I've always been a big movie fan. There are few things I love more than settling into a movie theater with a bucket of popcorn (a staple) and a large blue raspberry icee (a rather newer offering), friends and family in the seats next to me, and seeing a good movie. I can forego the experience and see the same movie later on DVD for a whole lot cheaper, but it's just not as much fun.
Following are my fondest movie theater experiences. It's not that something unusual happened, like dollar bills falling from the ceiling, but the combination of the time, the movie, and the crowd made these experiences wonderful.
Jaws (1975) (Concord Mall Cinema, Elkhart, Indiana) - I was ten years old. My best friend at the time, Tom Wilson, asked me to go with him and his father to see Jaws. I had no idea what I was in for. As we sat in the front row (our practice at the time), watching the opening underwater shots and hearing the first strains of John William's Jaws' theme, I had a slight moment of panic. This was going to be SCARY! It was my first really adult movie and the very first summer blockbuster. I loved it. Of course, I slept on the floor in my parents' bedroom many times over the rest of the summer.
Star Wars (1977) (North Village Mall Cinema, South Bend, Indiana) - One of the defining moments of my life. I didn't see Star Wars coming. Again, my friend, Tom, precipitated the event, asking me to go to see a new science fiction movie. Being 12 years old and unconnected to entertainment news, I had very little understanding of what was about to unfold. The opening shots of the Star Destroyer flying overhead were as awe-inspiring as anything I've ever seen. Many in the theater actually giggled in delight. I still remember the audience's loud cheer when the Millennium Falcon saved the day over the Death Star. We went to see Star Wars at least five more times in the theater during its year long run (!) and it thrilled me every time.
Alien (1979) (Cinema One, Elkhart, Indiana) - At 14 years old, I was a member of the Orion Science Fiction Club, a group of mostly adults who met in the Pierre Moran branch of the library to discuss science fiction literature. They planned an outing to see Alien and convinced my parents to let me go. I am so glad I saw this in the theatre. It was scary, atmospheric, creepy, sophisticated and adult. Seeing it for the first time years later on videotape just wouldn't have been the same.
Star Trek the Motion Picture (1979) (Cinema One, Elkhart, Indiana) - I have always been a Star Trek fan. Due to the great Trek drought of the seventies, this movie was the most important event of my life to that time. I waited years for this movie. On the day it premiered, December 7, 1979, my friend Craig Artley and I met at the movie theater hours before the first showing. We dragged along a bunch of our Trek memorabilia (books, tapes, toys) for entertainment while we waited. (An experience I duplicated with Treks II and III, always being the first in line.) When the doors finally opened, the theater owner, Bill Miller, a very nice man I knew through church, wouldn't let us take all our crap into the theater but allowed us to store it in a stairwell. After we saw the first show of the day (7PM!), we got right back in line and stayed for the last show of the day (9:30PM).
A moment's digression: Unfortunately, I was in Europe when The Empire Strikes Back came out and so I missed the opening day excitement. I saw it a couple of weeks later with a packed crowd, but with none of my friends. Had I seen it on opening day, I am certain it would be on this list.
Tremors (1990) (Ann Arbor, Michigan) - I was in my last semester of law school. Typically, I wouldn't have gone to see a monster/horror flick and Tremors didn't attract my attention. But I read a favorable review in the Ann Arbor News and it made the movie sound like so much fun, Carol and I went that night. I'm glad we did. Tremors was a blast, well made and funny, and it's become one of my favorite movies.
Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) (Downtown DC) and Jurassic Park (1993) (Rio Cinema, Gaithersburg, Maryland) - These two benchmarks in computer animation were both great fun at the movies. Seeing these in a theatre with an opening night crowd was exhilirating, thrilling and just plain spectacular.
Pulp Fiction (1994) (Rio Cinemas, Gaithersburg, Maryland) - I started working for the government in late 1990. Soon after, I became friends with one of my colleagues, Dan Silver, with whom I shared a love of movies. (Actually, Dan was a much bigger movie fan than I was and owned hundreds of laserdiscs. When DVDs came along, Dan, without so much as a second thought, sold all his laserdiscs and started collecting DVDs.) Joined by our other good friend, Marc Schneider, we went to see the new, edgy, profane and extremely violent homage to pulp by up-and-comer Quentin Tarantino. I was a bit nervous as the movie started because I had never seen anything like it. Neither had anyone else. We watched, amazed, constantly laughing at the sheer audacity of the film. Pulp Fiction became the most influential film of the 90's.
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) (Rio Cinemas, Gaithersburg, Maryland) - The same group of Dan, Marc and I were looking forward to this with mixed expectations. It looked like it might be really funny, or really, really bad. To our delight, our expectations were hugely exceeded and we laughed throughout the entire film. Rarely have I laughed so much at a movie. Bizarrely to us, in our theater, we seemed to be the only ones laughing. It was only later that everyone else caught up to us as Austin Powers became a huge hit on DVD and with the sequels.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001 Rio Cinemas, Gaithersburg, Maryland) - Another movie I awaited for years. I followed much of the production through Theonering.net and Aint it Cool News and went into the midnight showing not really knowing what to expect. The Fox Network had aired a ten minute preview some time before and it had just increased my ambivalence. When I returned home around 3AM and laid down in bed, Carol asked me what I thought. "I don't know what to think" I said, still unsure how to deal with this epic, visionary film. Carol, Rachel and I saw it the next day and by the end of that showing, I knew I had seen a masterpiece.
I'm sure I'm forgetting a film or two and there are certainly many honorable mentions. I hope I'll have more to add in the future.
I'll follow up with my list of movies I WISH I had seen in the theater.
6 comments:
I still remember you, me, and Carol sitting outside waiting for Star Trek III, arriving 3 hours before the so-called ST Fan Club. We played 3-handed Euchre, and one of the STFC ladies read my palm. I even remember what I was wearing: camo pants and my Photon t-shirt.
Yeah, the ST Fan Club were pretty ticked off that we got there before them. :-) Then the newspaper came along and rather than interview the first in line folk, they interviewed the Fan Club because they were wearing matching shirts. Or maybe they expected them to say something more geeky.
If I die tomorrow, I will at least have this: I was the first in line for Star Treks I, II and III in Elkhart, Indiana. Man, I hope I don't die tomorrow. I better do something important fast.
I'm glad you qualified that these are your best memories in the dark that you can talk about. If they were the best overall, I'd say that was very disappointing.
If you want stories that were in the dark, I could pass some along...
No thank you.
Joe, we also skipped school to see Jedi. What a disappointment. :-)
Oh for the love of...
If Eric has personal knowledge of some of your best memories in the dark, I think it's best that they remain untold.
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