Day 48: cheap matinee

So I'm waiting for script notes, the kids just went back to school and I decide to sneak off to a matinee. OK, full disclosure, I am sort of in my pajamas...well they're more like sweats that I slept in.  Which turns out to be totally apropos at this theater. I am at the Culver Plaza Theater because it is the only theater in a 20 mile radius still showing "the Social Network." I have never been here, and all I can say is Wow what a dump! I hope no rats scurry by as I'm huddled here with my muffin and iced tea. The restroom is on par with the Chevron station. I began to wonder about the safety issue of being the only person in this entire movie theater, so I was thrilled to see another woman. We started chatting and I sat sort of near her, much relieved. She told me she only goes to movies on Christmas break. Apart from seeing the Black Swan, which she wasn't wild about, the last film she saw was "Crazy Heart." I asked if she is a teacher, and she said yes. She was very sweet and a little quirky- she could be played by Kirstin Wiig on Saturday Night Live.  As I sat waiting for the movie to start, my toes began to lose sensation.  My iphone read 57 degrees, but in the Culver Plaza Theater it was about 45.

On the plus side, after having gone to a 3-d movie with my son and his pal a few weeks ago and shelling out nearly $70 (including popcorn and slushies), I was thrilled that the movie only set me back $6.  My teacher friend in the next aisle said they advertised $5, so they recently raised their prices.  The movie was fantastic.  Before I left I asked the attendant if the bathroom had EVER been cleaned.  I mentioned that there was no toilet paper anywhere in sight.  As I left the creepy, deserted parking structure I realized L.A. is not designed for going to the movies by yourself.  In New York it's so easy and it never occurred to me to worry.  But those deserted parking structures could not be creepier.  I've seen way too many hours of procedural drama on television to know that all bad things happen to women in these places.  The only thing that might lure me back to the Culver Plaza Theater would be the $6 admission.  I will definitely park on the street, though.