Dream City Moviplex

I was visiting the owner of the Dream City MoviPlex, located in the Old City Center's now aging mall. The carpets were starting to look a little worn, hundreds of thousands of eager steps, spilled soda and popcorn as well as the occasional toppled rope stand had taken their toll. The sound of kids eagerly headed to the latest big screen entertainment hadn't changed, though, and the place was filled with happy voices and the hubbub of pre-movie preparations and after movie celebrations.

I went up to the show office with the owner and we were conversing about the place, and the renovations he wanted to make. He knew I had some warehouses recently repaired, and wanted to move his theater equipment into storage during the renovations (as my warehouses were the closest ones to the theater.) I told him I would love to rent him the space, but perhaps he might be willing to make a different deal. I wanted him to give me a couple of passes that would allow me and a guest to attend any show that wasn't sold out when we arrived. While he was thinking about it I bumped the play button on his messaging machine. An old man's voice rang out of the office speakers with measured cadence and a sort of delightful passion - reviewing one of the theater's most recent offerings. The audio review was not particularly flattering, but was delivered with a great sense of respect and humor about the film, its director and actors, and the theater in which he saw it. I understood why the owner wanted to renovate. I then realized that the caller was actually me... True to this type of dream, once the recording was started, I couldn't find a way to turn it off. Though profoundly embarrassed, I also found the audio very entertaining, then felt guilty at my narcissistic pleasure. The plots and images of dozens of other films I'd seen there flashed through my mind, good memories, all of them, even the bitter-sweet memories of good times with past loves.

I suggested that the owner use the review of the theater as part of his web site explaining the need for the renovations, as well as capturing the lure of the place and the love for the whole enterprise. He admitted that he'd kept all of my reviews and suggestions on tape. I was flattered.

He actually wanted to put them up as a podcast about the theater's history, as my "reviews" apparently went back a couple of decades... I had no idea.

When I woke I was actually sort of stuck on the idea of the podcast, not so much for the theater review, but for the reviews/descriptions of the movies I'd seen there. They weren't anything like any movies I've actually seen in my waking city.

I wish I could recall more of the stories I'd seen on that big screen (realizing, of course, that the memories whether real or dreamed, would all be of stories that I created, remembered, or modified from my waking world.)