I’ve always been a huge fan of going to the movies, which means leaving my home and traveling to a movie theater to watch a movie as apposed to renting/buying the movie and watching it at home. During high school and college going to the movies was almost a weekly treat but then, shortly after graduating, I moved to the big city–Jersey City–and eventually over the bridge into NYC.

While living there, going to the movies became an ordeal and unless I went in the middle of the week during an obscure time, the theater would be packed with obnoxious, loud assholes who seemed to be under the impression that they were watching the film in their own living rooms, where taking a phone call or having an outdoor-voice conversation with the person next to them was completely acceptable. City crowds ruined the movie experience for me and I rarely went unless I had a few stiff drinks in me first.

Now I live in the bucolic setting of Upstate New York and going to the movies is like traveling back in time thanks to The Crandell Theatre in Chatham.

The Crandell was built in 1926 by Walter S. Crandell, as a vaudeville house, and not much has changed since then. The stage has been replaced with a screen but they still have one of those soda vending machines where the cup drops into an opening and then fills up with the beverage of your choice. There’s one large screen and all the movies are just five bucks!

I saw the new GI Joe flick at the Crandell on Wednesday and I’m pretty sure I saw a girl in a poodle skirt necking with greaser in the balcony. If you ever have the chance to see a movie here, I highly recommend it.

Here is a lovely little film, made by a local film maker, all about the Crandell. Enjoy!