I'm Retired! Now what?

June 8, 2026

This last weekend the youngest grandkid Legend decided to come over and hang out with us for a couple of days.  Being the grand old age of eight now, the kid likes going to the movie theater which is pretty cool because so do I.   Over the last few months we’ve taken him to see A Roblox Movie, Daivd, and couple more, but for this weekend Margaret couldn’t really find anything playing at the local movie house that she thought he might like.  Personally, I wanted to take him to see Masters of the Universe.  Unfortunately, the concept of He-Man and his mighty beast Battle Cat taking on the evil Skeletor kind of fell empty on the kid.  Instead, Legend wanted to go see the movie, The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act.

Apparently, this movie derives from some web series, and I’m so out of touch with the hip cool, modern world that I had never heard of The Amazing Digital Circus series or even realized that it had been around long enough to have a first act, but I guess it was now ready for its final act.  Regardless how totally clueless I was of the whole concept, Legend was pretty stoked as he watched me purchase the movie tickets online.  Now this alone was a concept that was quite new to me as well.  Usually I just buy the tickets at the box office, but considering this was on a Saturday, I figured I had better plan ahead a bit.  Such was a good idea, because the 4:00 pm showing was nearly sold out.

After a little internet research, the only character from the movie that stuck with me was the “Crappy Looking Fish.”  Okay, now I was interested.  Legend, on the other hand, seemed to know all the characters.  The most challenging part of the whole movie for me was trying to figure out how to use the tickets I had purchased on line.  I also learned quite the life lesson while standing at the concession stand as well.  Don’t ever let an eight-year-old handle his own large icy!  Can I say, “Emergency cleanup at the concession stand please!”

Once we got another icy and figured out how to use my online tickets, I noticed how the crowd on hand was certainly not a bunch of little kids and grandparents.  Oh heavens no!  Instead, this was a bit of a geek fest, and the theater suddenly filled up with a bunch of long haired, pudgy guys with facial hair that looked like it had been applied with a dried-out Sharpie.  These are the kind of guys who look like they might have had a girlfriend once in their life, but the relationship abruptly ended when their computer suddenly rebooted.

The only guy in the theater who was anywhere close to getting any kind of female action was Legend.  He and some girl, who was sitting next to him, briefly discussed the story’s characters throughout the movie.  I told the little guy that she was hitting on him.  His thoughts on that subject were quickly summed up with, “She was like, twelve!”  Then I informed him that there are advantages to older women, but I’m guessing the twelve-year-old girl probably hadn’t contributed much to a 401K retirement fund in her life.  Some dating rules apply later on in life.

There was a couple that did get my attention though, and these were a couple of fans who had taken their admiration for The Amazing Digital Circus to another level.  They came dressed for the party!  In costume!  Some dude (I’m guessing a dude) had gone to great pains to dress up as the character Kinger who is basically a king piece in the game of chess.  For someone who knew nothing about the story or characters, I was like, “What the heck?”  Most of those in attendance though just saw the wardrobe effort as proper attire and paid it little attention.  Legend, on the other hand, was so enamored by the couple’s commitment that he asked them to have a photo taken with him.

So what was the movie about?  The Amazing Digital Circus is a drama which follows humans trapped in a surreal, circus-themed virtual reality, overseen by the unstable AI Caine, as they navigate psychological challenges and risk losing their sanity.  Okay, I copied this description right off the internet, but I’ll take their word for it.  To be honest, I was pretty much lost throughout the entire hour and half movie.

Back in the 1980’s my brother and I watched one of the Cheech and Chong movies on some cable station, and in our college student minds we determined that it was probably one of the worst movies we had ever set through.  After revealing these thoughts regarding the flick a few years later I was told, “Well of course you didn’t get it!  You have to be stoned to like it.”  Perhaps the same could be said about this digital circus movie.  I don’t recall smelling any type of mood enhancing substances during the movie though.  Regardless of what premovie preparations should be smoked or drunk in order to get this movie, I think the most important requirement is being a huge fan of the web series!  I’m not sure when Legend’s viewing tastes moved on to this show, opposed to watching Bluey and Peppa Pig, but those two shows I get!

Regardless of my totally uncool, “Huh?” attitude toward the movie, Legend thought it was great, and that’s what was important for the afternoon.  Personally, I found the movie to be a bit disturbing.  Is this our virtual future?   As we walked out of the theater, I noticed how several of those who were watching the movie had gathered in the parking lot for a little post movie discussion concerning all things important regarding the characters Caine, Jax, Ragatha, and everyone else in the flick.  I couldn’t help but think that this wasn’t all that different than my college literature classes diving into all the symbolism of a James Joyce short story or trying to pull some kind of substantial, rational meaning from Edgar Allen Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher.

As for the couple who dressed up for the movie, I’m sure they had a blast, and they left quite the impression on eight-year-old Legend and probably the 12-year-old girl as well.  I would say that such folks are way too dedicated, but I have to remember that I grew up in the days of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.  For those of us who attended some of those midnight showings we know that there has never been a group of fans more dedicated to a movie than that crowd was!  And such was an event that I’d never take an eight-year-old to see or even a twelve-year-old for that matter.