Well, I caught up on yesterday's discussion, and I've got to say, that ON OTHER less popular internet sites, these types of discussions are far less civilized than here at HHW.
I must say that FILM can be a life-changing experience: IF I had not been sitting very high up in the balcony of The Nixon Theater as a pre-adolescent, my life-long obsession would certainly not have begun. For it was there - go ahead and laugh all you want - that I first saw THE SOUND OF MUSIC. Imagine if you will, that super-sized Todd-AO screen, presenting super clear images; the sound system properly calibrated to enhance, not over power, and the collective sighs of the well-behaved audience. It's hard, in today's world of rude audience members, cell-phones, postage-stamp sized screens, uncomfortable seating, sound leaking in from the screen next door, to think of a time when "Going to the Movies" was an event to be savored, not dreaded.
Yes, the combination of Robert Wise and Julie Andrews and Rodgers and Hammerstein et al, DID change my life. Eventually, I had seen THE SOUND OF MUSIC well over a dozen times on the big screen, each time finding something new to mull over. . .the helicoptor shots at the beginning, the real role of Elsa, the part that comic relief played and on and on.
So, THE SOUND OF MUSIC may not be the greatest film ever made (IMHO, that honor falls to LAWRENCE OF ARABIA), but it certainly played a part in making me the man I am today.
In the 1980's, every Sunday night, my best friend and I would get together and watch TWO films on videotape, the rules being one had to be one which neither of us had seen before, the other being a recent flick. Ivariable, if the film was in black & white, my b.f. would fall asleep within the first half hour! ! ! This is a man who slept through CAMILLE, CITIZEN KANE, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD ! ! !
I'm thankful that home video has allowed me to catch up with films that I hadn't seen - - although if someone passionately recommends that I see Ashton Kutcher in JUST MARRIED, I'll still pass. Some I have disliked: EASY RIDER, majorly. Some I have been surprised and delight by: THE TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE, METROPOLIS. Some recommendations have been followed to my infinite delight: KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE, CASTLE IN THE SKY, SPIRITED AWAY (thanks again, BK), DONNIE DARKO; others have been traded off nearly immediately after viewing: DAREDEVIL.
BUT, none of this would have happened had I not fallen under the spell of TSOM at an early age, wanting to know more about the "How's and Why's and What's" about film.
Now that the rant is over
[move=left,scroll,6,transparent,100%]GOOD MORNING EVERYONE! [/move]
