There are a plethora of things to do in Boston that suits everyone’s interests. Do you like to run? The esplanade provides a great trail with beautiful views. Do you like modern art? The Institute of Contemporary Art can help you get your fix. Do you like going to a movie theater at 12am and watching some of the funniest, scariest and weirdest films that you’ll ever see in your life? Well I have just the place for you.
The Coolidge Corner Theater hosts midnight movies every weekend, and each month has a different theme. One month it is road-action-thrillers, another it’s teen comedies of the early 2000s. Tons of film fanatics buy their tickets hours in advance and then wait in line for an half an hour before, in any kind of weather (rain, snow, wind speeds that feel like 100mph, etc.). After they are called to come into the theater, they sit down with their midnight snacks consisting of popcorn and birch beer soda. It’s 11:59pm. The projectionist announces that the movie is ready to begin and then, the theater goes black. For around two hours, the audience is immersed is pure magic. Whether it is the magic of Romy and Michelle trying to impress their old high school rivals with knowledge of how they invented the Post-It note, or Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez’ world of vampires, it is a feeling that brings you onto a ride that you won’t want to escape.
Some of my best memories in Boston were because of the midnight movies at Coolidge. My freshman year, I was just scrolling the internet (procrastinating, most likely) and found that this theater, which looked cool though I’ve never heard of it, holds midnight movies. Being the film major/film geek that I am, I desperately wanted to go. So, I got a bunch of my friends, and we headed over to Coolidge Corner and got tickets to see Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion. Though I’ve seen the film before, I have never seen it like I had that night. Being in a room with fifty people, kind of delirious because it is 12am on a Friday night/Saturday morning, who love films and who are so immersed in those two hours of pure entertainment brings some sense of community that I sometimes don’t feel in other theaters.
Coolidge After Midnite Program has a special place in my heart. I don’t think that my college experience would be complete without it. Even though I may not be able to go all of the time, I sure try to go when I can, and when I do go, it’s magical. ( For more information visit http://www.coolidge.org/programs/aftermidnite )
