With the release of the final Harry Potter movie this summer and all the hype that came with it, I was thinking how much I miss going to the movies. We use to go several times a month. I love movies so much that the first business I owned was a West Coast Video store franchise. My wife and I quote movies so often in our every day lives that our daughter gets mad at us, since she has no idea what we’re talking about most of the time.

I haven?t been inside a movie theater for about two years. I stopped going because it was too frustrating for me. I couldn?t see what was going on the screen. I?d ask my wife and she?d fill me in, but it got to the point that she?d almost have to give me a play-by-play for me to know what was happening.

I first gave up going to action/adventure movies and most sci-fi and fantasy films because of the quick movement on the screen and my inability to follow along. I was okay with that, since I could still follow along on comedies as long as there wasn?t too much physical or visual humor. I knew it was time to stop going to see them when I went with my son and a friend to see The Hangover. My wife didn?t go and I didn?t sit with my son so I wouldn?t cramp his style. That was the last comedy I saw at the movies. It was too frustrating listening to the audience laugh and I had no idea why.

My wife convinced me to give it one more try. She and I went to see Julie & Julia. I had such trouble following along that I knew that was probably the last movie I?d see at the movies. I still watch movies on DVD and cable, but it isn?t the same as seeing it on the big screen.

A few weeks ago, while traveling, we considered going to the movies one night. While looking online at the choices at the megaplex closest to our hotel I noticed something that said DVS. I looked around the internet and found that it stands for Descriptive Video Services. It basically describes what is happening visually on the screen. Turns out we didn?t go the movies on our trip that night, but when we got home I searched for a theater close by that might offer it. Sadly, the closest offering was about 35 miles away. Another downer was that not all movies playing at that theater had DVS.

So while I haven?t been to a movie theater in over two years, I am more hopeful now that it soon could happen. Sure, it will take a 70 mile round trip and we?ll pass at least a dozen movie theaters on the way. And it might not be my first, second, or third choice, but it will be a movie on the big screen. I wish we could go right now.

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