Post #91253 by martiki on Fri, May 14, 2004 12:46 PM

My thoughts:

The dive in movie can be great, but there's a lot working against it. People have been cooking in the sun all day and likely drinking all day as well. It's hard not to be wiped out. So what you're showing has to be engaging. Some ideas:

1. I think a feature film is too long. A full movie can kill the energy of a group. Ever put a movie on at a party? Kills it pretty quick. The beauty of a TV show is that it's only 50 minutes. Attention spans are minimal. The film this year was also so dark and murky, that it was often hard to make out what was going on.

2. Sound has to project all the way around the pool to keep people engaged. Straining to hear is not worth the effort.

3. As has been said, the screen has to bigger and higher. More like a drive in screen.

4. Hawaiian Eye worked for many reasons. One, it was shorter. Two, as the King pointed out, the beauty of Hawaiian Eye is that there's so much to take in. The plot (usually secondary) isn't always so interesting, but there's a lot to see. It's fun to check out the cars, the clothes, the sets, the bars, the drinks, the food, the music, etc. Three, sometimes there's vintage commercials as well, which are hysterical. "Mmm...These Chesterfield smokes are so smooth, I can actually feel my throat healing!" I know the cost is becoming prohibitive, but can's we just spread this out among all the tickets?

5. Like I said, short things that have camp value are great. I loved the trailers this year (even if "sci-fi" night was Friday)- I though those were gold. It's hard to find a film, especially from the 50s, that's consistently non-stop camp. Most have some stretches that will kill you cold with boredom.

6. I've always thought that a great thing to show for the dive in movie would be something like the spliced reel that they have playing behind the bar at the Conga Lounge. All those little bits of tiki and such from film and TV would be great to watch. I know a lot of them aren't strictly PolyPop, but I think it would be fun to have it- and with the sound on! (For those who haven't seen it, it's got clips from Blue Hawaii, some 5-0 stuff, the tiki Brady Bunch Episode, Scooby Doo, I think a bit of Gilligan, etc.) Kind of a greatest hits of PolyPop/Hawaiiana in mainstream movies/tv. Not sure if there would be broadcast royalties that would make this prohibitive or not.

Anyway, just my sugar daddy style two coconuts worth.