Buying tickets is fun. Choosing seats provides you with necessary decision- making exercises (love seat – might want to move one over; four seats in front of chosen spot occupied and it’s a chick flick – might get loud with the giggles; splurge on the back row or not; almost everything is full, but I really wantto see this movie NOW etc.) Buying tickets online is even more fun, because the usually present ticking clock indicating for how much longer this operation will be reserved for you provides that extra kick.

It’s the only place where I can really cry, and since I’m not a loud cryer the cinema suits me just fine. Shedding a few tears during a well written and well acted sad scene is satisfying and cheap therapy (this also works at home – try the scene in Homeward Bound when Shadow slips in to a pit and is talking to Chance after he realizes he can’t get up).

For an hour or two the world outside is forgotten. The lights go out (yay!), the screen lights up and there is only the story, sights and sounds in front of me.

Seeing a good movie with your favourite actor(s) is a special kind of joyful experience. Seeing a bad movie with your favourite actor(s) reduces the amount of spitting afterwards regarding the badness of the movie due to the presence of the favourite actor(s). Seeing a movie where everything is bad reminds you that the things you love doing include a risk and some money.

Sometimes the audience claps and that is extra cool, because while we all know the people on the screen can’t hear us (though just maybe), letting emotions like happiness and enthusiasm in to the universe is a heart-warming shared experience.