One of the unalloyed joys of my life is (was?) the moviegoing experience.

This is an 8pm showing of TENET.

I bought popcorn and a snack - which I never do - because I don’t believe this will be an experience that’s going to make it.

A bit of background. I’ve loved movies for as long as I could remember.

It was instilled in me by my father, who, working nights, would take me and my brothers out for “dentist appointments” so he could have someone to go with him to see the latest James Bond movie.

And he HATED Roger Moore’s films. I still remember the sad movie theater he took us to all those decades ago. I couldn’t tell you anything about the film, but I vividly remember the EXPERIENCE.

And that’s what moviegoing is about, right? The experience. I can still remember the theater 6-year-old me went to see RETURN OF THE JEDI at. Can recall bracing myself against the sign in the mulch outside the theater as we waited for our show to start.

The tension as the Millennium Falcon raced through Death Star II, and the crowd erupting as Williams’ music hit its crescendo and the Falcon escapes from the engulfing explosion.

Fast forward a year or two, and talking with fellow first graders about that scene where Mola Ram pulls the still-beating heart out of a man. Many, many stories of that, thanks to parents that didn’t care for babysitters but still wanted to see the movies they wanted to.

The way movie-going became an EVENT in the late 80’s. That first showing of BATMAN, when the Batwing spirals up over Gotham, seemingly out of control, only to be framed perfectly by the moon.

I saw it again that weekend, and took my younger brother, who, after grabbing candy at one of the convenience stores in the shopping center - Mamba‘s, his favorite then - accidentally threw them away in one of the garbage cans.

Parents didn’t leave us with that much money for snacks, so I went back and fished it out.

A year later this shirt was my ticket. The movie was uneven, but I wore it proudly until a 7th grade classmate ripped it during a game of flag football.

I still remember reading about the new seat-shaking technology Dolby was rolling out to theaters, and our local one got it just in time for the release of JURASSIC PARK. Seeing amazingly rendered dinosaurs on the screen, the seats trembling, as Williams’ perfect score plays.

Soon after I would go off to college. During that bacchanalian first week of classes, our college showed each of the Indiana Jones films in the student theater. While some went off to find their soul mates (or semester mates), I went to see my favorite film series.

That year, I would meet a girl who really wanted to go see this film. I liked her, and of course said yes. The film was controversial, so we had to drive an hour away to see it.

It was Harmony Korine’s KIDS. Yech.

Later in college, this trailer did its magic. I scheduled early morning Friday classes so I would be free in the late morning/early afternoon to get to the first noontime showing of these rereleases.

As I get older my memory and recall falters. But I can still remember so many things about seeing movies. I can just about name the theater where I saw a film, and recall varying experiences.

I can still picture the way the grass poked through the shoddy pavement in the parking lot on those hot afternoons I went to see those Star Wars films. And can still hear an audience member yell out, “Freddy gonna get some!” during one of the Nightmare films (I was probably 10).

Sneaking in two double-deuce Miller Lite’s to see JACKASS 3D. Giving up midnight showings after MATRIX RELOADED, HULK, and SUPERMAN RETURNS in quick succession. Laughing uproariously at BORAT.

Crying at the montage during UP when seeing it with some friends, and again with my wife.

Seeing MYSELF on screen during one of my favorite movies of all time.

Taking my sons last year to the biggest movie of all time.

I say all this because I am wistful for an experience that may not exist in the near future. TENET was supposed to be an infusion of energy and a call-to-arms to return to the theatergoing experience, and...

it‘s not happened.

Just as shoppers have eschewed brick-and-mortar in favor of Amazon and online shopping, I fear the convenience and bevy of options (and safety) offered by streaming platforms means the theater going experience as we know it is over.

Theaters have done all they can. Cut ticket prices to functionally zero. Offered great sanitizing and social distancing measures.

WB backed their play, offering up a huge blockbuster. And no one’s shown up.

Look ahead. A handful of blockbusters still on the release calendar for 2020, but those will be kicked soon.

AMC barely escaped bankruptcy. They still have fixed costs like rent, taxes, debt, etc. until the cavalry arrives in — according to Fauci — late 2021.

I just don’t see them lasting that long. Which is why I carefully chose a slow Monday night at our local multiplex and grabbed tickets just before showtime to have an IMAX theater to myself to experience a blockbuster on a massive screen, as its meant to be experienced, safely.

I’m notoriously frugal - debilitating so at times - but splurged on popcorn and an Icee, because who knows if I will ever be able to do that again.

Both the popcorn and Icee were cold.