I have the genius talent for missing big moments. I don't realize them until they pass, and then I dwell. I am an excellent dwell-er.
This weekend I quoted That Thing You Do! on Facebook. A few friends started quoting along with me, and I've since been singing "Mr. Downtown" to myself. At work, which is always awkward.
That Thing You Do! was a milestone for me. It came out in 1996, when I was thirteen. It was the first time I went to a movie with a friend without parental supervision. It was a sign that my parents trusted me. And it was about the time I started realizing that "cute" wasn't just an adjective for babies. Hello, Guy Patterson.
I've been putting all this together in my head, and I realized that I use movies a lot as my mile markers. Here's a few more:
Dead Poets Society. High school. Attention: It's a sign when your teenage daughter watches this movie every day after school. In the dark. But, hey, maybe she'll carpe diem.
Say Anything. First year of college. "I gave her my heart and she gave me a pen." "If you guys know so much about women, what are you doing at a Gas'n'Sip on a Friday night, with no women anywhere?" ("Choice, man.")
About a Boy. I saw this right after I returned from London the first time. It cemented that experience (and my love for Hugh Grant).
Grosse Pointe Blank. I know it's rated R. I'm not saying you should see it. But it was a defining movie for me moving from undergrad to grad school.
This post serves to name my movie milestones, but it's also a warning: You get me in a room with these movies, and I will quote. I can't help myself.
What are your movie mile markers?
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"Darkness falls and the night's begun / The river of light burns as bright as the sun . . ."
Did you know that Tom Hanks co-wrote that song?
in the director's cut of That Thing You Do, Tom Hanks is a little more than ambiguously gay.
My movie milestones:
Pirates of the Caribbean - high school fantasy indulging
The Royal Tenenbaums - watched it on a whim, changed my life forever
Garden State - shame, shame, but it was the first unedited R I saw, basically when the dam broke, and it helped me find the Shins.
The Lives of Others - made me realize American films suck in general.
HELP! Love the Beatles. This was the one I would watch every day after school in the dark during high school.
Sideways. A rated R, but MAN it just spoke to me midway through college.
Chicago. EVERYONE in my group of friends (drama freaks and debate geeks) saw this movie multiple times, bought the soundtrack, memorized the lines, parodied the lyrics. Just fun!
That Thing You Do was filmed down the street from my high school track. It makes me nostalgic to see that film, if only because I get to see home.
Garden State - to quote sven, "It helped me find the Shins." I owe my musical life to that film.
Latter Days - don't watch it. But it opened my eyes..
Angels in America - ..and then the foundations crumbled down.
I led you here, sir, for I am Spartacus.
I really love that movie and have fond memories of going to see it with my siblings on my birthday. But it DEFINITELY wasn't my thirteenth birthday.
P.S.--Sorry I've been gone for so long. We should chat sometime. Do you already have a hotel for St. Louis?
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