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One of the silver linings to the pandemic changing our movie-going habits is the resurgence of drive-ins. Some of my favorite memories as a child are of our family going to the drive-in, and there was one near my college too. I saw Anaconda at a drive-in with my boyfriend at the time! (He moved to California and got a job at Google. I should have been nicer to that guy.) Garth Brooks just did a concert simulcast to drive ins and Dave Franco and Alison Brie recently premiered their new movie at a drive in outside Los Angeles. They charged $55 a car, which may sound steep but if you consider a $12 average ticket price it’s not even double the cost of a regular movie if you bring three people. Alison is starring in Dave’s directorial debut, The Rental, a horror movie about two couples being terrorized at an Air BnB type property. This is the second new horror movie about people renting vacation houses! You Should have Left, with Amanda Seyfried and Kevin Bacon, just came out. The Rental costars Dan Stevens, Jeremy Allen White from Shameless (love him) and Sheila Vand. You can see the trailer on People. So far there’s only one review, but it’s generally positive. Here’s People’s writeup about the drive-in premiere experience.
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Dave Franco and Alison Brie attended the drive-in premiere of The Rental, which marks Franco’s directorial debut, at the Vineland theater outside of Los Angeles on Thursday.
Per Variety, the event was attended by with 650 cars (containing an estimated 1,300 patrons) paying $55 per car.
After the premiere, a live Q&A was projected on the screen, with Franco and Brie Zoom-ing in from their car. Vand also Zoom-ed in from her own vehicle nearby, per the outlet, while Stevens and White participated more remotely.
Franco, who directed and co-wrote the film with Joe Swanberg, told Variety the parking lot premiere was “definitely surreal.”
“But in the end, it truly did feel unique and special,” he said. “Where standard premieres are a bit more formal, with everyone dressed in suits and fancy dresses, I just don’t think that would’ve been the right vibe for this film.”
“I love how casual the night was, and it didn’t feel like there was a spotlight on me or the cast,” he added. “It felt more like a communal experience where everyone was just excited to get out of their homes and let loose with a group of fellow movie lovers. It was perfect.”
It sounds like a great experience and I love how they Zoomed from their car to do a Q&A afterwards. I would pay $55 to go to a movie premiere at a drive-in. Hopefully we’ll also see more drive-ins open throughout the US. It’s so much safer than typical movie theaters and you don’t have to worry too much about the venue enforcing social distancing because it’s outside. Also, people can check their phones, snack loudly, and talk quietly during a drive-in movie and not bother anyone but the other people in the car. Plus a lot of places let you bring dogs too. The only downside is that your car gets dirty with popcorn and snacks but that happens in my car anyway. The Rental is out on VOD on July 24.
How cute is this?
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I would love it if drive-ins really came back. We had one on LI when I was a kid but it closed years ago. Up till about 2 years ago, I spent summers on Cape Cod for a while, because my bf had a home there. They have a drive-in in Wellfleet, but it only shows old movies and basically the same one for a long time. I would love if real drive-ins came back. I would definitely go, and all the time
I have fond memories of drive-ins, too, both with my family and neighbors when I was little where we got to wear our pajamas and sleep in the car on the way home. And in high school when we would stuff someone in the trunk to save money on admission!
I think real drive ins would do well right now. The idea seems both nostalgic and right for modern times. I think one of the last remaining ones in the Chicago area was finally demolished not that long ago. Maybe, as malls seem to be failing, mall properties can be re-used for drive ins!
Oh that’s a great idea Esmom! (the malls)
Whenever I see Alison Brie I can’t help but be so distracted by whatever she did to her face. I don’t know why, because she’s certainly not the only celebrity to do it and it’s not even badly done. It just really draws my attention.
I’m terrible at discerning subtle work. What do you think she had done? She is 37 after all! I am 43 and would love to have some subtle work done on my eyes and cheeks. I worry about my jaw line maybe more than I should.
The only time work distracts me is when it’s like a total change of face and just looks fake. Like, omg, Kenny Rogers. What was he thinking? Or like Jocelyn WIldenstein
I don’t see plastic surgery, but she does look different to me in every photo, but always has.
I always have the mental image of her from Community, but that was like 10 years ago now, and she was always made to look younger on that show.
I think she looks really good. It seems like she might’ve done something (maybe just fillers or skin treatments?) but it’s very subtle. I think part of her changing look just have to do with maturing and losing weight in her face. I’ve recently lost some weight and really notice it in my face. It does age me a bit.
I agree about the weight. Her face/cheeks were so much fuller when she was on community but she’s been working out and lost so much weight for Glow and it’s really showing on her face.
@Bub244 I totally know what you mean about her face! I loved her in Community and she used to be so cute. I’m guessing some botox and cheekbone implants, maybe a subtle nose job? And the weight loss?
Because this is not just normal aging: In 2014, age 32, still cute
https://www.redcarpet-fashionawards.com/2014/03/03/alison-brie-giambattista-valli-vanity-fair-oscar-party-2014/
And just 3 years later, looking a lot more mature and somehow sadder:
https://celebmafia.com/alison-brie-glow-tv-show-premiere-los-angeles-06212017-821571/
I really miss her before face 🙁
I love it, seems like it was a great event. Nice to see them modeling social distancing and showing that we can still have nice things. The movie sounds good, too.
love drive ins. hope they come back. and i hope there will be restrooms available for patrons. that will be fairy crucial.
I live in RI and we have two. One is in Westerly, near the beach, and plays older summer movies but the other the other runs current movies, usually one PG-13 or R and one more kid friendly. It’s awesome, def a summer tradition.
I enjoyed drive ins as a kid. I remember watching the original Pink Panther movies and listening to my parents laugh hysterically. They were cheap and showed family movies. BUT, what I also remember is bad sound and jockeying for a comfortable position where you could actually see the movie. My favorite theaters in town offer prepaid, reserved seat reservations. The seats recline and are heated. The sound is good. Yes, I would go see an old movie in a drive in, but a movie I’ve been waiting for, no way. It wouldnt be an enjoyable experience.
I’ve never been to a drive in, we never really had then in the uk, atleast not during my lifetime anyway, but I would absolutely love to go to one. I think it sounds like a great idea, now so more than ever with social distancing. I always think of Grease when I think of drive ins.
Same! But what I don’t understand, and maybe our North American friends can tell me, is how do you watch it in a car with a top? Is it like Grease?
You watch it in your car, they had these speakers that would be near your car, or put on your window, so you could hear it. If you had a truck, you can lay in the bed of it, lots of people would bring blankets, and lawn chairs, so you can do that too. And there’s normally tables by the food area too.
Today the sound comes through a channel on your car radio. I loved going as a kid but not anymore. Too many mosquitoes and moths for me. The one I went to as a kid is still open and popular even before the pandemic.
Same – I don’t think we have enough space to have drive ins in the UK. Property is more expensive so it probably wouldn’t be economical in a lot of cases.
I hope they make a comeback! I love going to the movies but I’m not stepping inside a theater until there’s a vaccine. I wasn’t alive during the first wave of drive-ins, so I’d love to experience that! We have a few that are supposed to pop up in my state sometime this summer. I’m hoping some will be near me.
I have faint memories of the drive in as a kid, and there used to be one on my way to work that was dismantled years ago.
There was just a summer film festival here, one of the big events of the year, and they managed to do it as a drive in with inflatable screens. Pretty cool! I love some of the creative solutions people have come up with during this weird time.
We actually went to a drive in at the start of the COVID lockdowns. It was in very early March when WA had just put out suggestions and nothing had officially closed yet. The drive in opened early this year, anticipating that people would want “safe” entertainment. It was fun! But then, for some reason, they were included in the official lockdown a week later so we lost that too. I would understand shutting the concession stand, but I didn’t understand why they shut the whole thing down.
The only thing I don’t love is how late the movie starts. In March, it got dark around 830 so it wasn’t too bad, but still too late to stay for the 2nd part of the double feature. In the summer it gets dark even later, so no way we will be up for both movies.
What did you see? Was it an older classic or one of those tiny films that wern’t pulled?
The last drive in I went to was showing that one movie with Sharon Stone, and Michael Douglas? I can’t remember the name, I didn’t go to watch it, I went to hang out with my friends, lol, I was in JR High, and it was more important to be cool, than watch the movie my parents were watching, haha! To be 12 again
Basic Instinct
I think it’s a really cool idea and I’d definitely go. There are two drive ins where I live! Here are the online posted rules:
If you to attend the drive-in, be advised that:
*You must wear a mask when visiting the bathroom and snack bar.
*You must not leave your vehicle except to visit the bathroom or snack bar.
*You must view the movie from within your vehicle.
*You must practice social distancing at all times.
*You must not leave your vehicle when purchasing tickets.
*If you do not follow the above guidelines, you will be asked to leave without refund.
They’re making way more effort than they did at that stupid tennis tournament you posted about in a separate thread!
Good to know. I think I’d be most nervous about the toilets (all the shared surfaces), do you know if they are doing more cleaning?
The drive-in still stands in my hometown and ppl there absolutely love it. Mid-90s was a great time for the drive in…Twister, Lion King, Toy story, Independence Day, Jurassic Park! So many fond memories and such a cheap snack bar!
I love these two, they’re so sweet and both so talented. Can’t wait to rent this!
Drive in theaters need to come back, like, NOW.
There are some cute pictures of the two of them posing with other cast members/attendees while keeping a distance from one another. Just another reason why Dave is and has always been The Superior Franco!!
Agree, I know next to nothing about them as people but they do look like a very cute couple