The Birth of a Movie Buff's Love for Movies and 10 Lessons I Have Learned

Anyone who knows me or has been following my articles on this very website knows that I am a movie lover. If you choose you can replace lover with any number of adjectives including geek, nerd, buff and probably a few I haven't heard of. I accept it gladly as I don't hide my love for movies.

As a movie lover it will either impress you or disgust you to know that most of the movies I saw (particularly in the 1970's) I can tell you where I saw it and with whom I saw it with. There are even some occasions where I can tell you the day, date and time. Think I am joking? I saw King Kong with my parents on Friday, December 17, 1976 at 4:45. Or how about seeing Close Encounters of the Third Kind on Friday, December 16^th at 4:30 with my parents and then going back the following morning to see the 11:30 a.m. show with a friend.

As a kid I used to see movies over and over and over again much to my father's disdain both in his mind and his wallet. The record is 20 times for Close Encounters but that is, in good part, thanks to my mom who saw it 12 times with me. I only saw it 16 times in its original release and another 4 times I saw the "Special Edition" that was released in 1980 - each time with mom.

Keep in mind that this was when I was a teenager or younger. While I still enjoy going to movies today I rarely, if ever, see a movie more then once. Movies just aren't as good as they were when I was growing up, I suppose, and the ticket prices (along with gas prices) don't help matters. I also don't go to see just any movie anymore and don't feel the least bit bad to let some slip through the cracks. I do try to see the big summer movies and the acclaimed fall and Christmas films but today I don't bat an eyelash if some come and go.

My movie life began with Walt Disney's Bedknobs and Broomsticks though I have little memory of it. My next real memory was my older brother and his girlfriend (now wife) taking me to see The Sword In The Stone and making numerous trips to the bathroom and concession stand. As of today, 36 years later, that story is still brought up at various family gatherings and now I can finally reveal that it wasn't that I had a weak bladder or empty stomach but that I was leaving the two lovebirds alone. Apparently it worked as they are now married 29 years this June with three beautiful daughters so I will take plenty of credit, thank you very much.

Now that I have properly sickened all of you I thought it would be fun to take a look back to the origins of my love for movies and list 10 incidents that shaped my movie going life. Each one is just a simple memory with a lesson learned and I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy remembering them.

1974 - Though I have a few movies under my belt including Executive Action, The Three Musketeers, The Four Musketeers, The Sugarland Express and The Seven-Ups, my mother takes me to see The Towering Inferno and my true love for movies is officially born. My eyes remained transfixed to the screen as I watched for three hours as this skyscraper burned and feared for the lives of Paul Newman and Steve McQueen along with the rest of the all-star cast.

Lesson Learned - Movies had the ability to convince you of anything the filmmakers chose as long as it was done well. I also learned that multiple trips to the bathroom and concession stand resulted in missing key moments in a movie. This was the first time I sat through a film from beginning to end. The seed had been planted.

1975 - Having already seen Jaws during the summer at a theater that was a good 45 minute drive, the film opens at a local twin a mere 15 minutes away for the Christmas season. The Saturday after it opens my mom promised to take me but is deterred by snow which is falling heavily that morning. After some persistent begging by me, mom is talked into going and into leaving early for I am sure the theater will be packed. Once we get onto the rode the drive becomes a bit of a tough jaunt what with ice on the roads causing the car to slide every time the breaks are applied on top of heavy winds and near white out conditions. But we venture on at my urging (pleading) until we arrive at the theater some 40 minutes prior to showtime. All the way there mom is complaining that no idiot in there right mind is going to be at the theater and, to my horror, when we arrive the few cars in the parking lot belong to the theater staff and no one is waiting to get in. Realizing my fate is likely sealed and I am never going to see another movie again, I meekly suggest we head back home but mom is having none of it. We made the trek and she'll be damned if she isn'g going to see the movie now, even at the cost of my life. We go to the front doors and wait first in line but then some sort of miracle happens. Within the next 10 minutes before the doors open people begin to flock into the parking lot as if Heaven sent and join us in line as if they were simply awaiting someone to make the first move. Once the doors open the line is stretched all the way down the plaza and as soon as we get our seats it isn' t long before the theater fills to capacity. Having enjoyed the movie a second time and with the weather cleared as we exit it suddenly occurs to me that I am going to live to see many more movies after that day and all was forgotten as it was proven we truly weren't the only idiots in the world.

Lesson Learned - No matter the weather people would venture out to see a movie blockbuster. This is especially true in the 70's before cable television and home entertainment.

1976 - My mother takes me to see The Bad News Bears where my love for the films of Walter Matthau (who would become and still is my favorite actor) is born and my first crush on an actress belonged to Tatum O'Neal.

Lesson Learned - There was more to life then baseball and movies and kids who swear really don't go to hell.

1976 - My father takes me to a different theater then the drab General Cinemas in the area but rather to a Plitt theater with 1600 rocking chair seats with a curved screen and curtain that opened horizontally. The movie we see is Logan's Run and I am struck by the visual effects (which seemed terrific then) and the stereophonic sound that produced sound effects from behind on different sides at different times. Oh, and this was the first movie, despite its PG rating, where I witnessed female nudity.

Lesson Learned - A spectacular theater can add to one's enjoyment of a movie(which is almost unheard of today with the shoebox multiplex theaters that dominate the market). Suddenly Tatum O'Neal doesn't seem quite as beautiful as I thought.

1976 - My parents take me to my first R-rated movie, The Omen, at the local twin drive-in possibly in the hopes I would fall asleep (silly people). Before leaving they give me the option of seeing the movie on the other screen, which was a re-release of The Exorcist. Apparently they forgot that I remembered two key stories from its original release. My mother had gone with a girlfriend and witnessed firsthand a young man fainting in the aisle, while my brother had to wake my mother up in the middle of the night after seeing it because he was so bothered by it. Having not been raised to be a fool I choose The Omen, but during a tense moment I turn away and look at the other screen just in time to see Linda Blair's head spinning.

Lesson Learned - You should mind your own business and not look at others.

1977 - My parents take me from our Indiana home to downtown Chicago to one of the classic movie palaces in the Loop, the State Lake, to see Sorcerer starring Roy Scheider. I am awed by the décor in the lobby and the mammoth theater with a huge balcony. I also loved the fact that the bathroom was two floors below and you practically needed a roadmap to get to it.

Lesson Learned - No matter what the movie sometimes it was worth the drive just to see it in the right theater. Movie palaces were spectacular and those left should be preserved and re-opened in whatever venue possible.

1977 - The film Smokey and the Bandit had two specific stories for me. The first time I saw it was with my parents on August 16, 1977. The reason I remember that? It was the day Elvis Presley died and we heard the news coming home. The other story was when my older brother decided to take me out to see the film but also wanted to bring along his at the moment girlfriend (not his future wife and who, thankfully, disappeared into obscurity) who was none too thrilled to have a 12 year old tagging along on a date and made curt remarks to constantly remind me. I was excited because I was going out with my brother and it was at night, which was a rare thing for me then. We had a long drive to the theater but had to pick her up first and she was running late. We high tailed it at unimaginable speeds and still arrived 30 minutes late but my dear brother was undaunted and wanted to go in anyway. We run up to the box office and he asks for tickets while trying to catch his breath only to be told the show is sold out. Being the understanding diplomatic guy he was/is he turns away from the box office and let's out a scream of frustration that no doubt interrupted the crowd's enjoyment of the movie inside. Impervious but unwilling to wait for the later show because SHE had to get up early, we venture across the street to the other theater in town and see Walt Disney's Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo. She is even less thrilled which increases my enthusiasm but reluctantly agrees, thus suddenly changing the dynamic and making her the third wheel, and we go in. The film was cute for a 12 year old and my brother (a kid at heart even today) was entertained as well but our third wheel is not pleased. When the film ends the lights come up in time for me to see that she is sound asleep and suddenly my night is complete.

Lesson Learned - Driving at speeds that would spook a NASCAR driver won't get you to your destination too much sooner then when you need to be there. Walt Disney could really come through in a pinch when you needed it.

1984 - My friends and I go to the same Plitt Theater as Logan's Run for a midnight premiere of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. We get there early and the line is already long and the theater has done it up with searchlights and spray painted famous movie characters (such as R2-D2 and C3PO) on their front sidewalk. We get into the movie and the anticipation is palpable throughout the building. The movie starts well and suddenly I find myself getting bored and then irritated that Steven Spielberg is doing nothing more with the gross out bits and chases except trying to top the sensational Raiders of the Lost Ark. When the movie ends I am roundly disappointed but all of my friends are raving as if it is the greatest thing since sliced bread and I argue until I am so outnumbered I fear for my safety. I start thinking that maybe I wasn't alert enough or just missed something. I see it again and my opinion is only intensified.

Lesson Learned - Don't let your friends try to influence your opinion- especially when you are holding the car keys.

1989 - My wife and I go to see The Abyss at the very same Plitt Theater. The film is long and slow moving but enjoyable. About two hours into the two and a half hour film a frustrated woman, obviously believing there are monsters awaiting to attack, rather loudly asks her companion, "When is the abyss going to come out and get them?" This brings uncontrollable laughter from my wife and me for the next ten minutes and suddenly the film is that much better.

Lesson Learned - We all have to face it - There are some stupid people in this world!

1999 - I go to see The Blair Witch Project and, despite the opinion of a lot of people, the movie scares the wits out of me. It was refreshing to see a filmmaker remember that what you don't see is far more frightening then anything that can be shown. It is the first film to truly frighten me in years and upon seeing it again, knowing everything that was coming, it scared me again.

Lesson Learned - You don't have to be a teenager to have the you know what scared out of you.