw it in theaters shortly after its July 2003 premiere, and I watched it one other time when it was released on DVD, but for some reason I haven't seen it ever since.  I'm not sure why.  It's an excellent movie, but it just isn't one that I think about too often.

This screening seems to be continuing the pirate theme that began on last year's Community Event screening of The Goonies.  One thing that didn't continue was the free tickets, but there's a good reason why.

The Mahoning Drive-In Theater lot is pretty large, but it's not infinite, so there's a limit to the number of cars that it can accommodate.  This can be challenging for a free event because the people who can make it out to the lot early could have potentially filled the place up, leaving folks who get off of work a little later in the day unable to enjoy the movie.  In order to make it fair for everyone, they announced last year's event several weeks before the night of the show, and although tickets were free, you had to go onto the website to reserve one ahead of time.  Sounds like a good plan, right?

All of the available tickets for last year's show were reserved, but it rained on the night of the event, so a lot of the folks who reserved a free ticket didn't bother to come out to see the movie.  I guess it's easy to pass on something that didn't cost you anything in the first place.  The problem with that is because there was a spot held for them in case they did show up a few minutes prior to the start of the film, they couldn't let folks in who didn't have a ticket.  The end result was that the lot was less than half full, with people who reserved tickets staying home to keep out of the rain, and people who wanted to attend being turned away.

This year, they charged $2 per ticket, which is more than fair.  It helps to ensure that the folks who reserve tickets are going to show up, and it's still an extremely reasonable price for a full night of entertainment.

Show banner designed by Andrew Kern

It really was a full night's worth of entertainment too, especially for families with children.  The Salty Sea Circus are a group who perform in pirate and mermaid costumes, and who stay in character the entire time.  They tell stories, juggle, swordfight, perform on stilts, and engage the audience in all kinds of different activities.  It's definitely geared toward children (or at least last night's appearance was), but it was a hell of a lot of fun to watch, and to say that the kids were into it would be a massive understatement.

I didn't take too many videos to protect the privacy of the children who were enjoying the show, but I did manage to catch a little bit of the flaming swordfight that took place under the screen as the sun went down.  I've been on the lot for quite a few different events that were child-friendly, and nothing matched the reaction that this group got.  The kids absolutely loved them, and it was very cool watching them cheer and dance along with the pirates and get into the spirit of the event.

Pirates Of The Caribbean is just as much fun in 2023 as it was in 2003, and it's the kind of movie that's always sure to bring a big crowd to the lot.  There were quite a few folks who came out to the show that I hadn't seen before, and I'm sure that they'll be back!

Cheesy, Spicy, and Delightful

Cheesy Jalapeno Bacon Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese
McDonald's (2023)

This is one of the best fast food burgers I've ever had.  The burger, bacon, jalapeno peppers, American cheese and cheddar cheese sauce are a perfect combination, and they use so much cheese that it just melts in your mouth.

I'm still on the diet where I'm only eating meat three days a week.  I'm not sure if I'll ever get to full vegetarian or vegan, but I think three days is a pretty good compromise.  I'm eating less fat and calories overall for the week, but I still can try things like this when they come out.  These are only available for a limited time, and I'm hoping to make it back to have one more before the availability window closes.

I'll Never Be Too Old For This

Lethal Weapon
Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA

We got some good news at work today, and what better way to celebrate than with a 35mm print of the 1987 Richard Donner action/comedy classic: Lethal Weapon.

Show banner designed by Andrew Kern

The trailer reel for last night's Tunnel Vision Tuesday event reminded me of Action Fest.  That was one of my favorite events at the Mahoning Drive-In Theater last season, and I really hope they do it again soon.  There were about 20 minutes of trailers shown before Lethal Weapon, including the ones for Blind Fury, Raw Deal, Lock Up, and The Dead Pool.

I've seen all four Lethal Weapon movies before, but it's been a hell of a long time; easily over twenty years.  I'm pretty sure that the first time I ever watched it was when I rented all four of them when I was 18 years old, shortly after Lethal Weapon 4 came out on home video.  I watched them all in order over the weekend, and I've only seen them maybe one or two times at most in the years since.

Seeing it at the drive-in made it feel fresh and new.  Maybe it's all in my head, but I could swear that there were a few lines in which Mel Gibson accidentally slips into a slight Australian accent.

The Summer Of Barbenheimer

Barbenheimer poster art
Sean Longmore - Layered Butter (2023)

It's been almost a month since Oppenheimer and Barbie premiered in theaters, and several months since the Barbenheimer memes began to dominate pop culture.  I would have gone to see them both on opening day, but between work and the drive-in, it's been a pretty busy time over the past few months.  I have some extra PTO to burn through, so I took yesterday off and spent some time at the Regal to catch up on two of the summer blockbusters that I had missed out on up to this point.

Oppenheimer

Regal Cinema - Hazleton, PA

This is an incredible work of art that should really be experienced on the big screen, and from a personal perspective, it's exactly the kind of movie that I needed to see in theaters.  I get too easily distracted watching movies at home, and I doubt that I'd ever be able to give a 180 minute long biographical drama the attention that it deserves outside of a theatrical setting.

While I agree with the critics that this is one of the greatest films of the 21st century, it falls into the one-and-done category.  I don't even know where I'd begin to write a review, and I can't imagine that I'll ever want to watch it a second time unless it gets released with a director's commentary or something like that, but I'm very happy to have seen it.

Barbie

Regal Cinema - Hazleton, PA

This was a much better and more complex movie than I expected it to be from its marketing campaign.  The trailers made it look like a slapstick comedy with a hint of social commentary, and while there definitely are a lot of very funny moments, there's nothing subtle or simple about this story.  Watching it reminded me of the first time I saw George Carlin's performances because I found myself laughing in the moment and then reflecting on it a few seconds later.  It uses comedy the way that Advil uses a sugar coating on their medicine.

It wouldn't surprise me a bit if this movie became the subject of study on college campuses around the world for the rest of my life.  It holds a carnival mirror up to society, human nature, and what it means to be a man or a woman in a society that does everything it can to sort you into little categories with pre-defined character traits that you're expected to conform to.  Every generation seems to think that they've risen above this, from the Boomers to today, but all they really seem to accomplish is to create new categories and new rules of conformity, and then proceed to sort everyone into each of them.  The aesthetics change, but the mechanism remains the same.  I realize that I'm straying pretty far from the issues of feminism and the patriarchy that this movie is centered on.  My point is that there's a lot going on in this movie, and it absolutely deserves your time. 

 

I didn't expect to walk away from this double feature saying that the movie based on a line of toys is a more important film than the one about the man who gave the world the atomic bomb, but there's a very good argument to be made that this is the case.  As for myself, I've already had more than enough arguing in my life, so I'll leave this issue to other people to debate.  What I will say is that they're both excellent movies and I'm glad that I didn't let the Barbenheimer phenomenon pass me by.

It's Always Sonny In Philadelphia

Sunday, August 13, 2023

Minnesota Twins @ Philadelphia Phillies

Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

Pitching: Sonny Gray vs Ranger Suarez

Results: Twins defeated Phillies, 3-0

Well, it came a couple of months later than we had planned, but Dad and I finally got to a game together this season.  We had tickets for the game on June 7th, but it was cancelled at literally the last minute because the air quality from the Canadian wildfires was so bad that it was dangerous to be outdoors.  As a result, I wasn't able to check the Detroit Tigers off of my list of MLB teams that I've seen in person, but I was able to check off another AL Central team yesterday: the Minnesota Twins.

Bull's BBQ is Dad's favorite place to grab a bite to eat when we're at the ballpark.  He always orders the Bull Dog Kielbasa, and I always order something else and wish that I had gotten the kielbasa instead, so this time I just went ahead and got the damn kielbasa.  It was very good and I'm glad that I tried it, but I'm not sure that I'm going to make it my go-to at every game the way that my dad does. 

 

This was the last day of Alumni Weekend at Citizens Bank Park, so there were quite a few players from past seasons in town.  This year, the Phillies honored the 40th anniversary of the 1983 NL Championship team and the 30th anniversary of the 1993 NL Championship team.  Radio broadcaster and former pitcher Larry Andersen was the only player who was a member of both the '83 and '93 clubs, so he threw out the first pitch in a custom '83/'93 jersey.

The pregame ceremony for an Alumni Weekend game is always very nice, and I enjoy spending time with my dad at the ballpark whenever we can get down there.  However, from a strictly baseball perspective, this may have been the most brutal game that I've ever had to sit through.  I won't say that home plate umpire Alex MacKay cost the Phillies the game, but he's definitely responsible for it being a shutout.  Alec Bohm had a full count with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the 7th and took what should have been ball four.  See for yourself:

This is where "strike three" was caught

This just wasn't the Phillies night.  They were down 2-0 for most of the game.  That's not a blowout by any means, but it felt almost insurmountable.  I'm not really in the mood to write a full recap of the game, but I will say that my frustration with Kyle Schwarber, and with Rob Thomson for continuing to have him bat leadoff, has never been higher.

The season is going well overall.  They're tied with the Brewers for the third best record in the National League, and they have the top wildcard spot with a 1.5 game cushion over the Giants and 3 game lead on the Marlins, but there are going to have to be some significant improvements between now and the post-season if this team hopes to get back to the World Series.