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 Andre'. 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 Days 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.

Billy Murphy - ebilly.net