Some things are just worth waiting for: your birthday. Christmas. The birth of a child/grandchild/puppies.
Other things, not so much: your tax bill. Kidney stones. Godot.
In some cases, waiting is not only worth it, it’s the right thing to do. Because if you’re waiting for a new movie to come to the Civic Theatre, and it means waiting a little longer, the rewards are worth it.
Most Civic Theatre movies get screened a few weeks after they are first released (it’s called “on the break”). By showing things a little later, we can take advantage of relaxed distribution rules, so we don’t have to show one movie and nothing else for two or three solid weeks. So we can speak to Nelson’s eclectic tastes, and have something for everyone, all the time.
So what about those rewards? By waiting a few weeks, you get to support your local theatre in your hometown — supporting the local economy, creating jobs, and celebrating the home-grown, grassroots success story that is the Nelson Civic Theatre. To me — and legions of other Civic supporters — that’s worth waiting for.
Sometimes, the wait is shorter — especially if a movie has the crowd-pleasing appeal that will fill seats for a longer run. Case in point, we’re opening Interstellar on its second week (November 14) and we’re opening Mockingjay on the break (November 21) and Dumb and Dumber To on its third week on November 28.
Add to that Monday and Wednesday special events and member movies, and Thursday night indie/art-house flicks, and — yep, we still manage to have something for everyone.
Creative bunch that we are, we have sweetened the pot with Dinner-and-a-Movie deals until December 17, with special meals paired with discount tickets at eight Nelson culinary destinations: the Hume, the Outer Clove, Finley’s, Itza, Max & Irma’s, Main Street Diner, Bibo, and Relish. Even more to stick around for!
Oh, the things worth waiting for: Love. Your dream job. The cookies baking in the oven. The wine aging in your cellar. And yes, that movie you’ve been looking forward to, when you can enjoy it with non-GMO popcorn with real butter and the Civic’s special popcorn spice.
We live in a crazy, gotta-have-it-now instant-gratification world. Naturally, there is backlash. Enter the “slow movement,” that cultural shift that is all about slowing down our collective and individual pace. Slow food is a key ingredient (pardon the pun), but a quick (instantly gratified) check with Wikipedia turned up other slow movements, including slow art, slow gardening, slow travel. Now, we’ll add slow films. Not the film itself, just our attitude to its arrival.
Take your time. Relax. The movie will get here, and when it does, you can enjoy it with your family and friends at your community theatre — maybe with a nice dinner out beforehand. That said, the movie will begin on time (we don’t do everything slowly); do get there in a timely manner.
Would you mind passing the popcorn? No rush.
Anne DeGrace is the past president of the Nelson Civic Theatre Society. To find out about upcoming films and all things Civic go to civictheatre.ca.