A few blogs ago I wrote about some of the memorable experiences I’ve had when watching movies in theaters. Certain scenes and outcomes of films have been burned in to my memory banks and it’s fun to relive some of those happenings.
“Glory” 1989- When marginalized Civil War soldier Denzel Washington was being whipped on his bare back and shed a single tear, I shed my own tears. I saw this movie alone and think it’s the first movie that ever got me that emotional. Denzel won a Best Supporting Oscar for his amazing work in that film.
“Field of Dreams” 1989- When this sappy baseball flick ended, I was walking out of the theater among a full crowd of movie goers and saw grown men sobbing. I thought, “Dudes, walk like you got a pair!” What made me want to cry was that I paid full price for this maudlin piece of crap movie.
“Forrest Gump” 1994- When this movie came out, my mother refused to see it with me. She didn’t like the simpleton way Tom Hanks’ title character talked in the previews. I came home giving high praise to this now classic film. A couple of weeks later, mom relented and asked if I would see it with her which I happily agreed to. When Jenny died, my mom was a sobbing mess and noticed I wasn’t crying. She elbowed me in the ribs and whispered, “What’s wrong with you? Why aren’t you crying?” I explained to her I was a bucket of tears when I saw it the first time.
“The Shawshank Redemption” 1994 I loved every minute of this movie but don’t know if I was ever more surprised at a plot twist than when inmate Andy Dufrain escaped from Shawshank Prison. (Sorry if this is a spoiler to anyone. You’ve had 26 years to see the damn film) This story had me lulled into the comfortable idea that Andy was staying forever at Shawshank and his ‘redemption’ would be in learning to live the best life possible despite being wrongly convicted. When Warden Norton tore that Raquel Welch poster off the cell wall and we see the hole and tunnel Andy dug, it was so stunning and crazy. I truly never ever expected that prison break to happen.
“The Usual Suspects” 1995- I saw the trailer to this movie many times before getting to the theater to see it. The good news was unlike so many film previews, this one gave away zero plot twists or spoilers. When the close of the story was happening I was POSITIVE I figured out who was Keyser Soze’. Imagine my shock when I learned how wrong I was. And I was fine with being so off with my deductive reasoning.
“Fargo”1996- I saw “Fargo” by myself at the Piper’s Alley Theater the first weekend it was out. I like checking out movies before everyone starts buzzing about them and this was one of those. When this black comedy ended, I remember the lights went up and everyone in the theater stayed seated and we all kept looking at each other. Strangers were smiling and talking to each other remarking on what an unusual film we just saw. I’ve only experienced that kind of happening a few times in the theater and this one was pretty cool.
NEXT BLOG– A new round of stories behind songs.