Friday, May 25, 2007
Thirty Years Ago Today
Yeah, I was at Star Wars on opening day. I was 14, it was at the Meadowlark in Edmonton (glorious big screen there), and my idiot friend Don Jessop didn't tell me he was going to skip school to see the afternoon showing. So there I was, alone, not really sure what I was going to see, and the first ship crossed the screen from top to bottom, being shot at, and I thought, "Yeah, that's cool," and then the second ship crossed, and crossed, and crossed, and I, along with everyone else in the theatre, went nuts.
It's still a defining moment in my life of movie geekery.
That said, I can't help but agree with most of what John Scalzi has said about Lucas and the whole Star Wars pantheon. Yeah, we own all the DVDs; the kids love the movies. But they (and more specifically, VI, I, II, and III) were a major letdown. The man got rich using a few sleights of hand and some smoke and mirrors, not with any significant storytelling skills.
Yeah, I was at Star Wars on opening day. I was 14, it was at the Meadowlark in Edmonton (glorious big screen there), and my idiot friend Don Jessop didn't tell me he was going to skip school to see the afternoon showing. So there I was, alone, not really sure what I was going to see, and the first ship crossed the screen from top to bottom, being shot at, and I thought, "Yeah, that's cool," and then the second ship crossed, and crossed, and crossed, and I, along with everyone else in the theatre, went nuts.
It's still a defining moment in my life of movie geekery.
That said, I can't help but agree with most of what John Scalzi has said about Lucas and the whole Star Wars pantheon. Yeah, we own all the DVDs; the kids love the movies. But they (and more specifically, VI, I, II, and III) were a major letdown. The man got rich using a few sleights of hand and some smoke and mirrors, not with any significant storytelling skills.
Labels: movies, science fiction
// posted by Derryl Murphy @ 8:58 PM 
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That's the saddest thing I've ever heard!! "Geekery" doesn't begin to describe that "defining moment" in movie going!! LOL!
I remember seeing the first Star Wars at camp long after it was released in theatres...never understood what all the fuss was about, still don't! Anyway, for a laugh, check out my fave Star Wars movie review, by Anthony Lane of the New Yorker.
Paul
I remember seeing the first Star Wars at camp long after it was released in theatres...never understood what all the fuss was about, still don't! Anyway, for a laugh, check out my fave Star Wars movie review, by Anthony Lane of the New Yorker.
Paul
# posted by 
: 12:26 PM
: 12:26 PM
Well, geekery is a different thing than, say, "refined movie appreciation." Remember, I was 14, and it was opening day, before the fuss had really started.
And yeah, the Lane review is funny.
D
And yeah, the Lane review is funny.
D
The Meadowlark! I saw my first "date" movie there! What really makes me feel old is that a good friend of mine used to work there and one of his jobs was to change the marquee. That was over 20 years ago and now the damn theatre is gone and replaced by a Taco Bell and a KFC.
I saw Star Wars in North Battleford, Saskatchewan with my dad, my brother and my sister while my mom drank her upmteeth cup of java with my grandparents. I remember walking to the theatre, getting the popcorn and sitting down to enjoy some QT with my dad. I had no idea how important Star Wars would be in our lifetime; it was just a movie that my Dad REALLY wanted to see and a chance to get out of my grandparents' house and away from the smell of Sweet Caporal wafting through the house.
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I saw Star Wars in North Battleford, Saskatchewan with my dad, my brother and my sister while my mom drank her upmteeth cup of java with my grandparents. I remember walking to the theatre, getting the popcorn and sitting down to enjoy some QT with my dad. I had no idea how important Star Wars would be in our lifetime; it was just a movie that my Dad REALLY wanted to see and a chance to get out of my grandparents' house and away from the smell of Sweet Caporal wafting through the house.
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