Last weekend was so busy I’m just now recovering from the fallout. Gonerfest had everyone amped up and looking for a good time.  You didn’t even have to brave the Crosstown crowds to take advantage of the excitement.  The entire city hummed with energy and there were things happening everywhere.  Staying true to form, I avoided heavily populated areas and enjoyed some quality time doing something new.  Nothing personal Hi Tone, I just find the No Re-Entry policy a bit unsettling.  Feels a little too Gulagish to me. 

So Saturday evening I ventured East for the Time Warp Drive In.  I’ve watched these events come and go all summer long.  I knew to wait for the right weather so I could enjoy the experience without hot weather and a plague of mosquitoes.  My patience was rewarded with a Tim Burton quadruple feature on one of the most beautiful nights in September.  Malco Theatres, Black Lodge Video, and Guerrilla Monster Films combined their powers to set up a stellar lineup – Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985), Batman (1989), Beetlejuice (1988), and Ed Wood (1994).  I missed the first part of the night due to living in Midtown but settled in partway through Batman.

Time Warp indeed.  Driving down Summer Ave was like a journey to the past.  I have lived in Memphis most of my life.  Like most Memphians, that means I have nostalgic connections to almost every part of the city.  I’ve lived in all four corners and probably slept over at all the non-major compass points.  Summer Avenue is littered with landmarks that conjure memories from my past lives.  I remember when Imperial Lanes was a great place to go bowling (as long as you BYOB).  In high school I spent a Saturday night at The Pancake Shop because my ride hooked up with someone and forgot to pick me up.  And of course, I’ll never forget the dancing neon cowgirls atop the Fantasy Warehouse.  As a child, that sight meant we were almost home from Nashville.

And then there’s the Summer Drive In.  I went there for the first time in 1994 when I started dating a 16-year old boy with an Isuzu Trooper.  It was a very comfortable car.  *wink*  It looks pretty much the same as it did then.  Rickety wooden barrier fencing corralling vehicles into the 4 different lots with a lone concession stand at the back.  The only thing that marks the passage of time is the completely disorganized parking lot.  Back in the day, cars were kept in orderly rows by hundreds of little posts holding little metal radios.  You had to be within reach of these to get sound for the movie.  Nowadays, the Drive In uses fancy radio technology to stream sounds directly to your car.  It’s parking anarchy now.

The Time Warp lot was damn near full when I got there.  Clearly, the creamy Michael Keaton filling in this Tim Burton marathon was a big draw.  As an added treat, they screen local work by Memphis Underground Film Festival (MUFF) during the movie intermissions.  This is something you have to experience first-hand.  The production value invested in these cinematic shorts marks an impressive effort by local professionals.  It’s also really fun to see people I know on the big screen. I brought some cookies to snack on and got an ostentatiously sized Hi-C to go with them.  Give me a hot date to fool around with and the time warping reaches literal proportions.

My favorite part of this particular Time Warp is the original art promo done by Arthouse Memphis.  They are having a Halloween party next weekend.  When I went to look at that I discovered that the great artwork done for the Time Warp series is available in T-shirt form!  This is probably old news, but in my world this discovery merits celebration.  Hop over there and check out how much cooler you can look with just one shirt.  In the meantime, make plans for the next Drive In event – Shocktober.