Movies

In the wee hours of the other night, one of my closest friends and I chatted on the phone about movies. We struck a chord about what movies can do to one. We all know there are comedies, dramatic and action movies that take you on an adventure. There is just so much to choose from.

I own tons of them. Saturday night, I decided to stay home and pop one into the DVD player and let the surround sound take me away.

But the choice was do I watch something with ups and downs, i.e. “Chasing Amy” (an all time favorite) or something goofy but funny, i.e. Meatballs or Uncle Buck? But I chose to go deep. Did I need another Kevin Smith movie, i.e. “Clerks” or “Mall Rats”?

It was a long and spiritual day. I was with my extended family. Of course, as much as I love them the alone time was cool. It was needed.

So naturally, I went with a flick that depicts classic struggle. A deep movie in which a young leader had to deal with learning to control himself, care for his friends and how to survive a brutal fight with his father.

This is one of select movies that each time, I watch it I learn something new about the movie and myself. Does one can see oneself as young Luke as he struggles in the Dagobah system under Yoda’s watchful eye? Or does one see oneself as Vader? I know where I stand.

I so love the trips these movies give me.

But then there’s the need for “Girl Interrupted”. Yes it has Angelina and Winona. It doesn’t get much better. But there are thousands of reasons for the need to see this. I will never post my original reason for my love of this film. It has nothing to do with the cast or storyline. The book rocks too. That opens up it even more. It helps give me a better understanding of many of the people I’ve spent time with.

Do you ever think of memories around certain movies? What you learned from them? Or where they took you?

Years ago, I took a girl out on a first date to see “Home Fries”. Some people said, “You’re taking her to see a Drew Barrymore movie?” Those that know me well knew anything with her would be a winner in my book. We had a great time and wound up dating for a while.

On date with a different woman, said she wanted to see “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”. We all know the history behind this movie. Anyway, we were much older than high school kids. However, I felt like we were during this movie. She kept whispering in my ear during the whole movie and smiling. Funny thing there were some scenes where Brad was not wearing a shirt. Angelina was in a sports bra. You’d think she’d be talking about Brad. No she was talking about how hot Angelina is. She got no disagreement from me.

Then there are the fun movies that take you back to certain points in your life, such as WarGames, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Poltergeist. Oh and Brigadoon. I used to watch that on TV. I own it now. When I was younger, I used get the name of one of the character’s wrong. I still call him the name I did when I didn’t pay enough attention.

Bottom line, movies give you so much. Oh as for the ones that teach me something knew each time I see it. They include Episodes 1,2,3,4,5,6. Of course 4-6 are the best. Then there’s “Clerks”, “Mall Rats”, “Dogma”, “Chasing Amy”, “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back”, “Clerks 2” and of course, “Rent”. But “Rent” is in a class of its’ own because of the original production at the Nederlander.

I’m off to the movies.