Hi. My name is Steve. I am the new guy here at Row Three. Movies define me. They define who I am and what I do. I could never imagine what my life would be like without the wonderful and sometimes frustrating companion we call cinema. I am no psychic, but I know what you’re thinking. How can a simple form of entertainment define a human being? Sometimes it is even hard for me to understand.
If I wanted to be boring, I could begin by recalling the first memory of film having an impact on me as a kid. I could also say how I loved it at a young age, but that would not be true. Yes, I have always enjoyed watching movies as most young people do, but I never had that eureka moment until I was 17 and arrived at the theater on a chilly February evening. I even remember the date, over 8 years ago. February 15, 2002.
The film my friends and I were about to see had been out for a couple months, and the only reason I went was because of a recommendation from my brother. I asked him if it was good, and he said he thought I would enjoy it. I have thought about that brief conversation a lot lately. How different my life could have been. What if I did not ask my brother? What if he did not like it? What if I did not see it that night? Since the movie had been in theaters for a while, there is always the chance that I would never have seen it on the big screen. Eight years later, that thought still scares me. Experiencing a film in the theater is completely different than on DVD. Maybe my reaction to it would have been different. Thankfully, none of that transpired.
The film we saw that night was the first installment of The Lord of the Rings. To this day, along with the rest of the trilogy, it remains my favorite film of all time. Eight and a half years later, I still remember sitting in the theater, the lights going down and feeling like time had stopped. I hung on every word of dialogue, on every moment, and was transported to Middle Earth. Never before or since have I been so captivated by a world that felt so real, yet so magical.
Looking back at the conversation with my brother – would I have had a moment this significant with any other film? It is possible, but I tend to think I would not have. This is THE film that opened up a world of infinite possibilities. Both of what film could be, and of what I could be. I graduated from high school three months later and my college days were spent studying film and television. Watching classics on DVD, and waiting in the line at my local theater.
Since then, my life has been an endless quest for my personal Holy Grail: the next great movie. Some of my good friends understand my passion, but most of them see me as just the movie geek. It is an atmosphere that does not lend itself to a lot of debate or discussion. I have no outlet. That is why I am here at Row Three. Nobody I saw Avatar with wanted to talk about the similarities to Dances with Wolves and how a lot of moviegoers put the film in a negative light because of it. Where do we draw the line between homage and lack of creativity? Do we think less of Star Wars because of its sometimes less than subtle references to past films? These are the types of discussions I want to be having. Discussions with people who are as passionate and more passionate than I am.
So what can you expect in this space? Just one person’s thoughts and opinions on a subject that is near and dear to his heart. And maybe some good things to discuss about our favorite pastime.
I do not want to leave any loose ends here, so for those who want to know, my first memory of a film having an impact on me was seeing Jurassic Park in the theater when I was 9 years old and it scaring the hell out of my mom. Good times.
“This is not the end. This is not even the beginning of the end. It is, instead, the end of the beginning.”
-Steve
Welcome aboard Steve!
Welcome, Steve! Have you seen our Avatar thread? Methinks you are in the right place for discussion, whichever side of that debate you fall on!
the fourth wall
steve, hi this is dave’s brother. You wanna see a film that’ll knock your socks off? Try these:
The white ribbon
The lives of others
In the mood for love
2047
Lost in translation
Kairo (pulse)
The cabinet of dr caligari
Breakfast club
Children of men
Fargo
Grizzly man
and in know they’re not movies but watch them anyway
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Mad Men
This is actually David!
Welcome to the site Steve, love your introduction. I must admit I’m a LOTR fan myself although I’m aware not everyone on the site is – let the debate begin!
As for life-changing film experiences Jurassic Park came at the perfect time for me and blew me away when I was a youngster at the innocent age of 11. I can’t say I hold it in quite as high regard today, but it’ll still have a special place in my heart.
Once Upon a Time in the West is another that a couple of years later had a big impact on me in terms of what cinema was all about. The visual and aural spectacle dropped my jaw and still does.
Welcome Aboard Steve…It shall be interesting to see what sorts of debates and articles a younger more multiplex-oriented writer will offer in these parts.
Good to have you here Steve…Along with the discussions, I’d also be curious to hear about some hidden gems you’ve discovered.
Life changing movie experiences for me would be:
- “Network” when I was 17 in a Social Science class on Media.
- “Raising Arizona” a few years later (I clearly remember thinking “you can do that in a movie?”)
- “Branded To Kill” which cemented my love of Japanese film
Network was a biggie for me too – good call.
Star Wars is obviously the most cliche answer to the “movie that changed your life” question. But for me, that is it.
But I also remember seeing “A Clockwork Orange” when I was about 17. My friend’s father recommended it to us and we sat in his basement and I watched something I’d never seen or heard before. I didn’t realize movies could do this kind of thing. From there on out, though I still loved to go to the multi-plex to seek out Basic Instinct or Independence Day, I was always looking for that hidden gem of an oddity that would completely change my idea of the cinematic experience. It doesn’t happen often (enough), but when it does, it is bliss.
The movie that made me understand that stylistic rules could be subverted was Natural Born Killers, a huge WTF moment in the theater.
The movie that made me realize the medium could move me to tears was Schindler’s List.
The movie that has changed my life, certainly changed my perspective on virtually everything is Collapse.
I don’t think I could boil it down to a single film. It might be Jaws though. On VHS in 1981. Nightmares for weeks…then addiction to the movies. Most people forget their dreams/nightmares when they wake up, but 30 years later, I can still vividly remember my imagination gone wild, in R.E.M. form, after that screening of Jaws.
…Later on it was THE SHINING, FULL METAL JACKET, WILD AT HEART, RAISING ARIZONA, THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY, THE TEMPLE OF DOOM, TIME BANDITS and (oddly enough) ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD that pretty much cemented my love of weird and wild cinema…All of those in very formative early teens (13-15) zone. Most of them seen on VHS (some BETA!).
Lord of the Rings still rocks. It’ll be one of those trilogies, along with Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark that I’ll be showing my future children and, I assume, get them hooked on watching over and over.
As for movies that absolutely changed my view of what cinema could offer, well, like Kurt, it’s hard to boil down to only a few. I grew up watching all the Sergio Leone westerns, Paul Newman films, Hitchcock, Scorsese, and they always shaped my taste in in film…
But when I was 16 or 17, I watched a string of films in the matter of a month including The Third Man, The Maltese Falcon, The Bicycle Thief, and Lawrence of Arabia that really rocked my world and switched on what would become a few-year long absolutely obsession with film.
Damn, you guys keep reminding me of others that really shook me. Definitely too difficult to boil it down to one.
The Third Man and Jaws were others for me too. Obviously Star Wars was big for me as a kid although it was probably Return of the Jedi that had the biggest impact because that’s the first I saw of the trilogy and I rewatched it a bazillion times. The first two came out before I was born (and I was only 1 when Jedi came out!).
Bizarrely enough the most rewatched film of my childhood was probably Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure – I used to be able to recite that film word for word!
Andrew said:
“I was always looking for that hidden gem of an oddity that would completely change my idea of the cinematic experience”
Which is exactly what “House” is…You’re welcome. B-)