It’s called MI5 (that’s a capital letter I, not a number one). It’s the only movie theater in Yukon, Oklahoma (as of right now) and is commonly referred to as “the dollar movies,” even though it’s not — I more accurately refer to it as the “used-to-be dollar movies,” which it is. Back when I was a tweenager, MI5 began showing first run movies for a dollar. That price has slowly crept up over the years. For a while we dubbed it the “two-dollar dollar movies” and later, the “three-dollar dollar movies.” These days it’s four bucks for an adult ticket, three for kids, senior citizens, and students.

Most people assume that the cheap ticket prices are made up in the concession area, but that’s really not the case. They’re not any more expensive than any other theater. In fact, they have a deal where a large tub of popcorn costs around six bucks, and with that you get one free refill, which is enough popcorn for the entire theater.

Where the corners have been cut is in the theater itself. Two of the building’s five theaters have been upgraded to stadium seating — the other three haven’t. Likewise, the speakers and screens haven’t been updated in a decade or two. There’s definitely no THX action going on in there. Unfortunately the theater’s biggest downfall is, at three or four bucks per ticket, it makes a great babysitting service. I wouldn’t go near that place on a Friday or Saturday night.

Runmor has it that Tinseltown is building a huge theater not too far from where MI5 sits. It will be interesting to see if our small town will be willing to pay double or triple the cost of a ticket for improved conditions (but the same movies).