Sat, January 28, 2006
Back to the Movies—11:17 PM
Shopgirl. The first movie I've seen in the theatre in almost a month. (Almost two if you don't count The Ringer – which, again, I don't.) And it's a repeat! (Although, of course, there's no movie I'd be happier to see a second time.)
The interesting thing is how great I felt in the car on the way back home. For one thing, my mom loved it as much as I do, so that was a pleasant validation. But also, I realized that I feel somewhat incomplete if I stay away from the movies for so long. Between my Xmas trip, preparing for the move, and the move, this has probably been my longest drought since I was old enough to head to the movies on my own – a tradition that began with a fondly remembered trip to A Few Good Men.
I know a lot of people whose movie attendance dropped off at some point (usually due to their kids), and they all say that after a while you don't miss it. Based on what I've learned from this experience, I think I'd miss it. I think I'm the sort of person who enjoys the moviegoing experience too much (even with those motherfucker theatre-talkers). I wouldn't be able to drop it. I really just like going to the movies. Ask anyone who's been astonished (read: appalled) at some of the films I've chosen to see in the theatre.
"Mike" — Sun, 1/29/06 7:37am
Hear hear! Glad you got back to the house of the moving picture shows.
This is sort of off your topic, but your post got me to thinking about my favorite movie-going experiences, which I will now present to you in list form:
It's strange, but I still firmly believe that the best popcorn I've ever had in my life was when my friend Robb and I went to see "Il Postino" back when I was in college. I really loved that movie and I really, REALLY loved that popcorn. Sadly, I also actually think the cinematography of that movie improved the popcorn's taste.
Jerry Maguire. My dad and I went to see that over Christmas the year it came out. I laughed really hard. Amazingly, we walked out and he said, "That Cuban Goodling is going to win an Oscar."
The Godfather, Part III. Also with dad, also over Christmas. We were just so excited to see it. I had been recently introduced to the series of movies and was blown away by them. Then, as we all know, the movie was adversely affected by a now-prominent director. And while there's no need to rehash that, dad and I were incredulous afterwards. Insanely, to the point of high unintentional comedy, pissed at her.
American Pie II. This movie sucks. However, it was one of the first (maybe the first) movie I went to with my future wife. One of her good friends loved going to the movies and really wanted to see this flaming piece of shit and so she wanted to go too. Sitting through that without trying to kill her friend with my bare hands went a long way toward showing her that I was serioius about her.
The Fisher King - This was the first movie that made me actively realize and think about the potential that art has to affect people. I had never been able to put my finger on the fact that most of the art I liked, music/TV/movies/writing had to do with those who were off-kilter in some way finding their way in the world. As it is for a lot of folks, that was a useful thing to realize in high school. I saw it in what I think was my freshman year of high school. This movie really spoke to me. I saw it with two other guys, one who was a sophomore and one who was a junior - infinitely older and more experienced in high school parlance. They were similarly impacted by it. Afterwards, we just stood outside the Starland Video doors (which was just beside the theatre) in silence until the sophomore said "Wow." and the junior said "Yeah." It'll always be my favorite movie for those reasons.
Huh. For some reason, when I previewed my comments, it reversed the numbering. Fisher King is number 1.
Bee Boy — Sun, 1/29/06 11:41pm
That's a very nice thing to make a list of, and not altogether off-topic. Here's mine (hastily assembled, omissions likely):
Jurassic Park – You never forget the movie that made you want to become a filmmaker. By this point I already wanted to become one, but Jurassic Park reminded me of all the reasons why. Plus, you've got to have one jaw-dropping, seat-edging thrill ride on your list of favorite movie experiences.
The Incredibles – Opening night in pristine digital projection at Disney's El Capitan Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. With a group of friends, who were almost as excited as I was. I hung on every frame, and this was the second time I'd ever come out of a movie fully prepared to buy another ticket and go right back in. (The first was Tommy Boy.) By this point, I already knew I wanted to work at Pixar for the rest of my life, but it reminded me of all the reasons why – and did so as forcefully as a freight train to the solar plexus.
Best in Show – A huge group of us went, combining many of my favorite friends, which is always a good way to see a movie. Also, John Michael Higgins was in the audience so we were able to congratulate him after.
A Few Good Men – As mentioned, my first trip to the movies alone. My parents dropped me off after dinner with my uncle. Memorable because I conquered that milestone, but also because it was a damn good movie, and I'm surprised nobody else in my family thought so enough to accompany me.
Now and Then – Only because I watched this movie without pants and my companion didn't mind. (She was a fellow employee at the movie theatre, and private after-hours screenings were among the perks I enjoyed as the projectionist.)
Number 1 is number 1. The comment formatting software tends to renumber things in ascending order. I believe I did come up with a way around this, but I like my lists to start with number 1, so I quickly forgot it.
Brandon — Mon, 1/30/06 3:18am
Jameson, I believe the work-around you're referring to is to put a backslash between the number and the period - I can't show it here, because Markdown keeps reading it as code and thus removing it, but it's the backslash located above the enter/return key.
Bee Boy — Mon, 1/30/06 8:22am
You've gotta backslash the backslash to get it to show up. What Brandon wanted to demonstrate was: \1.
(And, by the way, when I saw "Brandon on Back to the Movies" on the homepage, I was so excited that there would be a new list! Boo!)