Saturday Morning Cinema — A Fatherhood Tradition Continues in Birmingham
Strategies, Traditions, and Favorite Films at Birmingham’s Sidewalk Film Festival
Post #14 of #20: I am reflecting on twenty years of personal and professional experiences in Birmingham and beyond. Visit www.medium.com/HonestlyEd to read the full #20For20 series.
Dad: “Let’s go to the movies!”
Us: “Yaaaayyyyy!!”
Cinema has always been a major part of my life. Weekends with my parents and sister were centered around going to a movie theatre, watching VHS tapes at home, or when Dad really wanted to splurge we would order a movie on Pay Per View. We watched popular studio movies as well as Horror B-movies, Blaxploitation flicks, and science-fiction/fantasy films like Krull, Dune, and Tron.
On Saturday mornings my Dad took me to The Grand Theatre in Downtown Milwaukee to watch classic Kung Fu movies. The theatre was a living relic of the 1930s Vaudeville era. By the mid-80s “The Grand” had lost its appeal and was reduced to those Saturday showings and some community events.
The entire Saturday morning experience was a juxtaposition; the quality of film to the quality of the venue, the size of the audience to the size of the venue. Dark red velvet textures and stately solid gold decor enveloped…
