Hilariously Frank: 20 years, 20 films, 20 memories

[megladon8]

So I've been pondering a thread concept for quite a while, as I haven't had a thread in, well, am even longer while. I didn't really want to venture into a "favorites of this or that genre" as several other posters have done things like this (and much better than I ever could). I also didn't want to do a "favorites of a certain year/decade" because, again, it's something we've seen done a lot. Bottom line: I wanted to do something unique to myself. Something different.

As I've said a few times, I consider many of the people I've met and conversed with over the years to be friends (from my beginnings at RT in 2002, into the various incarnations of MatchCut, Suntory Times and the Axis). So what about doing something with that? What about sharing memories the way Id share them with friends, touching on personal moments in my life that are sometimes funny and sometimes sad. Sometimes even hilariously, uncomfortably frank.

Throughout this thread I will share 20 of these memories, each tied to a specific film, and each tied to a year of my life. I will go through every year from 1990 to 2009, sharing the most memorable film-watching experience I had, and what made it so important. Many of these are happy memories with movies I love to this day. Some of them are sad memories. Some of the movies are utter trash but still had some lasting effect that I remember (even if it wasn't directly the movie itself that made it so memorable).

Because I am finding some years' films to have less material for me to write about without digression into needless rambling, I am going to be working with the years as follows: my first entry will be the first year, 1990, then the second entry will be 2009, the third entry will be 1991, the fourth entry will be 2008, and so on. It helps me spread out the writings more evenly, since some of the earlier years' memories are obviously not as vivid as stuff that happened just last year.

First entry will be up tomorrow evening!

[Ezee E]

Sounds interesting. Look forward to it.

[MadMan]

If I recall correctly, I first encountered you on the old Axis forum. Good times, man, good times.

[Dead & Messed Up]

It'd be even better if your name was Frank.

But it isn't.

Oh well.

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Show Spoiler

Very much looking forward to this.

]

[B-side]

[Morris Schæffer]

I remember your animated Halloween avatar from RT.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I like this idea, meg. Looking forward to the list.

[chrisnu]

This should be good.

[Spinal]

Excellent thread concept.

[megladon8]

Year: 1990
Age: 3

The Canterville Ghost (TV) (1985 / William F. Claxton)




I was a child of VHS. We (still) have hundreds of VHS tapes upon which are recorded movies, TV shows, concerts, anything you can imagine. Some of my favorite tapes were ones that my dad had made us in the mid-80s, consisting of re-runs of his favorite childhood show, "Looney Tunes" (aka "The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show"). But what was perhaps my very, very favorite tape among all the ones we owned - the one I re-watched the most times, sometimes 4 or 5 times a day - was a tape with various family horror specials. And it began with a 1985, Family Channel-aired rendition of Oscar Wilde's classic tale, The Canterville Ghost.

Let's not mince words here - this movie scared the living hell out of me. Hearing the howls of Sir Simon de Canterville, and the clanging and smashing of his armor as he marched around the house while the family tried to sleep...this movie only re-affirmed my young mind that ghosts are real, and there could even be one (or some) in my own home. Many nights were spent hiding under the covers (oh, that age-old childhood logic of "if I can't see it, it can't see me").

Not only did the movie incite terror in the young megladon8, but it was also one of the first to make me cry (which I admittedly still do a lot with movies). When the young Virginia lays flowers on the grave of Sir Simon de Canterville, not knowing that he is watching this small, innocent act of kindness and understanding...I cried. And I cried every time I watched it, which was a lot. I still remember both programs recorded onto the tape after it - The Halloween That Almost Wasn't, followed by "A Raggedy Ann and Andy Halloween Special".

I don't know if this is the film that introduced me to (and peaked my interest in) the supernatural, the grim, the horrific and fantastic. Or maybe that was already in me, and this was simply a film that connected with me at such a young age. But while many other films throughout my childhood would frighten me (The Bride of Boogedy and Halloween, to name a couple), this is the one that sticks out in my mind as the very first.

The Canterville Ghost - the first movie to really scare me.


And while I'm here, I can't pass up the opportunity for the first of a few honorable mentions. And that is...


Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987 / Sidney J. Furie)




This was my undisputed favorite movie of my whole childhood. I actually never saw the original (and greatly, greatly, infinitely better) Superman: The Movie until I was about 14, so this is the one I grew up loving. Even the superior parts 2 and 3 of the Christopher Reeve series remained unseen by me until I was a few years older. To me, this was Superman, and very special to me.

I had Superman pajamas, which I would frequently wear outside the house so I could pretend I was able to fly. I would accompany my mom to do the groceries, wearing a jacket over top of my Superman 'jammies so I could tear it off the way Clark Kent did as he was about to take off as Superman. Then I would run around the aisles of the store for a few minutes, the cape billowing behind me, and return to my mom where I would tell her with absolute straight-faced certainty that I had been flying.

I cannot tell you how many books, stories and comic strips I wrote and drew about Superman. And I still have a hard time putting into words just how important Superman was and still is to me. I find the character and mythos to be genuinely inspirational.

So while 1990 was the first time I watched Superman IV, it definitely wasn't the last. And don't worry, I know now how, well, lacking the movie is, but I can't lie and say that I dislike it. It will always be special to me.

[Ezee E]

Like the way this is going. My brother and I reenacted Ghostbusters until the tape broke. We did the same with the dragon fight at the end of Cinderella.

[Heidi]

My parents had a grudge against the movie industry. They thought that film, television, and other entertainment media in general were a) destroying the fabric of society (my mother) or b) a total waste of time (my father).

Due to this fact i grew up with 3 movies (the only ones i had), and continuously watched those on repeat.
1. Disney's Beauty and the Beast
2. Neverending Story
3. Home Alone

Sad state of affairs imo. I blame them for the fact that i still have not seen a lot of 80s and 90s classics.

[Mara]

We did the same with the dragon fight at the end of Cinderella.

Sleeping Beauty?

[number8]

Shit yeah, I watched Canterville Ghost.

[Mara]

Shit yeah, I watched Canterville Ghost.

I've read the story.

It's... not scary. It's funny.

[Ezee E]

Sleeping Beauty?

D'oh!

[megladon8]

Like the way this is going. My brother and I reenacted Ghostbusters until the tape broke. We did the same with the dragon fight at the end of Cinderella.

I love memories like these

My brother and I also used to play a lot of video games together. Just about all of my NES memories involve my brother and I in the basement of our old house.

[megladon8]

My parents had a grudge against the movie industry. They thought that film, television, and other entertainment media in general were a) destroying the fabric of society (my mother) or b) a total waste of time (my father).

Due to this fact i grew up with 3 movies (the only ones i had), and continuously watched those on repeat.
1. Disney's Beauty and the Beast
2. Neverending Story
3. Home Alone

Sad state of affairs imo. I blame them for the fact that i still have not seen a lot of 80s and 90s classics.

Those are three good childhood movies, though

Disney's Beauty and the Beast is still my very favorite Disney production.

[megladon8]

Shit yeah, I watched Canterville Ghost.

The same version? Really?

You're officially the first person I've met outside my own family who has seen that version.

[number8]

Yep. The one with Brian Austin Green, right? Saw it on VHS.

[megladon8]

Yep. The one with Brian Austin Green, right? Saw it on VHS.

Yes, and Richard Kiley as the ghost.

Wow, I can't believe someone else grew up with this movie. Cool.

[balmakboor]

This thread has me thinking back over my history with the movies. I just came across this:

"By 2003 DVD sales and rentals topped those of VHS..."

And I thought, "No way! DVDs replaced VHS a lot longer ago than that. Didn't they?"

I remember while I was in college that I hurried back to my dorm room one Sunday evening because The Shining was showing on television -- heavily edited and interrupted constantly by commercials -- and I was in heaven. It was my first chance to see it since it played in theaters three years prior. The notion of watching a movie in your home, uncut, uninterrupted, and at your convenience was pretty much science fiction at the time.

[number8]

Something to ponder: I have never been alive while home video was not available.

[Dead & Messed Up]

This thread has me thinking back over my history with the movies. I just came across this:

"By 2003 DVD sales and rentals topped those of VHS..."

And I thought, "No way! DVDs replaced VHS a lot longer ago than that. Didn't they?"

I remember while I was in college that I hurried back to my dorm room one Sunday evening because The Shining was showing on television -- heavily edited and interrupted constantly by commercials -- and I was in heaven. It was my first chance to see it since it played in theaters three years prior. The notion of watching a movie in your home, uncut, uninterrupted, and at your convenience was pretty much science fiction at the time.

Yeah. I had a similar moment last night. I added a movie to my Netflix queue on my computer, it immediately showed up on my Wii, and I started watching, and I briefly remembered the excitement of waiting for Beauty and the Beast to come out on video. Back then, the times from cinema to VHS were often well over a year.

[balmakboor]

Something to ponder: I have never been alive while home video was not available.

I remember when this store down the street got in these new Betamax machines that were about the size of a microwave oven. You could rent one and three tapes for the weekend for $25.00. My roommate took one look at it and thought I was insane. I was hooked on the idea of home video from that weekend on. I was almost 22 at the time.