The moviegoing art

In response to E-dog’s challenge (see his post here) about my most important movie-going experiences (in chronological order), I offer up the following (I apologize if I’ve fudged on the dates).

The Godfather (1972). My brother and I were bundled up and put in the back of our 1970 Toyota station wagon and taken to the drive-in in Cincinnati. While I remember nothing about the movie, I remember the event. Popcorn and puke and trying to sleep while the five families did each other in.

Star Wars (1977). I didn’t really read the paper or watch much tv at this point. I had no idea that this movie was coming out and had no idea what it was about and was, frankly, dubious, when my old man came home and said that he heard a couple of the guys in the film department talking about it. We went. The theater was maybe half full. I then proceeded to see it 70 more times over the summer (at Raintree cinema + disco; you remember it – right down the road from the Chi Chi’s and the Dunkin Donuts on 161). It is hard to imagine, in a world before The Matrix, Alien, Battlestar Glactica (the tv show) and all the others, the impression that this film made on my 11 year old self. (In a side note, when my boy Spike’s grandmother passed away and left him some money and he bought a killer rig including one of the first S-video players I’d ever seen, the first film we rented to watch on it was Star Wars.)

Blazing Saddles (1978). I think this was a re-release but our next door neighbor took his son and me. Most of the fun was him getting drunk and lying to my old man and then two days later telling him. Farmville, VA’s best.

Silver Streak (1979). My first date. I’m not sure the statute of limitations has expired on the damage I can do to a young woman’s reputation, so I won’t reveal who it was. Suffice it to say, I was not then nor have I ever been a playa’. I also remember seeing Continental Divide (Belushi’s next-to-last film) on the first date with out being driven by my parents (she drove; I was a lowly sophomore); and Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), which was the first movie I ever drove someone to.

All the movies I saw with Spike on Friday nights during my exile in San Antonio. This was an incredibly lonely time for me and spending a year talking about film on a fairly serious level was one of the few things that helped me make it through. [For the record, the only film I really remember was Full Metal Jacket].

New Years Eve 1990. My boy Norris and I got several bottles of wine, lots of Chinese food, and several classics I’d not seen, including The Thin Man, The Philadelphia Story, Ball of Fire, and His Girl Friday. Not a bad way to spend the evening.

Reservoir Dogs (1992). Was dragged to this by Drew Williams. Saw it in an entirely empty theater. Went to see Pulp Fiction two years later in a packed house. As a grad student studying postmoder theory, these films were pretty fucking great.

Since I got married and had kids I haven’t seen as many movies; that said, many have come as pleasant surprises – Moulin Rouge, for instance, I saw on a whim while I was on sabbatical and thoroughly enjoyed it. Suffice it to say, I love films.