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Was thinking about this in the new Jurassic thread and thought I'd start one that's about your favorite theater experiences that are burned in your brain. So, this is all about the what/where/why this moment made such an impact. Here's my top 5, or at least the ones that automatically come to mind:
1. RISKY BUSINESS: to set the stage, I was 7 years old and me, Ouchie, Brother Not Ouchie and our older Cousin all wanted to go see Vacation, but our parents heard there was a naked girl in a pool in the movie and that was going to be too adult for me to see at that age. So, my cousin pivoted to... Risky Business, which my parents had no clue was a movie about a high school kid running a prostitution ring. We saw it opening Saturday at The Orpheum Theater in Evanston, Illinois, which was this awesome, old school theater with a second deck balcony, where we sat in the aisleI because the theater was so packed. For over half of the movie, Ouchie kept my eyes covered, but the moment that stays burned in my brain is Joel getting out of the interview with Harvard that goes bad and he walks out and Lana asks how it went. When Cruise put on the sunglasses and said "Looks like it's gonna be University of Illinois", the theater collectively ROARED in approval in a way that I'd never heard before nor heard since. And in that one moment, I think I became the cinefile/writer i was born to be.
When we got back to my parents that night, they asked how the movie was and my response was "It was the best movie I never saw!"
2. BATMAN (1989) - Again, with Ouchie... i was a little older but, like everyone else in America, was DYING to see this and Ouchie took me and my other cousin with him and his frat brothers to the midnight screening on Thursday night (when they actually used to do Midnight Midnight screenings). People were so pumped for that movie and the electricity waiting in line was palpable. Moment burned in brain was during the climax when the Batwing flies through the clouds and stops perfectly in front of the moon for a moment. That was the second loudest I've ever heard a crowd roar.
3. DEEP BLUE SEA (1999) - Yes, maybe this isn't to the level of Batman/Risky Business classic movie, but my friends and I got super high and were supposed to go see 6th Sense... but ended up being totally late (shocker). So, we just wandered into DBS which we'd also missed the first ten minutes of but walked in right when a shark passed through the screen and that was all we needed. We were totally hooked with how stupidly awesome this movie was and then Sam Jackson's speech started... and for those who know, you know what comes next. Well, we had no clue at the time and it MURDERED us. We DIED laughing once that shark came out and ate him, like, literally falling out of our chairs, rolling on the floor (i think there was only like three other people in the entire theater besides the 5 of us).
And there was a follow up for this story at home - at least a decade later, me and brother Not Ouchie were watching this at my parents house and my Mom walked in right before Jackson speech. Now, Mom had never seen this and was always all about people coming together and rallying spirit around each other and so he's giving the speech and she starts pumping her fist saying "Yes! Yes! Yes!" and then literally SCREAMED when the Shark attack came and my brother and I just died laughing again at how bad that moment nailed her.
4. T2 - another midnight premiere with Ouchie at Town And Country. One, I just remember how in awe of the movie I was from the jump and then the moment when the orderly licks Sarah's face when she's strapped down, some dude just yelled: "YOU SLIME!" I don't know why that stuck with me so much, but it was hilarious at the time and remains that way in my memory.
Okay folks - your turn!
1. RISKY BUSINESS: to set the stage, I was 7 years old and me, Ouchie, Brother Not Ouchie and our older Cousin all wanted to go see Vacation, but our parents heard there was a naked girl in a pool in the movie and that was going to be too adult for me to see at that age. So, my cousin pivoted to... Risky Business, which my parents had no clue was a movie about a high school kid running a prostitution ring. We saw it opening Saturday at The Orpheum Theater in Evanston, Illinois, which was this awesome, old school theater with a second deck balcony, where we sat in the aisleI because the theater was so packed. For over half of the movie, Ouchie kept my eyes covered, but the moment that stays burned in my brain is Joel getting out of the interview with Harvard that goes bad and he walks out and Lana asks how it went. When Cruise put on the sunglasses and said "Looks like it's gonna be University of Illinois", the theater collectively ROARED in approval in a way that I'd never heard before nor heard since. And in that one moment, I think I became the cinefile/writer i was born to be.
When we got back to my parents that night, they asked how the movie was and my response was "It was the best movie I never saw!"
2. BATMAN (1989) - Again, with Ouchie... i was a little older but, like everyone else in America, was DYING to see this and Ouchie took me and my other cousin with him and his frat brothers to the midnight screening on Thursday night (when they actually used to do Midnight Midnight screenings). People were so pumped for that movie and the electricity waiting in line was palpable. Moment burned in brain was during the climax when the Batwing flies through the clouds and stops perfectly in front of the moon for a moment. That was the second loudest I've ever heard a crowd roar.
3. DEEP BLUE SEA (1999) - Yes, maybe this isn't to the level of Batman/Risky Business classic movie, but my friends and I got super high and were supposed to go see 6th Sense... but ended up being totally late (shocker). So, we just wandered into DBS which we'd also missed the first ten minutes of but walked in right when a shark passed through the screen and that was all we needed. We were totally hooked with how stupidly awesome this movie was and then Sam Jackson's speech started... and for those who know, you know what comes next. Well, we had no clue at the time and it MURDERED us. We DIED laughing once that shark came out and ate him, like, literally falling out of our chairs, rolling on the floor (i think there was only like three other people in the entire theater besides the 5 of us).
And there was a follow up for this story at home - at least a decade later, me and brother Not Ouchie were watching this at my parents house and my Mom walked in right before Jackson speech. Now, Mom had never seen this and was always all about people coming together and rallying spirit around each other and so he's giving the speech and she starts pumping her fist saying "Yes! Yes! Yes!" and then literally SCREAMED when the Shark attack came and my brother and I just died laughing again at how bad that moment nailed her.
4. T2 - another midnight premiere with Ouchie at Town And Country. One, I just remember how in awe of the movie I was from the jump and then the moment when the orderly licks Sarah's face when she's strapped down, some dude just yelled: "YOU SLIME!" I don't know why that stuck with me so much, but it was hilarious at the time and remains that way in my memory.
Okay folks - your turn!
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