Second run movies can be first class big screen experiences
When I became aware of the plans to do movie re-runs at the Denbigh Agricultural Showgrounds in Clarendon, starting the end of last month, I was thrilled. And that wasn’t just because I want to try to relive my long-gone youth and do some stuff in the car that is action, thriller, drama, comedy and romance all wrapped up in one, with me as the “Star Bway”, but also because it opens up the possibility of some variety in Jamaica’s big-screen fare. As many persons have found out (or it has been reinforced) when COVID-19 hit and Netflix surged in popularity, it is something that is sorely lacking in the Jamaican entertainment offering. That is because Palace Amusement is the only player in the market, and they bring in exclusively North American fare.
That, in itself, is tolerable, but it is also a selection of the latest releases, with no attempt to curate special screenings, like what seems to be intended at the Denbigh Showgrounds. Before COVID-19 there was some break in the monotony when various embassies staged their film festivals (the European Union’s naturally tended to be especially diverse, what with its several member states) although, ironically, the films were shown in Palace Amusement facilities. On the whole, though, seven nights a week all year round, the Jamaican moviegoer had a steady diet of American blockbusters, and not so blockbusters, to feast on.
For me, though, it has meant famine, not only because it is North American fare, but the latest is not necessarily the best in my opinion. Those of us who knew the pre-1996-fire Palace Cinema in Cross Roads (remember the oversized cigarette box on the top, which made the town newbies think it was a place that made smoking material?) and went there on a Saturday morning for the triple bill will understand. Many of those movies were North American, with some ‘kickers’ also in the mix (which does not mean they did not have USA input), but they were not what was hot at the time, which would be shown in the night. I was never able to stay through three movies back-to-back to back, but when I stumbled out about mid-way the final one, blinked to adjust to the mid-afternoon sun and staggered across to the clock to take a bus home, I was well satisfied.
As a ‘country’ boy, I did not have the experience of going to other cinemas in ‘town’, although the State in Cross Roads and Odeon in Half-Way Tree (just about where the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) buses coming down Constant Spring Road enter the Transport Centre) were still standing in the early 1990s. State was especially popular during the simulcast of Mike Tyson’s heavyweight boxing bouts when, as legend has it, sometimes persons were paying to go in and other patrons were coming out, saying ‘fight dun arready’. The open roof cinema at the corner of East Queen Street and Camp Road is still standing, while in Cross Roads the Regal has become an Azan’s store and there is a church where another cinema was along Slipe Road. The cynics among us would say one fantasy has replaced another. I have heard persons reminisce on the Strand in Montego Bay, the Ambassador in Trench Town and the Majestic on Spanish Town Road, among others, so they made a lasting impression. The most I can talk about regarding variety in cinema with authority is the former Blue Diamond, but there are persons who can speak about the cinemas in the rural areas (I remember seeing a closed one in Duncans, Trelawny).
I have no idea of the variety of cinematic fare shown on the big screens of yesteryear, but I am hoping for some good packages in Clarendon and hoping that the drive-in idea can be replicated elsewhere across the island, with Jamaican films included in the offering. I would drive a long way to see Shottas on big screen. Or, how about a triple of Shottas, Better Mus’ Come and Third World Cop? A re-run-oriented drive-in will have to have to choose its screen fare wisely, rather than counting on new films and cast to keep the turnstile ticking over. I do hope this means there will be some consideration for non-North American fare and there will be sufficient interest to turn a profit for the organisers.
Mel Cooke covered Jamaican entertainment as a print journalist for almost two decades, overlapping with his MPhil research on dancehall and experiential marketing with the Institute of Caribbean Studies, UWI, Mona, where he is now working on a PhD while lecturing in the Bachelor of Arts, Communication Arts and Technology (BACAT) programme at the University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech, Ja.).
