First and foremost, for those of you who have commented THANKS! I hope you will continue to do so. I have also heard from a lot of people via email about this blog. Among those I heard from was my friend Jenny. Jenny was a foreign exchange student my senior year of high school and played flute in the band. We became fast friends and 16 years, one husband, and three kids between us later we remain friends. I mention her because my last memory of her time here in the United States is tied to a movie. We went to see Silence of the Lambs at Commack Multiplex. Now for those who are my fellow natives of the Isle of Long, you all must be saying - why didn't you go to Brookhaven? The reason being, by the time Jenny and I got around to seeing it that was the only theater that it was playing in. We kept missing the exit of the LIE (Long Island Expressway) to get to the theater and this is long before the days of GPS and mapquest. It was such a great afternoon. The movie creeped both of us out and we went to the diner afterwards and just talked about all the memories we were taking from that year. I made her a promise I would visit Sweden, which I have been lucky enough to do twice since we graduated.
I have so many of those types of memories and defining moments in my life that have movies attached to their landscape. They aren't necessarily tied to Oscars or themes, but in a given moment have resonance. I mean really there is no rhyme or reason for me to have seen Much Ado About Nothing 16 times in the theater. I remember sneaking into 5 movies at Brookhaven Multiplex one summer with Yvonne and Pepe that ranged from Satisfaction (a film at the timed billed with Justine Bateman as the star, but now more commonly referred to as Julia Roberts first and forgotten film) to The Serpent and the Rainbow a weird voodoo film with Bill Pulman long before "While You Were Sleeping". Here's a few more that come to mind:
Seeing "Stand By Me" with Tisha, Chris and Peter and all four of us being in awe of the fact that we were the same age as the characters - their story could be our story.
Raiders of the Lost Ark - The last film I watched with Paul, a man who was my father's best friend and a second dad to me. He died of a heart attack the next day.
Dances With Wolves - The first movie I ever went to alone. I was in high school and the idea of going to the movies on a Friday night alone was unheard of.
Swing Kids - Melissa and I crying our eyes out at the end of the theater that you'd have thought we were watching Schindler's List, but no we were watching a B-movie about teenage Nazi swing dancers. To say the audience was perplexed would be an understatement. A moment that over a decade later still causes instantaneous laughter
What movies transport you back to specific moments in your life?
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There are so many. I used to work at a video store for 3 years while in High School...so I saw a lot of movies -both popular and obscure. So many days and nights watching Bull Durham, Mystic Pizza, Big, A Fish Called Wanda, Princess Bride, Lethal Weapon and countless others. I also remember seeing Titanic the year it came out right around Christmas and all of my first cousins and brothers went that day. That was the first and last time we ever did that. I also remember watching all of Julia Roberts movies with Angela literally everyday. We were also obsessed with concert movies Sing Blue Silver from Duran Duran. I also remember seeing Godzilla with Keith at midnight showing opening night in NYC..we walked home after thinking about all the city scenes. None of these however were defining moments in my life per se just what came to mind when I read your post.
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