By Guest Blogger: Macktrek (If you want to be next week's guest blogger join our contest!)

I remember going to Drive-in theaters growing up, pulling in backwards and lying in the back of the station wagon to watch the first feature. Everyone would than head towards the concession stand to get drinks, hot dogs, or fresh hot buttered popcorn. While waiting in line, people were talking about what they liked about the first feature, and what they were looking forward to in the second.

In those days, if it was a Disney or John Wayne film my parents were not worried about taking us kids to see it. At some point, the magic and innocence of going to the movies lost some of its luster, and it’s not just due to the fact that parents have to pre-screen movies before they can take their kids. The theater, where you go to escape and enjoy a movie has changed.

I can remember when you could go to a theater, get fresh hot buttered popcorn and sit in a large theater to watch the movie. Now the best you can hope for is warm popcorn. I have seen pre-popped popcorn poured out of a bag into the popcorn machine. Do they really think that since it is in a popcorn machine we are going to believe that it was just popped? It use to be that when you ordered the popcorn, if you wanted butter, they would put some popcorn in the tub, add some butter, than more popcorn and more butter. Now they hand you the tub and you have to go to the butter dispenser and add butter to the top of your popcorn.

Now you have your snacks, and you make you way to the theater. If you are going to see what the theater manager thinks is going to be a big hit, you will be heading, in most cases, to a larger theater. If not, you may at first believe that you have accidentally walked into a storage closet. Some of the theaters are so small that you feel like you are sitting in a cave, watching a screen not much bigger than a large T.V.

My family and I enjoy going to the movies, and discussing them afterwards. I just miss a large screen and fresh hot buttered popcorn.