Most of the items below are from Poppy’s Virtual Piggy wishlist. I left the roughly 1 million American Girls she’d pinned off the list (because she’s working on earning one, so it isn’t going to be under the Christmas tree), and I added a few things that I know are on her list.
Category Archives: Diversions
The stuff that didn’t fit elsewhere.
Let’s go out to the movies!
Every now and then, when I am dragging my tired bones to bed having just watched a movie that was on much too late for me to watch the whole thing, I find myself saying, “Boy, I wish I had seen that in the theater.”
Maybe it’s just me. But there are movies that I feel would have been better experienced on the big screen.
This also works in reverse. There have been times that I left the theater thinking, “Who do I contact about getting those two hours back?” And there have been times I have dragged my bones to bed thinking “I sure am glad I didn’t buy a ticket for that cinematic disaster.”
So on that note, I have a list of “Five Movies I Wish I Had Seen In The Theater.” These are in no particular order, so don’t assume what occupies spot number one is the one I most wish I had seen in the theater. Also, some of these I never could have seen in the theater since they came out before I was born, but just bear with me.
Five Movies I Wish I Had Seen in the Theater
- 8 Mile
- Nichole and I thought about seeing this when it came out, but I was not really interested in watching a movie starring a hip-hop artist whose CD I wouldn’t even buy. That was a mistake. I caught this on FX a few weeks ago and was really impressed. I would have liked to see the dilapidation of Detroit and the final rap battle on the big screen
- Blade Runner
- This is by far one my favorite movies of all time, but I was just a wee lad when it came out. I had some “Blade Runner” Hot Wheels to play with when it was first released (one of which I still have) but I was probably 8 or 9 before I finally saw the movie. I can’t imagine how fantastic the whole vision would look in a theater, particularly the last 15 minutes.
- Donnie Darko
- I remember reading amazing reviews of this when it came out, but for some reason we decided against seeing it in the theater. Mistake. What an amazing film, and perhaps the best use a Tears For Fears song — first scene of the high school, panning from person to person while “Head Over Heels” overlays the action. That alone would have been a pleasure to see in the theater
- Vanishing Point
- I first saw this movie on TBS about 18 years ago. It was one of those late night/early morning viewings on a Friday night. I remember sitting there watching it; I hadn’t even checked the TV guide to see what it was. I just caught it as it was starting and had no idea what it even was until it ended. And man, what an ending. In my opinion, one of the best ever. And that car: 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T. I think I laughed out loud at the theater when I saw “Death Proof” because of the references to the car. “Vanishing Point” hits the same pleasure point as last year’s “Drive,” which leads me to the next one on my list.
- Drive
- The elevator scene; the fork scene; the entire first five minutes; the soundtrack. I love this movie, and someday when a theater near me shows it as a late night special viewing I will be there to watch it.
We get out of the house, and Ben Affleck gets out of the boycott room
College was better. We were closer to more options and more choice, thus more chances to see quality first-run talkies. Also, better video stores with more to offer. Graduate school time was the tops. Terrific theaters, great choices, and top-notch video stores. And disposable income pre-children! We were Cineplex junkies, pretty much watching all the new fare we wanted to. Sometimes, we even got popcorn and soda.
Then the first child arrived.
If I plot the data, I find there is a direct correlation between increased child cost/time and reduction in time spent doing frivolous activities — it only makes sense, there are only so many days in the week, hours in the day. What ensued we will call The Void. Very few trips to the theater, very many trips to the grocery store.
Time passed.
What happened next was (I suppose) to be expected. We got to go to the theater again but the trips tended to coincide with Disney’s seasonal release schedule. Funny how that seems to work. I enjoy a good animated feature as much as the next guy, but this was the dominating trend. Every now and then we would steal a matinee that was not the brainchild of John Lasseter when the timing worked out right on a family holiday visit, but it was rare.
We are coming out of The Void, but if I step out of myself for a moment and realize just how excited I was about “Wreck-It Ralph” last week, I get a little worried.
All of this is to say this: When we do get the opportunity to go see a movie made by and for grown-ups, it better be good. No, it better be excellent.
“Argo” was excellent. The writing was solid, the dialogue crisp with few (if any) wasted lines. It was exciting, nerve-racking and terrifying — probably because it was based on true events. I enjoyed all the performances, but Alan Arkin stood out among the pack.
Just how excellent was “Argo”? So excellent, it got Mr. Affleck out of Nichole’s virtual boycott room (I think the only remaining occupant is Tom Cruise but sometimes I think he may have me as company). Affleck had been in her boycott room for something like twelve years, so nice job getting out, Ben
When my wife asked me to write this she probably wanted more in-depth commentary. I hope she’s OK with this. Maybe the best commentary comes from her own observations once “Argo” had ended and we were getting up to leave.
As we stood up and stretched, she looked out over the audience, turned to me and said, “No one moved.”
And she was right. I hadn’t thought about it until then but throughout the entire movie no one had left the theater for the last two hours. We would have seen them; we were by the exit.
I kind of wonder if anyone had even taken a breathe.
That’s how excellent “Argo” is.