Another Movie Tag

Many of you know I like talking about movie memories.  Movie FanFare posted a series of questions that you might be interested in answering yourself if you are as avid a movie experience fan as I am.


(from the Movie FanFare website):

What was the first movie you remember seeing in the theater?

Well, I am 58 years old and my memory has gone south for the winter.  I definitely remember seeing Bedknobs and Broomsticks on the big screen, but I think I may have seen The Love Bug, which came out a few years earlier.  At any rate it had to have been a G rated Disney flick because that's all Dad let us go see at that age.

What are your best and worst movie going experiences?

Best:  Would have to be seeing the original Star Wars, unmolested by George Lucas with that damn CGI crap he added years later.  Two things made this movie great.  First, it was the first PG movie my father finally consented me and my sister to go to, and second because it was just me and my sister, without parents or a horde of other kids on a joint viewing venture.  The best memories are when she would go with me, which wasn't all that often.


Worst, hands down.  I took my annual Christmas vacation in 1997.  I delayed going home by one day so I could go see the Kevin Costner film The Postman.   Bad choice.  3 hours of pure boredom.  I kept looking at my watch and wondering how much damn longer is this movie going to last?  I have NEVER walked out of a movie in my life, but this one came the closest to making me do that.  And the worst part?  It was my birthday, making it the worst birthday I ever had also.

What movie did you see the most times in the theater and why?

I went to see An American Werewolf in London once a week for every week it was in the theater (4 times).  Why?  Because it was the funniest damn thing I ever saw.  I enjoyed going each successive time and trying to find a couple of girls to sit behind.  And laugh my head off at the funny/scary parts.  And have my victims look around at me and be like "What are you laughing at?  This is scary..."

Did you ever work in a movie theater?  If so, share some stories from the multiplex.

No, I never did.  But if I had, I would have opted for a drive-in rather than a multiplex.

What was your childhood movie theater?  What made it so special?

The indoor movie theater, in downtown Denison, Texas was called The Rialto.  They don't make movie theaters like this anymore.  It had a balcony, which was always cool to sit in.

Years later a mall opened up down the road in Sherman, which was the first "multiplex" I ever watched a movie in (they had four screens).  It wasn't fantastic, but at least I had options of four movies.

There were also two (count 'em, two) drive-in theaters, both of them in the same area, across a highway from each other.  The Twin Cities Drive-In and The Sher-Den Drive-In. (they were on the border between Denison and Sherman, hence the names).  My favorite memories of drive-in theaters stems from visiting those two.  They are both long gone now.  One was replaced by an apartment complex and the other is now the site of a convenience store.

Do you prefer seeing movies in a theater or at home?

About the only time I go to the theater to see a movie now days is if there is a potential of some great special effects, explosions and the like.  If its just a standard drama I usually hold out until it comes out on DVD.  I will make exceptions for when Flashback Cinema is airing a classic.  Went to see Gone With the Wind last Sunday.

How do you feel about going to the movies nowadays?

Truth be told, if it wasn't for a local theater called The Spot having reclining seats I might have stopped going to movies altogether.  Somebody should be enshrined in the Movie Theater Hall of Fame for coming up with that idea (and seat service where they bring food to you...)

Feel free to answer these questions on your own blog.  But please, don't give credit to me, give it to Movie FanFare.

Quiggy