My movie memories
Feb 22nd 2009
Karen RoseOn Writing!
I only saw one of the Oscar nominated flicks, which is one more than usual. I saw Dark Knight, a) because my kids wanted to go, and b) it was entertaining. So I really don’t have any opinion about the movies nominated this year, or which ones won. I never guess right on the “Best” vs. “Worst” gowns (because I have no style), so I’ll leave that for the goddesses who do!
Still, I love the movies. For me, the success of a film is in the memory I carry away, not necessarily in the awards it received. For example, the first “grown up” film I ever saw in the theater was Kramer vs. Kramer, which won Best Picture in 1979. I was 13. I went with a neighbor friend
and had to be led blindly from the theater when it was over – I’d cried my eyes shut.
Indiana Jones – the first one – was the first movie I saw with Mr. R in the theater. I was 17. He didn’t realize I was afraid of snakes. I nearly broke his hand during the snake pit scene and then he knew not to take me to any other movies with snakes, LOL. Much later, after we were married, Mr. R and I played hooky from work when we’d been hit with a death in the family and, needing escape, saw 
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. It helped. The first movie we took Oldest Daughter to see was Baby’s Day Out, and I still remember her giggles.
After I’d written this blog, I told Mr. R about it. He chuckled at the snake pit memory, then sobered, sadly, at the Bill and Ted memory. “We needed it that day,” he said quietly. Then when I said “Baby’s Day Out” he smiled, real big. “The best part was her laugh,” he said, remembering our baby, who’s now 18. Memories are such powerful things. Shared memories more so, I think.
A special movie memory for me as an author is connected to The English Patient – a film I totally despised. (And which, incidentally, won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1996. Don’t get me started.) But it’s special because, while standing in line to buy tickets, I asked Mr. R – quite out of the blue, “If you wanted to escape your husband and fake your own death, how long before you’d be declared dead?” I’ll never forget the stunned look on his face as he turned and stared at me. “Is there something you want to tell me?” he asked. LOL. It was the plot of my first novel, DON’T TELL, which I sold in 2001. Because Mr. R and I mutually despised the movie, we spent our dinner afterward discussing my book idea. It’s a memory I’ll always keep.
What movies hold a special memory for you? Were any of them Oscar contenders? What makes a movie memorable for you?
64 Comments »
64 Responses to “My movie memories”
Bronte on 23 Feb 2009 at 2:45 am #
I think what makes a movie special is the ability to touch you deep inside and have you thinking it over long after you’ve finished watching the movie. My first “grown-up” film I watched was Gone with the Wind. I was absolutely mesmerised. It started a lifelong interest in history. To date I think the movie that has touched me most was V for Vendetta. It clarified a lot of my beliefs.
ArkansasCyndi on 23 Feb 2009 at 5:38 am #
Hi Karen! I so rarely see the nominated movies anymore. Most are just not my cup of tea. I did see The Dark Knight and we enjoyed it but when a movie is SO HYPED, I’m usually disappointed. Heath Ledger was INCREDIBLE and desired the win last night.
I HATED the English Patient! What a snore-fest for me. And Kramer v Kramer… cried my eyes out!
Indiana Jones – I had my feet pulled into my chair during the snake scene. If someone had stroke my ankle with anything during that scene, I’m sure I’d have had a heart attack.
My first “adult” movie was MASH. I was in junior high. I didn’t get all the jokes but it remains one of my favorite movies, however, the book is so much better. Wonderful book.
These days, the only movies I usually watch are comedies or romances. I can’t watch something that will depress me…if I want that, I turn on CNN, MSNBC or FOX.
Michelle B on 23 Feb 2009 at 5:41 am #
I love a good story, but like you Karen, the experience with people I love counts too. The first movie I remember seeing was “Mary Poppins” with my Mom. My Mom loved musicals, Dad not so much, so my sister and I went to see them with her. I remember seeing “Fiddler On the Roof” one College Bowl game day long ago. My Mom’s been gone 15 years this week and the last movie I saw with her was Robin Hood with Kevin Costner back in 1991. Not a musical, but she loved historical romance too and got me started reading them. For the record, we liked the Robin Hood flick which was panned.
The first movie I saw on a date with DH back in college was “Time Bandits”.
Karen Rose on 23 Feb 2009 at 5:49 am #
ArkCyndi – AMEN to romances and comedies! How you doin’, girl? I think we’re about due for another choco-martini, yes? I never saw the movie MASH. I heard it was quite different than the TV show.
Bronte – agreed. I do like the movies that stir me (without the depression element). Two that left me stirred and thinking were Chariots of Fire (although there were no chariots or fire in the movie) and Dances with Wolves. I still have the soundtracks to both.
When I taught creative writing at the high school level, I showed these movies to my students as examples of dialog driven pieces (C/Fire) and non-dialog driven pieces (DwWolves). They snored through CofF (which annoyed me), but many of them cried at the end of Wolves – especially when Two Socks is killed by the bad soldiers. That made me think there was hope for them after all…
Karen Rose on 23 Feb 2009 at 5:51 am #
Michelle B – what a sweet memory of your mom!
The first movie I remember was Wizard of Oz. Remember when it came on TV only once a year? I was about five and we still had a black/white set. Only one family in our apartment complex had a color TV and they invited us over to see the movie in color – with popcorn and Coke. I never got coca-cola, so that was really special
I still remember my first gander at Oz in all its technicolor glory. Still makes me smile.
Karen Rose on 23 Feb 2009 at 5:56 am #
Another movie that influenced me as an author – The Sixth Sense. I could always predict the ending of a flick, was always playing, “if I wrote this, this is how I’d end it.”
Not so with Sixth Sense. I was blown away. I saw it on video and at the end immediately rewound to the scene with Bruce Willis and the mom. What a skillfully done suspense!
Now as I’m writing, I think, “I want that Sixth Sense moment.” I want the reader to get to the end and say, “Hey wait, it couldn’t be so-n-so as the villain.” or “Wow, I never saw that coming.”
When I showed that movie to my writing class (with parent permission), it was to demonstrate the art of skillfully dropped clues and reader/viewer manipulation. I ended up with a moment of insight I folded back into my own writing. One of the girls (who had pink hair then) said, “The scariest part was that he saw ghosts during the daytime, when he was supposed to be safe.”
That concept of seeing ghosts, evil, when you think you should be safe is a powerful suspense-creating tool.
Bronte on 23 Feb 2009 at 6:04 am #
At the risk of being boo’d out of Mount olympus… I really liked the english patient. I’ll run and hide now:).
Karen Rose on 23 Feb 2009 at 6:10 am #
Bronte – totally your right! No need to hide. We can disagree on Mt. Oly. Just not with Zeus. He does the lightning bolt thing that’s really annoying
Cail on 23 Feb 2009 at 6:58 am #
of the bunch i think i only saw Dark Knight and Wall-E. I also saw Mamma Mia and Ironman, but I don’t think it was up for much. As I said yesterday, the cost of a ticket is just getting too expensive and I can just as easily buy the DVD (or netflix it!) with the DH and watch it on our own screen. I tend to only go out to see movies that I’m pretty darn sure I’m going to really like.
I watched a few hrs of the Oscars, loved most of the dresses and definitely cried when Heath won BSA. I never stay up until the end.
My current favorite movie memory is watching blazing saddles during my first date with my DH. It was back in NY at my apartment (we’d been friends for years) and we just sort of snuggled up to each other and have been together ever since.
Lisa H on 23 Feb 2009 at 7:28 am #
One movie that always cracks me up is Rain Man. Only because it is a movie my husband has always wanted to see, its been on tv hundreds of time and he starts watching it everytime and falls asleep. Whenever he gets up in the middle of the night I always suggest he watches Rain Man.
SuzyQ on 23 Feb 2009 at 7:34 am #
My first grown up movie was Young Frankenstein that my family went to see with another family. We did the whole dinner and a movie thing and I thought it was really cool. Another movie that always makes me and my dh smile was Groundhog Day. We tried to watch that movie 4 times before we finally got through it. We kept falling asleep and waking up as the credits were rolling. We laugh that watching that movie was like being in the movie. The same thing kept happening over and over.
For me a movie is memorable if it can draw emotion out, whether its laughter, tears, or anger. I remember the movie The Mist because of its ending. IMO that movie had the worst ending I had ever seen and I was so angry I wanted to throw something at the TV for wasting 2 hours of my life I’d never be able to get back. See, you don’t have to love a movie to have it be memorable.
Karen Hawkins on 23 Feb 2009 at 8:00 am #
Karen Rawk, you pick the best topics! I looooove movies! I can remember my first Raider experience. I thought Harrison Ford was Hottie McHot. Loved him!
SuzyQ! Heh! Young Frankenstein was my first ever non-G-rated movie! I was so PROUD to be able to buy my ticket … and then I laughed myself silly. I love that movie. My guy and I quote it to each other all of the time, now, too.
Another movie that has a great memory for me is My Fair Lady because I just looooved every bit of it — the set, the clothes, the songs. Ah, the romance! I can sing “I Could Have Danced All Night” from beginning to end. It just struck a chord and I can remember watching it the first time, and how excited I was when my awesome brother got me a copy of it for my birthday years later.
And my guy and I watched The Big Lebowski together during our formative years and it’s become ‘our’ movie. It’s our ‘us time’ when-we-can’t-find-anything-good-to-watch on tv-movie and always guarantees a laugh.
Lisa H on 23 Feb 2009 at 8:16 am #
Karen H- I thought you would be in a Hugh induced coma this morning!
Karen Rose on 23 Feb 2009 at 8:29 am #
Karen H – Mr. R and I have a lot of movies that we watching during our formative years. Monty Python and the Holy Grail is the earliest “cult” flick of ours. I was such an earnest young lass… I remember staring in horror at the screen through the “bring out your dead sketch” and finally realized it was a comedy when the Black Knight was de-legged and de-armed. Ha!
Cail – how sweet! That you were friends, just cuddled up and look at you now
Truth be told, I’ve never seen Blazing Saddles, just clips. I think I may be the only person I know not to have seen it!
But I have seen Young Frankenstein, great movie! Of course, I can only quote the dirty lines. I think that’s about 75% of the movie, LOL.
Freshechelle on 23 Feb 2009 at 8:39 am #
My parents often took us to Sunday matinees and sometimes it was no holds barred with their film choice (They took me to see the Omen at age 9).
I was maybe 12 when we went to see “When a Stranger Calls” (the original). When the wife taps who she thinks is her husband in bed and it turns out to be the killer, my dad’s voiced boomed throughout the theater “Son of a bitch!” I’m still laughing about it while I write this.
Oh, and yeah, i had trouble sleeping for quite some time after both these movies. I think my parents who were very young thought telling me “it’s only a movie” was enough to keep the boogeyman away.
LoriHandeland on 23 Feb 2009 at 8:42 am #
The first movie my husband and I ever saw together was Gremlins. I can’t remember much of the movie–and not for THAT reason. No hanky panky even though we were at a drive in. DH picked me up in his one ton work van and there was a two hundred pound carpet roll between us. Talk about a mood killer. But we did name our first cat Gremlin, so I always remember that movie fondly.
For me a movie that I can’t wait to see again, or buy the DVD the instant it comes is memorable, and usually because of great dialogue that I can quote forever, or a fabulous character that seems so real, or a terrific plot that I keep thinking about over and over again.
We quote Young Frankenstein all the time here. My kids will constantly say “Frau Bluecher,” make a horse noise and crack up.
nancyg on 23 Feb 2009 at 8:45 am #
I remember my 2 younger brothers & me piling into the back of the station wagon with our pillows & sleeping bags, mom packing the car to the gills with snacks & drinks and heading to the drive-in!! I remember dad putting the speaker on the car door and it falling off about 10X during the movie. My parents unrolled the back window, and it was the only time my brothers & I sat on the tailgate!! Didn’t matter what the movie was, it was family time!
My oldest daughter and I are geeks-at-heart. She’s 17 now with a car, so she zooms in for meals and the gas card. When she was younger, we bonded over the new Star Wars & The Lord of the Rings trilogies. I’d buy us tickets for the midnight showing, put her younger sisters (and my husband) to bed, then get in the car to catch the absolute 1st showing at 12:01 am. She was so excited to go to school the next day and brag to her friends that she’d already seen the movies.
One day, I picked up the girls from school, told them they had a dental appt., then pulled into the movie parking lot to see the 1st HARRY POTTER movie. I have a picture of their expressions when I told them it was a “self-appreciation day”.
Karen Rose on 23 Feb 2009 at 8:51 am #
Fresh….I have to say, this explains a lot!!! Ha! So funny about your dad
Lori, I remember the Gremlins smoking, singing Hi Ho and the old lady getting thrown by her staircase/chair/thingie. So, net, not sure you missed much. I did see it twice, so I must have liked it back then.
NancyG – and I bet your kids will remember that forever! Sweet!
nancyg on 23 Feb 2009 at 8:55 am #
Now the girls, my husband & I have what we call “Family Movie Night”. It usually only happens about once a month, being hard to find a movie a 17, 13 & 9 year old all want to see – usually something like IRON MAN or a kid-friendly comedy.
Cell phones are verbotim, not even allowed in the room, house phone ringer is turned off, and we go to the store for popcorn, sodas, and bad-for-you movie candy – JuJus, Junior Mints, Twizzlers.
1st movie my husband & I saw together that I can remember was GODFATHER 3. At dinner afterwards, we both universally panned it…Sofia Coppola – really??
I enjoy getting the oldies but goodies from the video store & watching them with the girls. The old musicals, AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, GUYS & DOLLS, MY FAIR LADY, plus THE QUIET MAN, TO CATCH A THIEF, GIDGET, THE FLYING NUN,etc.
We’re pretty big movie buffs, so we’ll throw out random movie quotes at the dinner table all the time. Probably the most quoted movies are THE PRINCESS BRIDE “I do not think that means what you think it means”…when my kids leave the house “Have fun storming the castle!!” and MONTY PYTHON & the HOLY GRAIL “Bring out your dead!!” “African or European swallow?” “killer rabbit?”
SheridanLA on 23 Feb 2009 at 8:59 am #
The first movie I remember seeing was Fantasia.. and it scared the poo out of me (I was like 3 or 4)..it was the “Night on Bald Mountain” part.. I was hiding under the seat.
Then later, I remember waiting in line with my dad to get tickets to the original Star Wars movie. We played backgammon to pass the time (I was 7 and he was teaching me).. then we were blown away watching the movie. It was awesome and I wanted to be Princess Leia – but I did not have long enough hair for her cinnamon buns.
The only thing that made English Patient not a total loss for me is Ralph Feinnes.. that is one beautiful man.
I was in some sort of movie black hole last year.. I usually don’t see all the Oscar movies, but I at least see some of them.. I went to a pitiful few theatre movies last year.. I actually like going to the theatres and seeing movies.. I just wait till they have been out a bit so the crowds are not so big.
Karen Rose on 23 Feb 2009 at 9:18 am #
Okay, I have never been to a drive-in movie. How sad, right?
But I do have a fantastic drive-in story. It is true and happened to Mr. R when he was just a little boy. First, I have to say his family is … different. Um, yeah.
So, it’s 1968ish and he, his older brother C and his parents go to the drive-in movie. Some monster flick, probably. His mom goes to the snack bar to get hot dogs and drinks and takes older brother C with her. Guy behind the counter is some pimply-faced obnoxious kid who thinks he’s king because he’s behind the counter.
Mr. R’s mom and brother get back to the car and find the hot dogs taste like sawdust and the drinks are like water. Ew. So, being thrifty (and I’m being kind), his mom and brother C march back to the counter and demand a refund.
Pimply-faced boy says “No.” Mr. R’s mom protests – loudly. (Again, I am being kind.) Finally pimple-boy says, nastily, “Fine. I’ll refund the hotdogs, but not the drinks.”
Why? Who knows.
Mr. R’s mom is not happy, but pimple-boy stands firm. “The drinks are yours, lady.”
So Mr. R’s mom says, “You mean they’re mine? I can do whatever I want with them?”
Karen Rose on 23 Feb 2009 at 9:18 am #
Pimple-boy, looking confused and not as wary as he should have, “Yeah, sure. Okay.”
So Mr. R’s mom waits until he’s opened the cash register to refund the hot dogs and dumps all four large drinks in the cash register. Patrons of the snack bar cheer! Mr. R’s mom RUNS for her life, dragging older brother C behind her.
Mr. R, a little boy, and his dad are obliviously watching the flick when the door opens by an unseen hand and his mom crawls up into the car. “Richard,” she hisses. “Drive. Just drive!”
Older brother C and Mr. R crouch in the back floorboards like they are on a caper and Mr. R’s dad (remember this family is a little off), punches the gas and flees the drive-in in a storm of gravel and shouts from pimple-boy who has just recovered his voice.
It’s totally true. I swear.
So even though I haven’t been to a drive-in, I have enjoyed the ambience through Mr. R’s vivid tales.
SheridanLA on 23 Feb 2009 at 9:33 am #
Karen. I have been to Drive-Ins.. they still have them around and are quite fun.
and can I just say I LOVE Mr. R’s mom. That is too funny.. mostly that she was so ballsy about what she did.. then ran. hahaha.
Sabrina Jeffries on 23 Feb 2009 at 9:35 am #
OMG, KarenR, I have GOT to meet your dh’s family. That is too funny!
I have so many memories connected to movies. I remember Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which I LOVED and which appalled my parents. This was in Thailand, where they don’t put ratings on the films, so you didn’t know what to expect. Also, Serpico, which my parents took us to thinking that the “message” about corruption was good–then being shocked when every other word out of Pacino’s mouth was the “f” word. Imagine my innocent little missionary parents, having brought two young teens and a kid in elementary and middle school to Serpico. The horror! My mom cried afterward, saying she had corrupted her children.
The first movie I remember seeing was Old Yeller, already an old film, shown on the ship we went to Thailand on. I cried my eyes out. But I loved seeing movies all the time on the ship.
I remember seeing the Sound of Music at 7, and making my 3-year-old brother reenact scenes afterward. I loved it so much! I remember seeing Romeo and Juliet with a new boyfriend and our first kiss afterward. He was a good kisser (not as good as dh, but no one was). Ah, the memories.
Karen Hawkins on 23 Feb 2009 at 9:38 am #
Lisa H, I’m ALWAYS in a Hugh Induced Coma. I daresay you just never noticed.
But wasn’t he AWESOME as an MC? Honestly, he was funny and positive and just fun to watch. Of course, I’m a bit prejudiced . . . I did think the music montages went on a bit too long, but other than that, great stuff.
Btw, wasn’t Ben Stiller’s Joaquin Phoenix impression hysterical? Made me laugh so much!
Karen Hawkins on 23 Feb 2009 at 9:41 am #
Karen Rose, about Mr. R’s family — BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! What an interesting bunch!
Nate and I love Monty Python, too! I’m DYING to see Spamalot.
Margaret on 23 Feb 2009 at 10:04 am #
Sheridan, I so agree about “Fantasia” and the “Night on Bald Mountain” part. I wasn’t even in school when that movie came out & don’t remember who took me. The part that really scared me spitless, however, was the earthquake where all the cute dinosaurs were destroyed.
I don’t remember my 1st movie. Too many moons have passed. People used to haul their kids to the movies with them. Getting a babysitter was considered a shameful abandonment of your young. The theaters had little sound-proofed rooms with windows. They were called crying rooms. A mom could sit in there will a little one. LO could make noise, mom could watch movie.
I remember a movie called “Down to the Sea in Ships”. Definitely B category. The reason I remember is my cousin had a bad nosebleed toward the end of it. Movie was stopped & she was carted off to hospital. I NEVER got to see the end of that movie until 20-25 years later on tv. I was so mad!
I loved the Saturday morning kid clubs. Lots of fun.
Margaret on 23 Feb 2009 at 10:07 am #
Karen R, you have missed out if you have never been to a drive-in. The last one in Lancaster County was sold and torn down about 2 years ago. My daughter would gather up a bunch of kids and off they would go with blankets/pillows and their own snacks.
From my own youth, there was no better place to make out than the back row of the drive-in. I wonder how many people were conceived at them. LOL
Claudia Dain on 23 Feb 2009 at 10:13 am #
I’ll never forget seeing Star Wars. It was playing at Mann’s Chinese Theater–which was a treat in and of itself. My college boyfriend and I, along with his roommate and his girlfriend floated back to the car, laughing, euphoric, playing with the lighted knobs and dials in his Toyota like we were in a star cruiser. The world had never seen anything like that movie. I’ll never forget the pure rush of joy and wonder I felt for weeks after seeing it.
Another fond memory is watching The Wizard of Oz on my black and white tv every year as a kid. When that movie was airing, my mom would make Jiffy Pop, I’d have my bath early and snuggle into my pajamas, ready to be transported to Oz. The next day at school every kid would have watched it and we’d pretend to be blown across the playground by a Kansas twister.
So many movie memories! I wonder how many memories I would have lost without a movie to anchor it to?
Karen Rose on 23 Feb 2009 at 10:34 am #
Nancy G – that sounds like a lovely family night! I saw Princess Bride for the first time last year. (I’m going to hide with Bronte now, as I didn’t really like PBride. Don’t throw tomatoes, please!) Now the Grail: The Castle Aaaaarrrrrgggghhh is hilarious and I love the Camelot, pram-a-lot scene. And “All this will be yours.” “The curtains?” “NO! Not the curtains.”
I can quote it all.
Sheridan – I saw the first Star Wars movie with a pal when I was 12 or 13. I’ll never forget it! Today kids chuckle at us, but then, wow – it was amazing.
Sabrina, I’m LOL-ing over the look on your mom’s face at the F words in Serpico! DH’s dad took them to Willard – the boys came out saying how cool the rats were. Corruption… Truly explains a lot about my husband.
Karen H – Spamalot – meh. I think it was okay, but it was expensive for “okay.” It was not the same as the movie, so quoters were frustrated. It was so close to the movie that there wasn’t anything new, except the lady in the lake and I said “Huh?”
But I know one of my house’s editors just loved it, so I could be all wet.
Julia London on 23 Feb 2009 at 10:36 am #
I was just thinking of the Wizard of Oz, because that was a yearly event for the family. I wonder if it holds up today? And what is too young for that movie? I think I was really really young, because the flying monkeys scared me — but is that scary anymore?
Karen Rose on 23 Feb 2009 at 10:38 am #
Margaret – the big drive in near my house was famous for porn flicks. Not only were people probably conceived there, but there were LOTS of accidents on that section of highway as people got distracted. Um, yeah.
Claudia, I wrote my first “screenplay” on Oz for my 2nd grade class. I’d seen the movie and thought the class should do the play. I handed out roles and my teacher just smiled and let us plan, knowing we’d forget about it in a few days. We did
Now, my youngest LOVED the Wizard of Oz and commanded us to perform it. She’d received a fairy costume kit from my mom that Christmas with glitter covered wings. She made my husband wear the fairy wings and he was the winged monkey.
She was 3 years old and directed the entire movie, start to finish. I got to be the witch. Bwahahaha.
I remember when she saw Cinderella. DH came home from work and she was all dressed up in a play costume and took his hand for the dance. She mimed out the clock striking twelve and losing her shoe.
Priceless memories.
Karen Rose on 23 Feb 2009 at 10:40 am #
Julia, my oldest called it the “Lizard of Oz.” LOL. That lizard was pretty scary.
Youngest was afraid of tornadoes after that. I lost a lot of sleep soothing those bad dreams, so maybe parts are still scary.
nancyg on 23 Feb 2009 at 10:54 am #
Cinderella – my favorite Disney movie ever – even though I’m a brunette!! I actually popped in the VHS tape on my wedding day when all my bridesmaids came over to get ready before the ceremony. My dad popped a bottle of champagne for all of us to toast & share. My best friend & maid of honor twirled me around the living room in my wedding dress while all us girls sang along to the movie.
Karen Rose on 23 Feb 2009 at 11:00 am #
“So this is love, mmmmm, so this is love… So this is what makes life so grand. I’m all aglow, mmmm, and now I know… The key to all heaven is mine…. My heart has wings, mmmm, and I can fly…. I’ll touch every star in the sky … So this is the miracle that I’ve been dreaming of……….. Mmmm, mmmm, so this is love.”
Ahhhhh. Youngest watched that video so often, I heard the songs in my sleep.
I did enjoy the Drew Barrymore version, also. All the fairy tale with a little feminism to boot.
colinfirthfan on 23 Feb 2009 at 11:58 am #
Karen, I too absolutley detested The English Patient.
The only Oscar movie I saw this year was SlumDog Millionaire. I loved it. 2 of the small kids who acted in the movie were actually from the slums so I was glad for them that they won. The last Oscars I watched were the ones hosted by Jon Stewart (who I love dearly). I watched this one just to see if Slumdog wins.
Movies that hold special memories for me – The Sound of Music. Maria, reminds me of my Mom. I watched it about 30 times one summer.
Lisa H on 23 Feb 2009 at 12:02 pm #
Karen R – I love your inlaws!
Karen H- Hugh was very handsome. He did a great job. Ben Stiller was hysterical, but I feel bad for Joaquin
because I think he is extremely talented and sexy. I don’t know why he’s going for the Othodox Jew look and singing hip hop. I hope its just a short phase.
Madeline Hunter on 23 Feb 2009 at 1:19 pm #
I remember being mesmerized by My Fair Lady, the movie. I was very young when it was first released and I saw it at an old downtown theater that looked like a real theater and even had intermissions. I was stunned by the style of it, especially the Ascot race scene, and by the humor.
I remember The Eye of the Needle because it was the first film I every saw that used sensuality for charcterization and plot development.
My husband and I used to watch spaghetti westerns together. He watched for the morality play and the guns. I watched Clint Eastwood.
Paul Newman in Hombre really was memorable, too. I do like my oaters, as a friend’s mom used to call them.
Sabrina Jeffries on 23 Feb 2009 at 2:07 pm #
Ooh, I loved Eye of the Needle. What a great movie! KarenR, how could you not like Princess Bride??
But count me in with those who hated the English Patient.
Claudia Dain on 23 Feb 2009 at 2:08 pm #
Julia, those Oz flying monkeys STILL scare me to death.
Madeline, Hombre is one of the best westerns ever done. I just love it. Newman has how many lines of dialogue in that movie? Five? He totally dominates every scene.
Karen Rose on 23 Feb 2009 at 2:23 pm #
Sabrina, I don’t know. I just … didn’t like it. I wish I did! I wanna be in the Princess Bride club!
Mr. R is big on the spaghetti westerns. I can only remember one Eastwood movie – the one where they try to hang him and don’t finish the job. I really did like that one.
And Paul Newman didn’t need dialog, even though he was so good with it. The camera just loved him.
Gregory Peck was another that just seemed to be bigger than life on camera.
Margaret on 23 Feb 2009 at 2:25 pm #
OMG KarenR! When I first moved to PA, there was a drive-in showing porn over in York County across the river. Both screens were pointed toward I83. Which is the Interstate highway running down to Baltimore from up north. Every night, there would be all sorts of semis, pick-ups and other vehicles lining the highway on either side. They could watch the movies even tho they didn’t get the sound. I’m sure that’s no hardship in a porn flick. LOL Finally, the county put up No Parking signs up and down the highway for as far as the screens could be seen. Then the state troopers and local police rigidly enforced that law. Such a tame drive down to Bollymore these days. That drive-in has also been torn down years ago.
Janga on 23 Feb 2009 at 2:27 pm #
I can remember feeling very grown up the first time I was allowed to go with my mother and father to see a movie at the Fox in Atlanta. I was so fascinated by the stars and the clouds that I remember the theater in vivid detail but have only a vague recollection of a war movie.
One of my favorite movie memories concerns Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet. My sister and I were determined to see it, but my mom was busy and my sister didn’t trust anyone else with her three-month-old son. So we took the baby with us. He slept beautifully until the duel between Mercutio and Tybalt when he awoke and started cooing and waving his arms. He did this until Romeo killed Tybalt, and then he went back to sleep. My sister and I have always insisted that his behavior provides evidence that the love of fight scenes and boredom with most everything else are hardwired into the brains of the males of our family.
Margaret on 23 Feb 2009 at 2:29 pm #
The first time I saw “Wizard of Oz” was in a movie theater. It must have been a re-release as the movie premiered when I was about 1 year old.
At the time, many movies were in black & white. I didn’t know anything about the movie tho I loved the books. I remember sitting there and being scared when the house blew away with Dorothy and Toto in it. When she opened the door to all that beautiful color, I was completely stunned. I didn’t know about it and it was such a shock compared to the b/w. If you ever get a chance to sit in a darkened movie theater and watch it on the silver screen, go for it. It’s amazing.
I took my daughter to see “Sound of Music” for her 9th birthday. She still remembers that day.
colinfirthfan on 23 Feb 2009 at 2:32 pm #
Margaret, that’s a funny story about the drive to Baltimore.
I loooove Princess Bride. My Dh doesn’t get why it si soo good neither did my 8 yr old who was bored to tears.
Men!
Paula on 23 Feb 2009 at 2:54 pm #
The first movie I can recall seeing at the cinema was Dirty Dancing.
I love Wizard of Oz, Mary Poppins,Monty Python.
JAmes Bond movies are good to watch at the cinema, all that surround sound!
Janae on 23 Feb 2009 at 3:28 pm #
Movies are very big in my family. My mom always made a HUGE batch of carmel corn. Or we’d go to the local movie theater. I think I went to a movie most every Friday night thru middle school with my friends. My parents were really strict about the movies, though. When I was 13 I was at a friend’s b-day party, which started at the local pizza parlor, then we went to the movies, and to her house for a slumber party. My parents just happened to be at the same movie – National Lampoon’s European Vacation. I was heading to the bathroom; they were getting their money back because they didn’t want to see nudity, etc. Honestly, IDK what they were thinking when they picked the movie because it wasn’t their type of movie. They made me go home with them. I had to tell my friends that I would meet up with them once the movie was over. Then, my parents talked to my friend’s mom, who was somewhat mortified. Although, I think I was even mortified than my friend’s mom.
dbrown3400 on 23 Feb 2009 at 3:28 pm #
My favorite movie memory was seeing Jailhouse Rock with my grandmother. She introduced me to Elvis and we even went to an Elvis concert in June of 1972.
dbrown3400 on 23 Feb 2009 at 3:38 pm #
We did go to the drive-in a lot when we were kids. My parents split when I was little and when I’d go visit my dad, the step-brother-and-sister, my brother and I, oh, and the wicked step-mother, would pile in the station wagon with homemade popcorn and go on Saturday night.
My scariest memory of that time was seeing the original King Kong when I was five or so. I had nightmares of the natives playing drums and the big gorilla peering in my window. I know I was awake and he was really there!
Kerri on 23 Feb 2009 at 3:56 pm #
Wow, I have LOTS of movie memories!
Fantasia scared me, too, but I love it now.
My sister and I saw Empire Strikes Back together, and gasped audibly (with the rest of the audience) when Darth Vader told Luke, “I am your father!”
I made my grandma take me to see E.T. – to this day, I don’t think she understands it!
I saw Grease in the theater with my parents, and cringed any time something slightly risque came up because I was sitting by my dad.
I remember my aunt and her boyfriend taking me to the drive-in to see ‘Viva Knievel!’. Her boyfriend had a van, which they had me sit on top of while they stayed inside (with the doors open) and made out.
Seeing Field of Dreams, and hearing some of the men sitting around me crying at the end – I guess it does that to men!
My husband and I saw Ghost while engaged, and loved it so much that we had Unchained Melody for our first dance at the wedding.
We watch the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy every New Year’s Eve, and can almost say the dialog by heart!
colinfirthfan on 23 Feb 2009 at 3:58 pm #
I have watched all sorts of movies with my parents including When Harry Met Sally. Sometimes my mom would decide to embarrass us and say – “Close your eyes!” If there was any nudity (rarely).
Fun days!
Janae, we are very strict with our kids as well. He isn’t allowed to watch all sorts of movies that his friends have watched (POTC, for instance). He has given up complaining!! Told him he can watch it when he is 10 (along with Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park)
Judy F on 23 Feb 2009 at 4:14 pm #
I haven’t gone to see a movie in ages. I used to go all the time.
One of my first memories of movie going was Hello Dolly..My mom loved musicals and my dad didn’t so she was always taking one of us kids with her.
My sister and her kids love scary and horror movies. They talked me into seeing the Sixth Sense and what lies Beneath. I loved The Sixth sense. I remember my niece saying during What Lies Beneath. Why does she keep going back into that bathroom? Good question.
Janae on 23 Feb 2009 at 4:49 pm #
Colinfirthfan, it’s weird because I just remembered this other movie moment. My mom has a thing for John Travolta. She took us to see Saturday Night Fever. I was 4 yo when it came out. I just caught part of it recently on tv. I can’t believe that she let us watch it. As a parent I’m much stricter about the movies than my dh is. I understand why he wants to show our son these movies that are important to my dh because they inspired him to go into filmmaking, but they aren’t always age appropriate. Then, there’s Revenge of the Sith. My dh HAD to take our then 5 yo to see it ‘because he needs to have an experience of seeing a Star Wars movie in the theater.’ Gaaaah! So I watched it with my dh and told him the things that I thought were our son shouldn’t see and why. My dh recorded the time into the movie and the length of the scene. They saw it at the Cineramadome in Hollywood, went to Grauman’s Chinese Theater, etc. It was quite the experience for our son. Fortunately, he remembers the other stuff better than he does the movie.
Pesky on 23 Feb 2009 at 5:03 pm #
My first date movie was American Werewolf In London, it was a group date, where, unfortunately, my best male buddy (the boy next door) found out that I watch horror movies through spread fingers, stuff my fingers in my ears if I start getting too freaked out, and will jump about 4 feet into the air if poked at just the right time during the movie. This is unfortunate because my other guy bud was informed of this and for the past 30 years have dragged me to every horror film they can find just to see if they can get the shriek and jump reaction. I just remember the delicious horror of the movie and walking from the theatre to Friendy’s for ice cream afterwards under a full moon. It was the first night I practiced flirting with a guy and the first date where I didn’t pay.
Ginger Rodgers and Fred Astair Movies bring back memories of my dad who worked nights, and during the summer when he got home late and saw one on the tv would wake my sister brother and I up and we’d pop some corn and watch all cuddled up on the couch. We didn’t get a lot of time with dad otherwise due to his hours so these movies always bring back good memories.
Kay on 23 Feb 2009 at 5:18 pm #
Karen:
The PRINCESS BRIDE is one of DH’s favorite movies. We haven’t watched it in a while, maybe we’ll watch it again this weekend.
Didn’t watch the oscars this year. The only movie I saw that won anything was Wall e, and I only liked the first part of that.
DH and I went to see SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE. Our oldest was a baby–and it was the first movie we saw after he arrived. We HATED it. Yes, Judy Dench was fantastic, but that was not enough. We also hated TITANIC and THE ENGLISH PATIENT, so don’t go by what we think!
One movie that lifted me out of a blue spell was ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES. We were in the throes of infertility treatment, and for some reason it was just what I needed to see at that time. Sometimes dark humor is the best way to beat the blues.
DH and oldest son did see Batman, and thought it was fantastic. I wasn’t interested.
My oldest son’s first movie was TARZAN and my youngest son’s was TOY STORY 2, both fantastic movies.
We did just see CORALINE and I loved it, even though there were changes from the book. It was visually amazing in 3D.
Sabrina Jeffries on 23 Feb 2009 at 5:29 pm #
Margaret, I saw Wizard of Oz for the first time in a theater, too. Having grown up in Thailand, I missed a lot of the movies most people saw, and for some reason it was playing in a theater while we were on furlough in the U.S. When it started in b&w, I was all disappointed because I was expecting color. So when it changed to color, I was completely enraptured.
Oddly enough, I had read all the books by that time, and my only disappointment was that it wasn’t closer to the books. But I did enjoy it. However, at 12, I was too old to be scared by the monkeys. *G*
Kay, I’m with you on the Titanic (although I did love Shakespeare in Love). I didn’t hate Titanic, but I sure didn’t get what all the fuss was about. Did you dislike these three movies because all three had unhappy endings? Just curious.
Nicole Jordan on 23 Feb 2009 at 6:25 pm #
Oh, y’all are bringing back a lot of fond memories! I’m fond of a lot of movies, especially musicals. Two that particularly struck me were both in college when I was brain dead from studying. I adored Man of La Mancha the first 2 times I saw it, even though it got panned by the cirtics. But then years later when I tried watching it again, I couldn’t make it past the first half hour. Same thing with Young Frankestein. I remember howling with laughter with my fellow students, but then when I made my dh watch it with me years later, I thought it waw awful. Either my tastes changed as I matured, or I was really warped back then. *G*
Karen Rose on 23 Feb 2009 at 6:43 pm #
Nicole, I think our tastes do change as we grow older, and a movie that hits the spot at one time in our life may not be relevant later. From a TV standpoint, DH and I used to watch SCTV and howl with laughter back in the 80’s. We caught a few episodes recently and shook our heads in puzzlement.
I did like Titanic, but not enough to see it again. My fave part were the little vignette scenes when the ship is going down – they are moving, especially the mother with her kids and the two old people and the man who doesn’t speak English.
Never saw Shakespeare in Love. Have to admit, I avoid anything about Shakespeare, unless it makes mock – like the Shakespeare Abridged show or Strange Brew (which knocks off MacBeth or Hamlet… can’t remember which). I love the shows that poke at Shakespeare. I’m bad that way.
Pesky – what sweet memories of time with your dad! Mine center around the Wash Redskins and Sunday afternoon football. “That Kilmer throws like a girl,” he’d mutter. Which, apparently, was true.
Judy F – why do they ever go into the scary place, or the basement, or the room with eerie light coming under the door and vicious screams inside? Ack.
Karen Rose on 23 Feb 2009 at 7:03 pm #
Kerri – I missed E Strikes Back in the theater. I had a major crush on this boy in HS and held out, hoping he’d ask me to go to the movie with him. Of course he took some girl with huge … tracts of land (for you Pythoners out there, LOL). Then I found out he was a major jerk and not worth the heartbreak, but by then the movie wasn’t in the theater anymore and by the time I saw it on video, the secret was out. No audible gasp for me, alas.
nancyg on 23 Feb 2009 at 7:38 pm #
KarenR:
Can’t believe you like the Reduced Shakespeare Company!! I *love* (and own) that DVD. My oldest daughter is taking AP English & reading a lot of the plays, so she positively adores it as well.
I am a Shakespeare lover. For movies, anything by Kenneth Branaugh is wonderful, but Much Ado About Nothing is probably my favorite adaptation. The wordplay between Beatrice & Benedick is wonderful!!
I liked Shakespeare in Love – but not as much when Gwenyth Paltrow beat out Cate Blanchett for best actress. I mean, who couldn’t act all ga-ga in love & lust when Shakespeare is Joseph Fiennes? and her 2nd choice is Colin Firth? I would’ve done it for free!!
I thought Blanchett’s role in Elizabeth was a powerhouse and she deserved the award.
I remember going on a date to see TOP GUN in the theater – the surround sound made you feel like you were riding “RIO”. My date had a wicked bad sunburn and when he tried to put his arm around me, he audibly winced and his arm was about 200 degrees!
Nicole Jordan on 23 Feb 2009 at 7:46 pm #
KarenR, you really do need to see Shakespeare in Love. It wasn’t about the plays, it was a theory about how WS, as a young and budding playwright, came to write the stories he did. The movie was fun and romantic and poignant. GP played a young woman who went on stage dressed as a man since women weren’t allowed legally to be actors. IMO, it’s required viewing for every romance author.
Freshechelle on 23 Feb 2009 at 10:04 pm #
I’m surprised so many of you didn’t like the English Patient only because, I mean, come on, Colin Firth is in it. Even if his character is a bit of sap. I remember liking it at the time but mostly because it was so beautifully filmed.
TinaLouiseF on 23 Feb 2009 at 11:05 pm #
I remember seeing “Mr. Mom” at the theater the year I spent 6 months with my grandmother.
My parents took us to the drive-in a few times, but I only remember the titles of two, “Solo” and “Never Cry Wolf”.
I think my aunt took my brother and I to “The Right Stuff”.
The only Halloween party I remember going to during elementary school years that was not at the school, showed on of the “Halloween” movines. I had nightmares for months.
My cousin, Jack, my brother and I saw “Bambi” at the theater.
When I was in college, I saw many matinees to pass the time when I wasn’t reading.
I’m not sure if I remember them. Does anyone know the name of the movie with Tom Selleck as a baseball player on a Japanese baseball team?
Karen Rose on 23 Feb 2009 at 11:12 pm #
Okay, since it’s the end of the day, I’ll say my piece on the English Patient.
1) The “hero” and “heroine” were not heroic. She cheated on her husband, I don’t care why, it was bad. He was really un-heroic, having betrayed good men to save one woman. Bad.
2) The lead roles were played by skinny people who looked bad naked.
There, I’m done.