i've always loved the ephemera of cinema. things such as movie posters, trailers, lobby cards and soundtracks, to name just a few things. but i've not become a collector, i think it would be a slippery slope, one item leads to another and more and more, and next thing anna would worry about not only the toys, books and discs overflowing our house but posters plastered to the walls and so forth . in other words, these things would contribute to the clutter of our lives, but wouldn't add to the decor, and anna has indeed raised my standards and tastes.

for some things, but for others i'm still that 8-year-old boy mesmerized by a movie poster. i loved going to the drive-ins and theaters perusing the posters in the snack bars or lobbies as if i were at the louvre. i had written a poem about an old grindhouse, the star theater, located downtown that specialized in cheap chop-socky kung fu movies. an early draft tried to recreate the splendors of its dilapidated lobby and the posters often printed in chinese characters about the wonders of bruce li or bruce le in mid-battle.

i recall one poster for a film that had me all worked up that i saw at the sac 6 drive-in. the movie was sorcerer starring roy scheider, fresh from his famous anti-shark activities in the summer of 1975. i begged my dad to take me to see this thriller based on its wicked poster. with a name like that and an image of some monster vehicle dangling from a teetering wooden bridge sure had my attention. but the movie was all poster, and no film. i was bored shitless that night. the movie was neither a horror film nor an action piece. that wasn't the first film where i spent most my time at the snack bar looking at more posters, but it sure the hell was one of the first where i remember a movie actually driving me to tears from tedium.

and there were other posters i remember vividly where i've never seen the film. i recall a porn theater that was located in the same strip mall where my mother did her banking and shopping. i shit you not, the porn theater was indeed right next to the bank, and down a bit was the old department store ben franklin, which was a kind of cheap knock-off k-mart, where we would get shoes and pants. i knew what type of movies this theater showed even when i was a pup, but i couldn't imagine what they were quite like.

i guess that is when the posters were supposed to do their work. my mom was doing bank business while i stood outside the porn theater looking at a poster for a film called diary of a flea. i've no idea what the movie was about, and i still haven't seen it, tho from the period victorian costumes of the actors on the poster it is a good guess the source material is a victorian novel. and i recall the poster as being far from prurient. however, i remember peering into the lobby and wondering about those mythological creatures that purchase tickets to go inside and watch such films. the lobby was empty save for a woman cleaning the glass counters containing candy bars and popcorn. i don't recall any other posters in any detail but i remember there were many.

just this past summer i went to the drive-in twice with my buddy, b. on both occassions i broke away from our beer-drinking, shit-talking evening to look at the posters in the snack bar. and i went to the theaters twice and did just that too. i can't shake the habit. i'm a grown man now, and i'm in deep.