The Beauty In Older Things

 

You could say in today’s world, things are easy, we are able to go places because of online booking, for trips or events like a concert or a movie, we can find things we want by shopping online or even have the convenience of seeing our favourite movies on streaming sites like Netflix or Disney plus. However, while it is convenient, it also kind of feels too easy, when these things come to play, a lot of things that came before it seemed to deteriorate, some places changed or closed down for good and it is very sad because even though they aren’t as convenient as modern technology is, they had some great benefits, even the simplicity of it could be nice too. This article will hopefully help you see the joy and beauty in these things and maybe take you back.

 

One of the things I find great joy in going to is vintage cinemas. By vintage I mean the movie theaters that only have one room and play one movie at a time. My first time ever was on a valentine’s date with my ex boyfriend and we saw The Road Chip, it was a different kind of cinema to be in but it was kind of cool, I never really thought about it for a while, until 2022, when I found out a cinema was playing School Of Rock the next day, I was so excited and was eager to take this chance, once I looked up how to get there, and once I arrived, I was able to get a ticket a day early so I could go, and when I came in, it was so nice to be back and this I think was the perfect place to go to see a movie that still makes me laugh to this day and is something that is important to see today. The cool thing about this cinema is just how simple it is, just being in the place, surrounded by people who love the movie as much as you, and seeing the staff talk passionately about it is just amazing. The Throwback Cinema screenings are especially great, the host of this is very passionate about the movies they play whether it was Ratatouille, Honey I Shrunk The Kids, School Of Rock, The Muppet Christmas Carol or The Emperor’s New Groove, she would ask people if they have or haven’t seen this movie before and share interesting trivia facts and it could help returning viewers learn something new or new people learn more before experiencing something fun or thoughtful. The Revue even does cool artwork, they always make posters for the movies they play and I think they are pure art, here are a couple of the posters I got from the screenings I attended.

Another independent cinema in Toronto I’ve gone to is the Fox Theatre. I first heard about it when a friend of my dad’s told me he went there a lot when he was in high school, so naturally I was curious about it, so I looked it up and I saw that on Family Day (it’s a Canadian holiday, it’s on the third Monday of February) they were playing Shrek. That was the only Shrek movie I didn’t see in theatres and I was hoping for a chance to see it, and once I saw I wasn’t busy that day, I decided to go, and it was a nice time, I never got to see Shrek in theatres because I was only 2 years old, and still too little to go to the movies, (though Shrek 2 was my first DreamWorks movie in cinemas) and it was fun to see it in cinemas. I ended up coming a few more times later that year, when I heard there was a sing along screening of Mary Poppins, I was eager to experience Walt Disney’s masterpiece, as I said before, it was fun to hear everyone sing along to the classic songs we’re still singing to this day, like I could hear singing during The Perfect Nanny and Let’s Go Fly A Kite, it was so fun to see it, Walt would’ve been proud to see this happen. Plus, at that screening I found out about the Fox Theatre playing Shrek again, but they said it was an interactive screening, it got me a bit curious, after asking one of the employees about it, she gave me a little idea about it and it had me curious, and after thinking I decided to go, I invited a friend of mine to join and she agreed to do so, and when we saw it. this is another cool thing about independent cinemas, they can have fun events, encouraging people to have a great time, and this interactive Shrek screening was no exception. The prompt sheets encouraged us to sing along to All Star, pretend the floor was lava when Shrek and Donkey crossed the bridge, yelling “Get Out Of My Swamp!’ when Shrek sees some uninvited guests at his home, (it was so fun to hear the kids shouting the line) and just being able to have a great time. The people in the cinema were clearly passionate about organizing this fun event, to help people relive this animated movie that has made quite the impact for many years, and even getting children today to see it too, showing that certain family movies will remain timeless forever. Another fun time was earlier in March, this organization that is trying to help de stigmatize periods, joined with the Fox theatre to play movies that tackle it, and one of them was My Girl (it was tackled briefly and subtly but it still was effective), before the movie, they quizzed people to also help them learn more about it, it was a nice little bit before the movie. Plus, they were talking to some young girls that were experiencing it for the first time or those who were soon to experience it for the first time, giving them some assurance that it will all be okay, something every girl must hear when this happens. I applaud them for doing this, periods may seem messy, gross and uncomfortable but they’re normal, it’s part of growing up, for girls at least, hopefully they can help end the stigma so nobody will feel ashamed of their times of the month coming and feel more comfortable talking about it. It was fun to see the movie, I think I heard a bit of laughter in the bit where Shelley tells Vada about what’s happening to her, and I think I heard some sniffling near the ending, my god, if there ever is a screening for this movie, remember your tissues. The Fox Theatre is great at bringing back older movies to the big screen, giving viewers a chance to experience it in a cinema, and also at making fun events from it, something you don’t see at local cinemas (though TIFF does seem to have it when they have their sing along screenings), and that’s why I think independent cinemas are just as great as local ones.

Talking about vintage cinemas also reminds me, this is one of the things that inspired me to write this article, near the end of June, the Revue was in threat of closure because of a greedy landlord, instantly people spoke up, signed contracts and even put up posters, it seemed to work as they won an injunction for until Halloween this year and everyone is still working together to show their support, even legendary filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro is showing support too in order to keep it from closing it for good. I have put up posters in parts of Toronto for the last couple of days to show my support and hopefully encourage people to support the Revue to keep it alive because it’s not just a cinema, it’s a community. Hopefully all the support will keep this place alive and corporate greed will never win. If you can help support the Revue it would be greatly appreciated, because you’re helping keep a special part of Toronto alive.

This is the poster i made and 

put them up all over town

 

Another thing that has been taken for granted is home media. Sure, digital streaming is convenient, but it never beats the simple joys of seeing it at home with a copy whether it’s a VHS, DVD or a Blu-Ray player. In the past I did a story about the beauty of home media, where I talked about the great things about watching movies on DVD, from the commentaries, if you’re interested in those, the bonus material like games, art galleries, behind the scenes videos, deleted scenes, storyboard sequences, trailers and TV spots, sneak peeks and much more! It was always fun to have those on DVDs, not to mention the creative menus for the different selections you could choose on a DVD, you could see pretty visuals or even fun times with the characters. The ones I love the most are the Shrek 2 and Finding Nemo DVDs, the Shrek 2 DVD has that Brady Bunch menu, when you would select something, you’d have the character on said selection, introducing the menus and that’s why the only Shrek 2 DVD I will ever own is the one from 2004. The Nemo DVD is also awesome because both discs play the movie in different formats, the menus make it look like being in the ocean or in an aquarium, especially when the fish icon would show the menus without the text, the scene selections would have Bruce or Crush voiceovers at certain scenes, you’d see the color script, art concepts for the characters, the Knick Knack short film, the visual commentary (not only does it have Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich and Bob Peterson talking about the movie but it includes deleted scenes, international dubs of the seagulls saying, “Mine”, showing the models for the tiki heads, or Andrew Stanton talking about the inspiration for the movie and a tribute to one of their crew members Glenn McQueen, it’s no wonder it was one of the best selling DVDs of all time. Even the Monsters Inc DVD was probably the best first Pixar DVD, because of what it had to offer, like the production tour, the peek a boo door game, the original concept with artwork and narration by Pete Docter, TV bumpers, the trailers, including the charades trailer, a slideshow of the premiere and so much more, it’s no wonder so many love this DVD and it was probably one of the first DVDs some ever got. This is why these are the only copies of the DVDs I will ever keep because they just have charm that I don’t think any reprint can replace or take away. I also in the past talked about VHS tapes, and to recap, though they don’t have the best quality and aren’t perfect, they have charm to them, whether it was the colored tapes, the bumpers for what was coming soon or available, the feature presentation bumpers whether from Paramount or Disney, the entertaining previews, especially the Pixar teasers, and so much more, like the musical bonuses on the first two Shreks playing before the credits instead of after, or for the Pixar tapes, they would include the shorts that played before the movie and the bloopers in the credits especially. Even when it comes to revisiting my childhood, I find watching them on tape better instead of DVD, like some Blue’s Clues episodes like the birthday episode or the pajama party one, the former having the bonus footage, the kids teaching Steve the birthday candle dance and Steve opening a gift from Blue and the latter having the Face segments. Not to mention the previews are fun like the Blue’s Clues trailers, whether it was the kids singing the theme song (a bit offkey or not perfectly but they are so cute and the imperfections make it more charming, this is why the original Annie is better, the kids singing isn’t perfect but it makes it more charming, which is why the autotune or overproduction in the 2014 movie make the songs in that version dull and horrible), or the trailer where they showed kids watching the show and clips from the first five tapes. Not to mention the Rugrats videos trailers or the Peanuts ones, just seeing them takes me back to my childhood, they’re fun to watch. Even revisiting Wiggles videos are fun too, there are some I prefer watching on tape instead of DVDs, for different reasons, because some might as well be DVDs because there was no menu like on the Dance Party and Yummy Yummy DVD or even the movie (which did have a menu but it only showed up once you inserted the DVD in and the options were to watch the movie or hear a story, and once you selected the former, it would show the FBI and Interpol warning, before showing the HiT Entertainment logo and then the previews, with the final one being everyone’s favourite, Wiggly Safari), so I find them better to watch on tape, it is weird that they never got proper DVD releases since the former HiT company Lyrick Studios did have DVDs before that, they released the Barney videos on DVD, including the ones you probably remember seeing trailers for on the wiggles videos you saw as kids. Plus, even with the ones that got better DVD releases, especially the Christmas ones, I find them better to watch on tape, because just seeing the opening or closing trailers I just find to be quite charming and nostalgic, they take me back, maybe because they’re quite simple and the simplicity makes it more better, I especially prefer the Christmas ones on tape because my grandmother got the tapes for me when I was little, around what turned out to be her last Christmas and sometimes it makes me feel like she’s still here. Also, gotta love the way Lyrick Studios promoted the videos, they’d play a song from the video and afterwards, show the tape and CD, I just find those previews fun, they were for sure enough to get parents to find the newest video for their children.

 

Since I mentioned the Wiggles, I’d also like to talk about them for a bit. They’ve been performing for 33 years, the group has changed over the years and the costumes of the mascots changed over the years too, they’ve also been big hits in America since the 2000s. At one point Lyrick Studios took a big risk to release two of their older videos for North America which were Dance Party (called Big Red Car in Australia) and Wake Up Jeff and they did have mixed reviews, some found it dull while some others were charmed by it. I fall into the latter, even when I was little, I was able to notice the differences from the other videos, the boys’ shirts were plain, the logo was just letters, the big red car was cardboard, big enough for their friends to fit in too and Jeff was the driver,( I think we can guess why Greg took the wheel once they got a real buggy), but I still enjoyed them, in fact sometimes they were the ones I would pick a lot when I got to watch a video. I remember when their YouTube channel uploaded the first part of a concert they did in 1996, and was released on VHS in Australia only in 1997, I sent the link to an online friend and she told me that she loves this one because of how simple it was, they didn’t have that many props, but they didn’t need those because it was mostly themselves and that’s all she needed to be entertained, and her telling me this made me see why I liked the older videos a lot. You can see in those two tapes that they didn’t have very much back then, the budget was low so they props they used were cardboard or rooms that would look like the background you would see on stage if you were seeing a play, especially a children’s play, but even then, it’s still kind of cool, the simple charm made these tapes more enjoyable in my eyes. I think they were at their best in the mid 90s to early 2000s because some of the things they did was simple, but they still were able to succeed in being entertaining and while kids sang or danced along, they learnt things without even knowing it, they got messages across without being preachy and doing it in a mostly happy way without being overly sentimental like a certain purple dinosaur.

 

Something else I truly miss are rental stores. I’m sure anyone who grew up in the 90s or 2000s remember the days when they would rent DVDs or videos. I remember going there when I was younger, there was one that was close to where I live. On my final year of high school, I sometimes took walks around a street after school or if I had a spare, and I saw this small rental store called Videoflicks. I went inside and it was a nice little spot, they had a lot of DVDs for renting but they also had some sold for very little prices. It was really neat to see, and that was where I sometimes got some DVDs as gifts for friends. Sadly, it closed down at the end of 2017, but then some news popped up that it was reopening in 2018, I was so happy to hear that, that sometimes after I got my weekly blow-dry, I would come there for a bit, either to buy some DVDs, or just hang around and browse at the DVDs. I also would go downstairs to see the many DVDs they had within the different sections, like musicals, TV shows, family films, and much more! Just seeing those DVDs were really neat, especially if I saw DVDs I had as a child, I remember when I found the Toy Story 2 Pack DVD, it instantly took me back, because well, while a lot of people around my age had the first two Toy Story movies on VHS when they were younger, I was one of the only ones that didn’t. I had this 2 pack DVD where they had the two movies in separate discs, last year, I bought the dvd at a thrift store and it was quite interesting to look at, the DVD doesn’t have the best features because this was released in 2000, at this point DVDs were kind of new so the menus were a bit dull, because it just had pictures on each menu, no music, no sound, no visuals, nothing, but it is quite interesting to look at today, the only special feature on the first movie was the Tin Toy short which was on the 2000 gold collection vhs of the first toy story, while the Toy Story 2 DVD is a bit different, it has the same previews the tape had but in different orders, the bonus materials included the Luxo Jr short and the outtakes, so yeah, there’s not much to them, but they do have an undeniable charm to it and from seeing it at the rental store and looking at it for a bit, it was quite nice. 

Plus, the rental store I visited, would also serve free popcorn, it was yummy! Whenever I watch The Holiday, I love the bit where Miles shows Iris the DVDs, singing the theme songs of classic movies like Chariots Of Fire, Jaws and The Graduate (that scene has Dustin Hoffman showing up as himself, and whenever I see this scene, I go, “Master Shifu just saw his future student!”), it also makes me think of how great rental stores were. It’s sad to see them go because of age of streaming sites because just seeing DVDs could be fun or nostalgic, luckily thrift stores can give those joys, the times I went to the thrift store with my friend, we would look at the DVDs and marvel and reminisce about them, goes to show how simple the times DVDs were popular were.

 

Something else that seems to be taken for granted are stores, like toy stores, candy stores, and any store in general, even stores that sold DVDs have declined. Nowadays, you can find these things online for the most part, but it still doesn’t feel the same because just being in these stores can be fun, whether you’re buying something or just hanging around, it can be nice. I did an article about the Disney store and why it was such a happy place, because it was more than just a store, it was like magic. When you would enter the store, you might feel like you’re at the Disney Parks, with the toys, the cast members who do their jobs really well, and are clearly employees Walt Disney himself would hire, the screens where they’d play clips or songs, especially depending on the holiday or the activities or events where we could express our creativity and just have a fun time together, those are what made the stores the Disney parks away from the parks, especially for those that can’t afford it or are homesick for the parks. This was one of my happy places because as a Disney lover and had been homesick for the parks after my last trip back in 2018, it brought me joy, and Disney is one of the places where I can be myself and it was such a dear place to be. It’s sad that a lot of them are gone because of bad leadership and the virus and also digital purchasing, buying them online is convenient but it never beats the joy of being there and just being lost in the magical world of Disney, I’m thankful I was able to regain that magic when I went to the one in New York 2 years ago and the gift shop on the cruise last summer. Another store I could think of is Best Buy. I remember going there with my mom to buy some DVDs and it was always nice to see them. One of those days, we bought the Pacifier and we found the Cheaper By The Dozen DVDs (the one for the first movie we bought was actually the Baker’s Dozen edition, the one that got re released on DVD in 2005, with more deleted scenes and more bonus material, also to hype viewers up for the sequel that was coming up), I couldn’t believe that all 3 of those DVDs featured former child actress now writer, Morgan York, heck I never would’ve believed that The Pacifier and Cheaper By The Dozen 2 not only came out the same year, but they were both directed by Adam Shankman and they were filmed in Toronto, (I’ve been to some locations The Pacifier was filmed at, the sewer scene was filmed in Casa Loma (I went there on a field trip and I remember seeing a poster of it there) and the wrestling scene took place at the gym where I went to high school). Nowadays, there aren’t any DVDs, which is sad to see, some of the times I would come to Best Buy just to hang out I would love seeing the latest ones at a store or seeing TV series DVD collections, and sometimes they would play a movie on the television, I remember when they would play Guardians Of The Galaxy, and I would sit and relax there, whether it was seeing the ending or the beginning, it was just really nice. While Best Buy is still an ideal place to fulfill your electronic needs for a computer or even phones, the fact that there are little to no DVDs or Blu-rays left in the stores is a really sad sight to see because just seeing them is just so nice, it would’ve been a great way to show that physical media will never die even in this digital age.

There are also independent bookstores too, some have closed down due to rent, but some have stayed open, and there is this one in Toronto that is still open, and that store is called Mabel’s Fables. It’s this children’s bookstore where some families come to buy books for their children, sometimes they have bundles for babies, and there’s a spot for older children, with novels, activity books, encyclopedias and more, the store even has some couches where some could sit and read, or for events, whether it’s writing classes, or for fun events for new books, like before COVID closed everything down, they had a Paper Bag Princess event to celebrate 40 years of the book. The best part is, the store not only has employees that are passionate about the books they sell but it’s also run by a cat who’s name is actually Mabel, hence the name of the store. There have been 3 different Mabels, I don’t remember what the first Mabel looked like, but the second one was an orange kitty and the current one is like a mix between a calico, a tortoiseshell and a tabby. I had never heard about this store until I took a writing class there in 2018, I was even more thrilled after I learnt there was a cat there, some of the classes I took, I would see her there. After some time, I would sometimes come to Mabel’s Fables to read or revisit my childhood books, and sometimes Mabel would see me and sometimes she would rest on my lap for a bit (she also does this when customers come to sit on this bench), and sometimes she would rest on my backpack, I still love coming there now and then, in fact one of my recent visits inspired me to make the article I wrote about children’s books you could never outgrow. Mabel’s is such a great place for children’s books, a lot of authors have visited, and some have also showed some support too, Diary Of A Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney sent a message to wish Mabel’s a happy 30^th anniversary and there’s a wall in the couch spot with many signatures, that’s how good it is, it looks like the support it’s gotten has been able to keep it open and I hope it continues to stay open for eternity. Even in this digital age, there are some families coming to the store to buy books for their kids, I stopped by there last weekend to read and seek shelter from a sudden rainfall, and as I hung there, after I read Mabel a story, I saw a little girl and her mother come in, and the little princess commented on the toys she could see decorated, like Franklin, or even Winnie The Pooh, even though he doesn’t have his shirt he does have his pot of honey, I could see one of the employees showing the little girl and her mother the books and had good recommendations for them, I was so happy when the balloon tree was one of them, this goes to show that despite have digital books nowadays, paperback books will never go away, and a place like Mabel’s proves it.

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This is Mabel's Fables

Meet Mabel. the owner of the store

Speaking of cats, this also reminds me of a certain place that isn’t seen very much anymore, and that is pet stores. When I was younger some of my favourite malls would have a pet store and I would love going there to see the puppies in their spots, cats in a cage, more furry looking animals, looking at the fish and even hearing the birds talk sometimes. Unfortunately, because of online shopping when it comes to wanting to adopt a pet, especially cats or dogs, a lot of stores have closed down, which I find to be sad because the ones I used to go to were always fun to go to, I remember one of them had a glass box that would have kitties and it was so cute to see them sleeping or playing with each other, and in another one the puppies in their spots would wrestle and get excited whenever people would look at them through the glass. There was one pet store that used to be not too far from home, it’s become a dollar store, which is a nice spot but I have so many memories with that place. I remember whenever I would take walks down the neighbourhood, if I looked through the door, and I saw yellow blankets, that would mean that there were some kitties inside and I would be eager to come inside to see them. Sometimes I would hear them meow begging to be adopted or just see their cute little faces, one time there were 3 black cats named, Alvin, Simon and Theodore, plus at that store I might’ve met Cassie there, and at that time we had no idea we would have a kitty, let alone adopt her, I recall one of the employees holding a calico and saying her name was Cassie. I also loved looking at the fish in the tank, I remember seeing the bunnies inside their glass boxes, they were so cute, I remember some looking at me as they twitched their noses, I also remember one time in the parrot room, we heard one parrot say, “What you doing?” and I remember my dad replying to it, it is quite amazing parrots talk. The store was also where we would get things for Cassie like a bed, her collar, some toys and more, so yes, this place does bring back memories and that’s why while I love going to the dollar store it is now, I still feel sad that it’s no longer a pet store, because it was a great place to look for possible pets do adopt or maybe just see the animals, especially if they had cats. The best thing about a dopting a pet from a store is that sometimes, pets can form a bond with the people visiting and the person or pet might know exactly who the right one is, I’ve heard touching stories about pets who choose their pets, my friend told me about how when she went to a farm to find a puppy, this one puppy saw her and sat on her lap and that’s how she became her puppy, and they were great friends until the dog eventually crossed the rainbow bridge in early 2020, finding pets online can be nice but just seeing them when looking has just a nice feeling, though I will admit it might be hard to have to choose just one and leave the others out, so I guess that is an upside for online pet adoption. The good news is, there are still some pet stores like PetSmart, that can have some of those pets I mentioned and there is this one down Richmond Hill, that has a cage of cats from their Forgotten Ones, Organization for cats, that place I would occasionally visit to play cat tickler with the cats and that was where my dad and I picked up little Marly Mew, almost 5 years ago, they might be mostly for just toys and items needed for pets but they still are good spots to see pets and get the things your pet will need.

While a lot of these things have been taken for granted due to digital conveniences one thing is for sure, some old souls like me will never forget the older beauties we used to have back when things were more simpler, and things I wish were still here because they have simple pleasures that folks can still have today, luckily some things are still here and hopefully if people keep coming to them, these things will never die no matter how technological savvy our world might become.

Before I go, please let’s show our support to save the Revue Cinema from closing down forever, let’s not let greed win and keep a place of community alive for many more years to come.

What is an older thing you wish was there today? Feel free to comment!