Second Preview

Nope, no Restricted Audience Red Screen here! Just good warm film-fuzzies. That is, if you were a boy in the 80s with access to a haunted movie theater. 

Welcome to our adventures in the movies!  I love movies of all kinds & memories of movies have been woven into my life - Some of my earliest memories are one of my first theater movies - I think The Empire Strikes Back, with a cousin and uncle (nobody better I can think of seeing it with), was my earliest theater memory, though I admit my eyes were closed during a lot of the early Luke in the Blizzard scenes.  I remember all of the great dollar theater trips in the haunted Mt Prospect Theater, one screen, right downtown, which is since gone..that theater was the best for movie memories. The theater was in fact haunted and we had a ghoulish experience during Annie, of all movies, but that is another post.  I remember seeing movies that fueled daytime play like Return of the Jedi and Transformers the movie, ET. (I was in shock like the rest of the theater when Optimus Prime was pronounced dead at the hands of Megatron). I also remember seeing movies in that theater that I didn't quite understand at the time like Big Trouble in Little China. Still, I didn't care if I got it at the time because going to the movies always meant great adventures, made better by popcorn and candy and air conditioning during long summers of childhood.

I remember the Three Stooges and the Little Rascals opening my eyes to those movies, that for some reason, were not in color, but still hilarious (though it would mean big trouble to try the Moe eye poke in real life, I found out).  Growing up, I was lucky that my mom and dad loved watching old movies, and my eyes were opened from an early age to other early movies that held up amazingly well with age. The Marx brothers still manage to be funny so many years later.  The Best Years of Our Lives and All Quiet on the Western Front are still relevant, though the wars have changed.  I was also introduced to the artistry possible that differentiates actors and directors and their unique styles by watching these classic movies - these are the ones I can watch over and over and catch something new each time.   I was thrilled when I met Erin, for a million reasons that I fell in love with her, but it also helped that she loved movies of all eras..

That's why I'm thrilled about our plan to watch and blog on those movies picked best for the year by their contemporaries.  I look forward to seeing some movies I missed.  I hope to find new favorites and get some insight into what movies were like in all eras and, in turn, what movie watchers appreciated in all of these eras.  Lets get started; pass the popcorn!

PS....I don't like Battlefield Earth. The rest can stay.