First Movie?
Do you remember the first movie you went to? For me it was Zulu in 1964. Some neighborhood kids went as a group. All I remember about it is that some guy got hit by an ax in one of the battle scenes and the result was predictably bloody. I can remember not being quite ready for that one. Ugh. (That image is still vivid today.) I remember the theater ushers were a little, shall we say, authoritarian. But what were they supposed to do with a bunch of squirmy kids sans parental oversight in a dark theater?
Going to movies was a big deal back then. We didn’t go much as a family but I do remember going to see The Sound of Music when that came out. Years later my parents visited the Trapp family lodge up in Vermont. (The movie was about the Trapps, as you’ll recall.)
A friend of mine was able to see the original Hamilton musical production on Broadway. Experiencing some FOMO, I watched it on Disney + on my phone. Not quite the same, but it sufficed…sort of.
It seems when we’re younger we wanted to see every new movie that has some buzz going. Not so much today. I may have gone to see three at the theater in the last five years or so. Of course the teenagers in our house get excited about what’s popular.
Tom Cruise’s latest effort blew by expectations to the positive side. I might go…if I can get that image of him jumping on Oprah’s couch out of my head. It is right up there with the aforementioned scene from Zulu.