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"We used to go when we were kids but I haven't been in years. We used to have one here in Salina until the early 80"s then they tore it down. I think they still have one in Wichita also."
Baby Sister,
Did you ever stop off in Newton in the way to get a beerock?
Has anyone seen the new movie trailer for "Grindhouse"? Its kind of a tribute to the 70's "B" movies and mimics some of the stuff you might have seen in a drive-in during that era. I for one am not a fan of those types of movies but it made me think of this topic when I saw the trailer. Its actually 2 movies and one of them has Kurt Russell in it.
The movies were directed by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. That will probably be all most of us will need to know to stay away from the movie but I thought it was of interest to bring up in this topic.
Yes there is indeed an active Drive-In in my area, in fact it's just down the road by a few blocks. It's the Sunset drive-in
Twenty-five or so years ago the family and I lived near Dallas (TX). One of the Dallas newspapers had a columnist who called himself Joe Bob Briggs, "Drive-In Movie Critic", who appeared on a regular basis. (If I remember correctly, the guy's real name was John Bloom.)
Anyway, "Joe Bob" was hilarious in his description of various movies appearing in Dallas drive-ins of that period. Although I think Bloom was actually a pretty sophisticated guy, he adopted an exaggerated "good-old boy", down-home persona in writing his columns. Sounded like one of the worst rednecks you ever saw or heard of. Anyone else ever remember reading any of Joe Bob's columns.
"Joe Bob Briggs" - I haven't seen his name for a while. I remember reading his reviews in our paper, but he has been absent for some time. Yeah, Jim, he could be a hoot!
Cheers - Jay
I think he was on AMC or TCM for awhile as well. It was one of those places where I first heard about this guy. I wonder who he seems to have dissappeared?
Yeah, Jim, he could be a hoot!
Here's a typical Joe Bob column.
If you google Joe Bob Briggs, it brings up several sites that pertain to him. The first one, if I remember correctly, is his personal web site, which contains an archive of columns. As I said, many of them are absolutely hilarious.
I seem to recall that Joe Bob suffered the same fate as the Imus guy who just got bounced. He wrote something in a column that was politically incorrect, upset the wrong "victim" group, and the Dallas Times Herald decided to drop his column. Which is when I stopped reading the Herald, since the only reason I ever read that left-wing rag anyway was to get a big laugh from Joe Bob's columns.
Re: The Mission Four:
An abortive attempt was made to open the Mission Four Drive-In here in San Antonio the beginning of August. The drive-in was going to open on the weekends and see how attendance went. The first two weekends were well attended, but then slacked off. The owners decided to close down again and wait until spring to make a decision on whether to reopen again or not.
Cheers - Jay
We have one in our county, which runs flea markets on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from about 7 AM to 3 PM, then has movies every night. There is another one, in the next county over, that runs on the same basis. They both probably make some good money off the flea markets, from folks renting a space for selling.
Here it is, exactly 6 months later, and I am sad to report that the local drive-in is going the way of the dinosaurs (or greedy developers, as the case may be).
Although with all the mortgage problems, we'll see if they can get a loan to accomplish their desired task. Six months from now, the report may be different, unless they tear the screens down before then.
Chester 
I don't know? it would seem to me that if they kept a drive-in open, that people would flock to them-if not for anything than for nostalgia reasons. If they had one here in Corpus Christi, that would be a Friday, Saturday or Sunday night staple for me.
the closest one to us is at a place called jabocs well it is about a 1 1/2 hr drive from here it is half way between brisbane and the gold coast. our local one closed down many years ago and they are developing the area around it as industrial. the screens were taken down about 13 years ago and it has been empty ever since.
cheers smokey
I don't know? it would seem to me that if they kept a drive-in open, that people would flock to them-if not for anything than for nostalgia reasons. If they had one here in Corpus Christi, that would be a Friday, Saturday or Sunday night staple for me.
You would think so, but that partially depends on what they are showing.
Where the local drive-ins are really raking in the bucks is by having flea markets on the grounds on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, during the day.
But I guess in the case of our local one, that still wasn't enough.
Chester
Display MoreYou would think so, but that partially depends on what they are showing.
Where the local drive-ins are really raking in the bucks is by having flea markets on the grounds on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, during the day.
But I guess in the case of our local one, that still wasn't enough.
Chester
Yeah, the same thing happened to two of three of the drive-ins that were in Corpus Christi. The last one to close was on Leopard St, and was called: The Thunderbird Theater. Several years after it closed, they turned it into a flea market and then a few years after that closed, it was torn down and made into an Industrial Park. The other drive-in I am familiar with was located just off of the Crosstown Expressway, and when traveling on the Crosstown at night, one could always see what was playing at that drive-in-which for it's last year or so, was only Spanish language movies. This dive-in was torn down shortly after closing, and there is still no development on that land; just high weeds. The last one, I have no clue when it shut down or was torn down.
I am remiss in that I haven't posted this in a timely manner. It had just slipped my mind (what there is of it). This is a effort to make amends.
Our last drive in theater, the Mission Four, was closed last winter by the owners. They sold it to the City of San Antonio which plans to build a library and community center along with other amenities on the property.
This was the last of the drive ins that flourished locally
.
Cheers - Jay
There was a time when there were 15 Drive Ins in a 30 square mile area where I live and another twenty in the interior of the Province. Now there is only one in my area and 4 others in the interior. The local one runs from March to Mid November showing two first run films 6 nights a week at 9 & 11 pm, three on Saturdays and long weekends. They have swap meets sat and sundays. Admission is $11 reg kids 5-12 $7 seniors $8:50.
Tues reg is $8:50 and Thursdays a carload of up to 5 people is $25. I went fairly ofton when I was younger but have not gone to one in years. This thread has made me decide to go back at least once with any of our kids who are willing so they can have the experience. Won't be the same as going with a date of course but will give them a taste.
North of here a guy is reopening one, thinks there is enough interest to make a go at it. I've not been to one in 20 years
We have a drive in about 20 miles away, the only one left for many miles. It is run by students, they do a great job.
They tore down my Drive-in so a trucking company could move in.... too bad that company never came and now we just have a big empty field where the theater used to be.
Ft. Lauderdale Florida, Swap Shop has drive in with 14 screens, a circus and HUGE flea market.
Ft. Lauderdale Florida, Swap Shop has drive in with 14 screens, a circus and HUGE flea market.
Holy cow! 14 screens! That's amazing! I would guess the warmer climate lends itself to that as well, but I'm glad to hear that such a place exists. With that many screens, do they ever show old movies?
Here it is, exactly 6 months later, and I am sad to report that the local drive-in is going the way of the dinosaurs (or greedy developers, as the case may be).
Although with all the mortgage problems, we'll see if they can get a loan to accomplish their desired task. Six months from now, the report may be different, unless they tear the screens down before then.
Where the local drive-ins are really raking in the bucks is by having flea markets on the grounds on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, during the day.
But I guess in the case of our local one, that still wasn't enough.
Two years later . . . the company that was going to build a medical complex on the land still hasn't, after a short period without even the flea market, they at least started that back up again. I'm not sure, but I think they did already tear out the screens . . . but I'll look more closely the next time we drive by.
Chester
