Last chance

Yesterday, we got another glimpse on the effect of the dismal economy on daily life in America: We decided to go to our local movie theatre and watch Last Chance Harvey with Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson. (We liked the movie, by the way, and recommend it. Good actors, good story)

Our local, suburban movie theatre is old, smells musty, the chairs are not very comfortable, the quality of the screens is so-so and tickets are cheap: only 7 bucks compared to more than $ 10 in the big, modern theatres in the Greater Boston area.

In the past, we felt sometimes almost lonely in our local theatre because only few people went there - even on Saturday nights. Boy, how has this changed. Yesterday, to our big surprise there was a long line in front of the ticket box and we feared , we wouldn't be able to get in, since several movies were already sold out. Luckily, we made it, but just barely. Shortly after we got our tickets, also Last Chance Harvey was sold out as was Benjamin Button, Rachel getting married and Gran Torino.

Well, it seems that at least some businesses profit from the economic crisis and I don't need to worry anymore that our historic Capitol cinema will disappear because of lack of customers.