A Movie Alone at The Varsity Theatre

“That’s kind of sad,” a friend of mine told me when I said I was walking downtown from campus to see a movie by myself. The comment was closely followed by a “just kidding,” but that seems to be a common assumption about being young and going to see a movie by oneself.  To be perfectly honest, I may have thought the same thing myself at an earlier time, but two weeks ago, when walking past Davis’ Varsity Theatre and seeing that “The Silver Linings Playbook” was showing, I was seized by the urge to just walk in alone. I didn’t have the time on that particular day, and after finding that no one I knew was really interested in seeing the film anyway, I decided that to hell with it, I’ll see it alone.

I remember one of my first nights in Davis, right after my roommate moved into our apartment, her family took us out to dinner downtown. It was the first time I had really gone out to explore anything beyond the grocery store, the campus, and my apartment complex. We parked the car, and while walking to a popular pizza place, I saw the Varsity Theatre. Now, I haven’t done very much travelling, but this was easily the coolest looking movie theatre I had ever seen. With that big white marquee out front and all the neon lights, I just thought the place had this vintage Hollywood feel to it.

Every time I went past it from then on, I would think to myself that it would be so cool to go see a movie there.

Now, back to the present.

Last Wednesday, I walked from campus to the theatre just in time to catch the 3:30 p.m. showing. Walking into the place, you can feel its age. And I mean that in a totally awesome way; not in like a musty old age way, but an enduring piece of local history way. I even hear some people think the place is haunted. Tickets and concessions are bought behind the same counter, and there’s a $0.50 discount on all concessions purchased with cash…which I ended up taking advantage of by returning, after I bought my ticket, to purchase a small popcorn. With extra butter. That I ate in its entirety. But my extreme popcorn eating habits are a story for another time.

Proceeding to the actual room where the movie was screening was an interesting experience in and of itself. The Varsity is a small theatre, and this particular room was in the very back of the building, reached by a miniature hike through identical hallways, which, thank goodness, are marked with signs pointing you in the right direction. Reaching the room, I saw only four other people seated, two of which I was happy to note, were very much by themselves. (Solitary Movie-Goer Solidarity!) The screening room was relatively small, with high backed rows of seats packed fairly close together. A brief observation after taking my seat in an empty middle row, and I was able to surmise that most unfortunate seat in the house: the bottom left corner…it looked a little claustrophobic.

The movie began promptly at 3:30 p.m., the lights went down, and I was in a theatre, seeing a moving alone for the first time. And it was awesome. I laughed, I ate my popcorn, and I thoroughly enjoyed my experience.  I recommend that everyone try it at least once.  Especially if you’re in Davis, and have the opportunity to check out the Varsity.