Maybe I am the only one who

has noticed this, but it seems that movie ticket prices are pretty darn

expensive. I know why they are high though. They make the tickets so costly

just to lessen the blow of the concession stand prices. I have a feeling

it won't be long before they start charging you for popcorn by the kernel.

I love the movies but I particularly

love movie theaters. I have been in the biggest and the best from New

York to Dallas to Detroit to Los Angeles. But no matter where I go, they

all have one thing in common: that sticky, dank movie theater floor. You

may not know this, but it tastes like root beer. My personal theory on

how they make Goobers is they take a peanut at the top of the movie theater

and let it go. By the time it rolls to the bottom, it's a Goober.

My favorite local movie house

is Carmike in Newnan. Lines move fast, and the movies always start promptly

with few difficulties. There is one thing that I really love about the

Carmike theater, though. I love it when they go through the concession-stand,

sales-pitch upgrades. Here is a typical scene.

"I would like ...."

(Concession person interrupting) "Would you like to try our combo?"

I reply, "Uh, no, I will

take a medium Coke." (Concession person interrupting) "For a

quarter more you can get a large!"

I reply, "No, that is

OK. I will take a medium Coke, a small popcorn ...." (Concession

person interrupting) "For 45 cents more you can get a medium popcorn!"

I reply, "Um, OK, I will

take a medium Coke, a medium popcorn ...." (Concession person interrupting)

"For 60 cents more you can get a large popcorn!" And so it goes.

Some people might find this

irritating, but a quarter is a fair price to pay, going from a 64-ounce

drink to a full 96 ounces. You could irrigate a small farm in Uganda with

that size. (It's only after I walk way that I realize I could have save

an additional 50 cents by ordering the combo).

I am probably the only person

in the world who has MovieFone on speed dial at home and voice dial on

my cell.

To really show I have movies

on the brain, I will close with a story made totally from movie titles.

As Autumn Leaves begin to fall

Who'll Stop The Rain? As I have The Hunger, I long for Breakfast at Tiffany's

or Lunch in the Park or My Dinner with André. Of course, Dinner

and a Movie would be nice, I have a Titanic appetite. If I didn't have

to work 9 to 5 after a Hard Day's Night, I would see even more movies.

I even Dream a Little Dream

about movies sometimes. Last night, it had Shakespeare in Love with an

American Beauty as he Dances with Wolves. Once I dreamed Forrest Gump

riding on Chariots of Fire Out of Africa had a Braveheart, making Shindler's

List of Ordinary People. It was Driving Miss Daisy Nuts.

Somewhere in Time, In the Heat

of the Night, On the Waterfront, A Man For All Seasons goes to the movies

too. This Midnight Cowboy makes a Gentleman's Agreement to save me some

Popcorn, yet leaves me Looking for Mr. Goodbar. And remembering one of

Burt Reynolds' finest, The End.