World War II from a different perspective
World War II from a different perspective
World War II from a different perspective
Triumph of the Will isn’t a WWII film.
World War II from a different perspective
World War II from a different perspective
World War II from a different perspective
I’ll pass …
Favorite brief movie-related anecdotes you wanna share.
Favorite brief movie-related anecdotes you wanna share.
At a drive-in theater we were all watching some cheaply made 80’s space opera with a villainous Ming-like emperor. A little over midway through the movie, the Emperor arose from his throne and walked towards the camera. He raised his arm to make a declaration of war, and then, over the Drive-in speaker came the voice from inside, timed to match the Emperor’s sentences and gestures: “The concessions stand will be closing in 15 minutes. In 15 minutes, verily, the concessions stand will be closed!” And then the Emperor turned with a sweeping gesture and returned to his throne.
Have you ever had the experience of waking from a dream, only to find that you’d only dreamed you were waking up, and you’re still dreaming? It’s a bit unsettling. One day in high school, not long after watching the first two or three Nightmare on Elm Street flicks, I woke up in my bedroom … and then realized I was dreaming when Freddy showed up. Went through four or five iterations of “Phew – at least I’m really awake now … oh crap, Freddy again.” (No fooling.) That was probably the worst nightmare, and/or, the most immersive cinematic experience, I’ve ever had. (ETA: Recreational substances likely played some role.)
Favorite brief movie-related anecdotes you wanna share.
At a drive-in theater we were all watching some cheaply made 80’s space opera with a villainous Ming-like emperor. A little over midway through the movie, the Emperor arose from his throne and walked towards the camera. He raised his arm to make a declaration of war, and then, over the Drive-in speaker came the voice from inside, timed to match the Emperor’s sentences and gestures: “The concessions stand will be closing in 15 minutes. In 15 minutes, verily, the concessions stand will be closed!” And then the Emperor turned with a sweeping gesture and returned to his throne.
Have you ever had the experience of waking from a dream, only to find that you’d only dreamed you were waking up, and you’re still dreaming? It’s a bit unsettling. One day in high school, not long after watching the first two or three Nightmare on Elm Street flicks, I woke up in my bedroom … and then realized I was dreaming when Freddy showed up. Went through four or five iterations of “Phew – at least I’m really awake now … oh crap, Freddy again.” (No fooling.) That was probably the worst nightmare, and/or, the most immersive cinematic experience, I’ve ever had. (ETA: Recreational substances likely played some role.)
I was at a matinee for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (first run) when the theater stopped the previews. Ushers came in and swapped the tickets we’d entered the theater with for other tickets. (Best guess is that they’d accidentally given us non-matinee tickets first, which would be more expensive.)
Favorite brief movie-related anecdotes you wanna share.
At a drive-in theater we were all watching some cheaply made 80’s space opera with a villainous Ming-like emperor. A little over midway through the movie, the Emperor arose from his throne and walked towards the camera. He raised his arm to make a declaration of war, and then, over the Drive-in speaker came the voice from inside, timed to match the Emperor’s sentences and gestures: “The concessions stand will be closing in 15 minutes. In 15 minutes, verily, the concessions stand will be closed!” And then the Emperor turned with a sweeping gesture and returned to his throne.
Have you ever had the experience of waking from a dream, only to find that you’d only dreamed you were waking up, and you’re still dreaming? It’s a bit unsettling. One day in high school, not long after watching the first two or three Nightmare on Elm Street flicks, I woke up in my bedroom … and then realized I was dreaming when Freddy showed up. Went through four or five iterations of “Phew – at least I’m really awake now … oh crap, Freddy again.” (No fooling.) That was probably the worst nightmare, and/or, the most immersive cinematic experience, I’ve ever had. (ETA: Recreational substances likely played some role.)
I was at a matinee for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (first run) when the theater stopped the previews. Ushers came in and swapped the tickets we’d entered the theater with for other tickets. (Best guess is that they’d accidentally given us non-matinee tickets first, which would be more expensive.)
I got to see a rough cut / test screening of the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker film Top Secret! while I was at the University of Wisconsin in '84. All three of the ZAZ team had been in Madison early in their careers, and they felt that a screening among UW students was a good test for the film’s jokes. After the film, they hosted a hilarious Q&A, where they said that, after doing Airplane!, they couldn’t decide between spoofing WWII movies, spy movies, or Elvis movies – and, so, Top Secret! spoofs all three genres. 
Favorite brief movie-related anecdotes you wanna share.
At a drive-in theater we were all watching some cheaply made 80’s space opera with a villainous Ming-like emperor. A little over midway through the movie, the Emperor arose from his throne and walked towards the camera. He raised his arm to make a declaration of war, and then, over the Drive-in speaker came the voice from inside, timed to match the Emperor’s sentences and gestures: “The concessions stand will be closing in 15 minutes. In 15 minutes, verily, the concessions stand will be closed!” And then the Emperor turned with a sweeping gesture and returned to his throne.
Have you ever had the experience of waking from a dream, only to find that you’d only dreamed you were waking up, and you’re still dreaming? It’s a bit unsettling. One day in high school, not long after watching the first two or three Nightmare on Elm Street flicks, I woke up in my bedroom … and then realized I was dreaming when Freddy showed up. Went through four or five iterations of “Phew – at least I’m really awake now … oh crap, Freddy again.” (No fooling.) That was probably the worst nightmare, and/or, the most immersive cinematic experience, I’ve ever had. (ETA: Recreational substances likely played some role.)
I was at a matinee for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (first run) when the theater stopped the previews. Ushers came in and swapped the tickets we’d entered the theater with for other tickets. (Best guess is that they’d accidentally given us non-matinee tickets first, which would be more expensive.)
I got to see a rough cut / test screening of the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker film Top Secret! while I was at the University of Wisconsin in '84. All three of the ZAZ team had been in Madison early in their careers, and they felt that a screening among UW students was a good test for the film’s jokes. After the film, they hosted a hilarious Q&A, where they said that, after doing Airplane!, they couldn’t decide between spoofing WWII movies, spy movies, or Elvis movies – and, so, Top Secret! spoofs all three genres.
Watching **Titanic **on the big screen. The scene where Jack is drawing Rose, who is reclining nude on the couch. Kate Winslet is beautiful and the camera loves her. The whole theater is silent; you could hear a pin drop. The camera pans slowly; her face, her breasts, her torso, then a little further, then…cuts away. From the middle of the theater, a lone anguished voice: “awwwwww, man!” The place erupted in laughter (and perhaps in empathy for the poor disappointed guy)
Favorite brief movie-related anecdotes you wanna share.
At a drive-in theater we were all watching some cheaply made 80’s space opera with a villainous Ming-like emperor. A little over midway through the movie, the Emperor arose from his throne and walked towards the camera. He raised his arm to make a declaration of war, and then, over the Drive-in speaker came the voice from inside, timed to match the Emperor’s sentences and gestures: “The concessions stand will be closing in 15 minutes. In 15 minutes, verily, the concessions stand will be closed!” And then the Emperor turned with a sweeping gesture and returned to his throne.
Have you ever had the experience of waking from a dream, only to find that you’d only dreamed you were waking up, and you’re still dreaming? It’s a bit unsettling. One day in high school, not long after watching the first two or three Nightmare on Elm Street flicks, I woke up in my bedroom … and then realized I was dreaming when Freddy showed up. Went through four or five iterations of “Phew – at least I’m really awake now … oh crap, Freddy again.” (No fooling.) That was probably the worst nightmare, and/or, the most immersive cinematic experience, I’ve ever had. (ETA: Recreational substances likely played some role.)
I was at a matinee for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (first run) when the theater stopped the previews. Ushers came in and swapped the tickets we’d entered the theater with for other tickets. (Best guess is that they’d accidentally given us non-matinee tickets first, which would be more expensive.)
I got to see a rough cut / test screening of the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker film Top Secret! while I was at the University of Wisconsin in '84. All three of the ZAZ team had been in Madison early in their careers, and they felt that a screening among UW students was a good test for the film’s jokes. After the film, they hosted a hilarious Q&A, where they said that, after doing Airplane!, they couldn’t decide between spoofing WWII movies, spy movies, or Elvis movies – and, so, Top Secret! spoofs all three genres.
Watching Titanic on the big screen. The scene where Jack is drawing Rose, who is reclining nude on the couch. Kate Winslet is beautiful and the camera loves her. The whole theater is silent; you could hear a pin drop. The camera pans slowly; her face, her breasts, her torso, then a little further, then…cuts away. From the middle of the theater, a lone anguished voice: “awwwwww, man!” The place erupted in laughter (and perhaps in empathy for the poor disappointed guy)
A bunch of us went to the movies one night. One guy was handicapped, in that he had a steel pin running from hip to ankle (i.e., he had no bendable knee), but he got around just fine with a pair of canes. It was stadium seating in this theatre, so all we needed to do was to get there early, so we could put his leg on the armrest between the two seats in front, at a comfortable level. But what if somebody subsequently sat there, and asked him to remove his leg from the armrest? We used his canes, and a variety of coats, hats, and boots, on the seats either side of his leg, like a scarecrow, so it appeared that someone was sitting there already. In the dim pre-show lighting, it worked. People saw those seats as occupied, and didn’t question anything. After the show, we collected our coats, hats, and boots, gave our friend his canes back, and left laughing at how well our ruse worked.
Favorite brief movie-related anecdotes you wanna share.
At a drive-in theater we were all watching some cheaply made 80’s space opera with a villainous Ming-like emperor. A little over midway through the movie, the Emperor arose from his throne and walked towards the camera. He raised his arm to make a declaration of war, and then, over the Drive-in speaker came the voice from inside, timed to match the Emperor’s sentences and gestures: “The concessions stand will be closing in 15 minutes. In 15 minutes, verily, the concessions stand will be closed!” And then the Emperor turned with a sweeping gesture and returned to his throne.
Have you ever had the experience of waking from a dream, only to find that you’d only dreamed you were waking up, and you’re still dreaming? It’s a bit unsettling. One day in high school, not long after watching the first two or three Nightmare on Elm Street flicks, I woke up in my bedroom … and then realized I was dreaming when Freddy showed up. Went through four or five iterations of “Phew – at least I’m really awake now … oh crap, Freddy again.” (No fooling.) That was probably the worst nightmare, and/or, the most immersive cinematic experience, I’ve ever had. (ETA: Recreational substances likely played some role.)
I was at a matinee for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (first run) when the theater stopped the previews. Ushers came in and swapped the tickets we’d entered the theater with for other tickets. (Best guess is that they’d accidentally given us non-matinee tickets first, which would be more expensive.)
I got to see a rough cut / test screening of the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker film Top Secret! while I was at the University of Wisconsin in '84. All three of the ZAZ team had been in Madison early in their careers, and they felt that a screening among UW students was a good test for the film’s jokes. After the film, they hosted a hilarious Q&A, where they said that, after doing Airplane!, they couldn’t decide between spoofing WWII movies, spy movies, or Elvis movies – and, so, Top Secret! spoofs all three genres.
Watching Titanic on the big screen. The scene where Jack is drawing Rose, who is reclining nude on the couch. Kate Winslet is beautiful and the camera loves her. The whole theater is silent; you could hear a pin drop. The camera pans slowly; her face, her breasts, her torso, then a little further, then…cuts away. From the middle of the theater, a lone anguished voice: “awwwwww, man!” The place erupted in laughter (and perhaps in empathy for the poor disappointed guy)
A bunch of us went to the movies one night. One guy was handicapped, in that he had a steel pin running from hip to ankle (i.e., he had no bendable knee), but he got around just fine with a pair of canes. It was stadium seating in this theatre, so all we needed to do was to get there early, so we could put his leg on the armrest between the two seats in front, at a comfortable level. But what if somebody subsequently sat there, and asked him to remove his leg from the armrest? We used his canes, and a variety of coats, hats, and boots, on the seats either side of his leg, like a scarecrow, so it appeared that someone was sitting there already. In the dim pre-show lighting, it worked. People saw those seats as occupied, and didn’t question anything. After the show, we collected our coats, hats, and boots, gave our friend his canes back, and left laughing at how well our ruse worked.
I was watching The Ring at home with my son, who had already seen it. At just the perfect time, he surreptitiously called me on my cell phone and almost gave me a heart attack! He almost died twice that night, once from laughing his ass off, and once from me. 
Favorite brief movie-related anecdotes you wanna share.
At a drive-in theater we were all watching some cheaply made 80’s space opera with a villainous Ming-like emperor. A little over midway through the movie, the Emperor arose from his throne and walked towards the camera. He raised his arm to make a declaration of war, and then, over the Drive-in speaker came the voice from inside, timed to match the Emperor’s sentences and gestures: “The concessions stand will be closing in 15 minutes. In 15 minutes, verily, the concessions stand will be closed!” And then the Emperor turned with a sweeping gesture and returned to his throne.
Have you ever had the experience of waking from a dream, only to find that you’d only dreamed you were waking up, and you’re still dreaming? It’s a bit unsettling. One day in high school, not long after watching the first two or three Nightmare on Elm Street flicks, I woke up in my bedroom … and then realized I was dreaming when Freddy showed up. Went through four or five iterations of “Phew – at least I’m really awake now … oh crap, Freddy again.” (No fooling.) That was probably the worst nightmare, and/or, the most immersive cinematic experience, I’ve ever had. (ETA: Recreational substances likely played some role.)
I was at a matinee for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (first run) when the theater stopped the previews. Ushers came in and swapped the tickets we’d entered the theater with for other tickets. (Best guess is that they’d accidentally given us non-matinee tickets first, which would be more expensive.)
I got to see a rough cut / test screening of the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker film Top Secret! while I was at the University of Wisconsin in '84. All three of the ZAZ team had been in Madison early in their careers, and they felt that a screening among UW students was a good test for the film’s jokes. After the film, they hosted a hilarious Q&A, where they said that, after doing Airplane!, they couldn’t decide between spoofing WWII movies, spy movies, or Elvis movies – and, so, Top Secret! spoofs all three genres.
Watching Titanic on the big screen. The scene where Jack is drawing Rose, who is reclining nude on the couch. Kate Winslet is beautiful and the camera loves her. The whole theater is silent; you could hear a pin drop. The camera pans slowly; her face, her breasts, her torso, then a little further, then…cuts away. From the middle of the theater, a lone anguished voice: “awwwwww, man!” The place erupted in laughter (and perhaps in empathy for the poor disappointed guy)
A bunch of us went to the movies one night. One guy was handicapped, in that he had a steel pin running from hip to ankle (i.e., he had no bendable knee), but he got around just fine with a pair of canes. It was stadium seating in this theatre, so all we needed to do was to get there early, so we could put his leg on the armrest between the two seats in front, at a comfortable level. But what if somebody subsequently sat there, and asked him to remove his leg from the armrest? We used his canes, and a variety of coats, hats, and boots, on the seats either side of his leg, like a scarecrow, so it appeared that someone was sitting there already. In the dim pre-show lighting, it worked. People saw those seats as occupied, and didn’t question anything. After the show, we collected our coats, hats, and boots, gave our friend his canes back, and left laughing at how well our ruse worked.
I was watching The Ring at home with my son, who had already seen it. At just the perfect time, he surreptitiously called me on my cell phone and almost gave me a heart attack! He almost died twice that night, once from laughing his ass off, and once from me.
I saw Fire Sale in a theater. There were just three people in the theater, me, my mother, and some other guy. Not surprisingly, the movie tanked.
Favorite brief movie-related anecdotes you wanna share.
At a drive-in theater we were all watching some cheaply made 80’s space opera with a villainous Ming-like emperor. A little over midway through the movie, the Emperor arose from his throne and walked towards the camera. He raised his arm to make a declaration of war, and then, over the Drive-in speaker came the voice from inside, timed to match the Emperor’s sentences and gestures: “The concessions stand will be closing in 15 minutes. In 15 minutes, verily, the concessions stand will be closed!” And then the Emperor turned with a sweeping gesture and returned to his throne.
Have you ever had the experience of waking from a dream, only to find that you’d only dreamed you were waking up, and you’re still dreaming? It’s a bit unsettling. One day in high school, not long after watching the first two or three Nightmare on Elm Street flicks, I woke up in my bedroom … and then realized I was dreaming when Freddy showed up. Went through four or five iterations of “Phew – at least I’m really awake now … oh crap, Freddy again.” (No fooling.) That was probably the worst nightmare, and/or, the most immersive cinematic experience, I’ve ever had. (ETA: Recreational substances likely played some role.)
I was at a matinee for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (first run) when the theater stopped the previews. Ushers came in and swapped the tickets we’d entered the theater with for other tickets. (Best guess is that they’d accidentally given us non-matinee tickets first, which would be more expensive.)
I got to see a rough cut / test screening of the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker film Top Secret! while I was at the University of Wisconsin in '84. All three of the ZAZ team had been in Madison early in their careers, and they felt that a screening among UW students was a good test for the film’s jokes. After the film, they hosted a hilarious Q&A, where they said that, after doing Airplane!, they couldn’t decide between spoofing WWII movies, spy movies, or Elvis movies – and, so, Top Secret! spoofs all three genres.
Watching Titanic on the big screen. The scene where Jack is drawing Rose, who is reclining nude on the couch. Kate Winslet is beautiful and the camera loves her. The whole theater is silent; you could hear a pin drop. The camera pans slowly; her face, her breasts, her torso, then a little further, then…cuts away. From the middle of the theater, a lone anguished voice: “awwwwww, man!” The place erupted in laughter (and perhaps in empathy for the poor disappointed guy)
A bunch of us went to the movies one night. One guy was handicapped, in that he had a steel pin running from hip to ankle (i.e., he had no bendable knee), but he got around just fine with a pair of canes. It was stadium seating in this theatre, so all we needed to do was to get there early, so we could put his leg on the armrest between the two seats in front, at a comfortable level. But what if somebody subsequently sat there, and asked him to remove his leg from the armrest? We used his canes, and a variety of coats, hats, and boots, on the seats either side of his leg, like a scarecrow, so it appeared that someone was sitting there already. In the dim pre-show lighting, it worked. People saw those seats as occupied, and didn’t question anything. After the show, we collected our coats, hats, and boots, gave our friend his canes back, and left laughing at how well our ruse worked.
I was watching The Ring at home with my son, who had already seen it. At just the perfect time, he surreptitiously called me on my cell phone and almost gave me a heart attack! He almost died twice that night, once from laughing his ass off, and once from me.
I saw Fire Sale in a theater. There were just three people in the theater, me, my mother, and some other guy. Not surprisingly, the movie tanked.
A new theater opened up in my neighborhood, so a bunch of us went to see Being John Malkovich. Somehow, the audio track wouldn’t switch to the movie soundtrack and kept playing jazz music. We watched the first 15 minutes of the movie, thinking maybe it was supposed to be like that, because it seemed to make sense. John Cusack was playing with marionettes, and the jazz music seemed to match their movements. It worked when Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon was played over the Wizard of Oz soundtrack, so we figured this was more of the same. Then, the actors started visibly talking, so we realized it wasn’t intentional. The manager apologized and gave everybody free passes, so it all worked out.
Favorite brief movie-related anecdotes you wanna share.
At a drive-in theater we were all watching some cheaply made 80’s space opera with a villainous Ming-like emperor. A little over midway through the movie, the Emperor arose from his throne and walked towards the camera. He raised his arm to make a declaration of war, and then, over the Drive-in speaker came the voice from inside, timed to match the Emperor’s sentences and gestures: “The concessions stand will be closing in 15 minutes. In 15 minutes, verily, the concessions stand will be closed!” And then the Emperor turned with a sweeping gesture and returned to his throne.
Have you ever had the experience of waking from a dream, only to find that you’d only dreamed you were waking up, and you’re still dreaming? It’s a bit unsettling. One day in high school, not long after watching the first two or three Nightmare on Elm Street flicks, I woke up in my bedroom … and then realized I was dreaming when Freddy showed up. Went through four or five iterations of “Phew – at least I’m really awake now … oh crap, Freddy again.” (No fooling.) That was probably the worst nightmare, and/or, the most immersive cinematic experience, I’ve ever had. (ETA: Recreational substances likely played some role.)
I was at a matinee for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (first run) when the theater stopped the previews. Ushers came in and swapped the tickets we’d entered the theater with for other tickets. (Best guess is that they’d accidentally given us non-matinee tickets first, which would be more expensive.)
I got to see a rough cut / test screening of the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker film Top Secret! while I was at the University of Wisconsin in '84. All three of the ZAZ team had been in Madison early in their careers, and they felt that a screening among UW students was a good test for the film’s jokes. After the film, they hosted a hilarious Q&A, where they said that, after doing Airplane!, they couldn’t decide between spoofing WWII movies, spy movies, or Elvis movies – and, so, Top Secret! spoofs all three genres.
Watching Titanic on the big screen. The scene where Jack is drawing Rose, who is reclining nude on the couch. Kate Winslet is beautiful and the camera loves her. The whole theater is silent; you could hear a pin drop. The camera pans slowly; her face, her breasts, her torso, then a little further, then…cuts away. From the middle of the theater, a lone anguished voice: “awwwwww, man!” The place erupted in laughter (and perhaps in empathy for the poor disappointed guy)
A bunch of us went to the movies one night. One guy was handicapped, in that he had a steel pin running from hip to ankle (i.e., he had no bendable knee), but he got around just fine with a pair of canes. It was stadium seating in this theatre, so all we needed to do was to get there early, so we could put his leg on the armrest between the two seats in front, at a comfortable level. But what if somebody subsequently sat there, and asked him to remove his leg from the armrest? We used his canes, and a variety of coats, hats, and boots, on the seats either side of his leg, like a scarecrow, so it appeared that someone was sitting there already. In the dim pre-show lighting, it worked. People saw those seats as occupied, and didn’t question anything. After the show, we collected our coats, hats, and boots, gave our friend his canes back, and left laughing at how well our ruse worked.
I was watching The Ring at home with my son, who had already seen it. At just the perfect time, he surreptitiously called me on my cell phone and almost gave me a heart attack! He almost died twice that night, once from laughing his ass off, and once from me.
I saw Fire Sale in a theater. There were just three people in the theater, me, my mother, and some other guy. Not surprisingly, the movie tanked.
A new theater opened up in my neighborhood, so a bunch of us went to see Being John Malkovich. Somehow, the audio track wouldn’t switch to the movie soundtrack and kept playing jazz music. We watched the first 15 minutes of the movie, thinking maybe it was supposed to be like that, because it seemed to make sense. John Cusack was playing with marionettes, and the jazz music seemed to match their movements. It worked when Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon was played over the Wizard of Oz soundtrack, so we figured this was more of the same. Then, the actors started visibly talking, so we realized it wasn’t intentional. The manager apologized and gave everybody free passes, so it all worked out.
My wife and I went to a sing-along of The Sound of Music. There was a costume contest beforehand, and door prizes, and general merriment. The lyrics to each song appeared at the bottom of the screen, with a bouncing ball to guide you. The audience was encouraged to shout out, MST3K-style, throughout the screening. When we first see Capt. Von Trapp’s palatial mansion, one guy in the audience loudly acted as a realtor: “You should see the BACK yard!” “You’re gonna LOVE the patio!” etc.
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Movies about non-U.S. leaders, and whom they focus on
Movies about non-U.S. leaders, and whom they focus on
Movies about non-U.S. leaders, and whom they focus on
Movies about non-U.S. leaders, and whom they focus on
Movies about non-U.S. leaders, and whom they focus on