Most of my favorite films of all time were released before I was born.  And if not that, they were released before I could have seen them due to age and parental choices.  Mostly the former, since I saw both Starship Troopers and Lethal Weapon 4 in the theater.  Thanks mom! 

Anyway, one could argue that seeing a film AT the movies with an audience is part of the experience, and that without those elements, some of the magic of film is lost.  I reluctantly agree.  There’s something about being with other people, not being able to pause the movie to go pee or make a sandwich; something about feeling the tension of the audience build that increases the quality of the movie ten fold.  Dr. Kenneth Jurkiewicz, Central Michigan University professor and personal friend, has told me on several occasions that the best movie going experience of his life is when he went to go see John Carpenter’s horror slasher masterpiece Halloween when it was originally released in 1978.  Now remember, slasher films didn’t exist, Halloween invented the genre.  Dr. J talks about how he could feel the electricity in the room, and when something terrifying happened EVERYONE lost it.  He has likened it to a ROLLER COASTER RIDE.

That said, I haven’t actually “seen” almost all of my favorite movies.  The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is my favorite movie of all time and the best I can do here is to slap the blu-ray into my PS3 and watch it on my 40 inch Samsung.  Don’t get me wrong.  Watching blu-rays on my 40 inch Samsung is pretty sweet, but it doesn’t compare to sitting in the theater with a bunch of folks who love and respect film just as much as you do.  I was lucky enough this summer to go to Detroit, MI and see one of my most beloved films, 2001: A Space Odyssey, in the original 70mm at the Redford Theater.  I was accompanied by my fiance Kat and good friend Phil.  I cried exactly 4 times.  The title card, bone crushing sequence, HAL’s death, and space fetus.  I’ve seen 2001 probably a dozen times and had NEVER cried.  Seeing it on the big screen, the way it was meant to be seen, in a movie theater built before World War II made all the difference.  It was and is still the greatest film experience of my life thus far.

However, a couple of events as of late have come close.  Living in Evanston, IL as opposed to my old home of Mount Pleasant, MI has many perks.  One of them is the fancy movie theater with 12 regular screens, 6 “Artsy” screens, and LOTS of cool special screenings.  Every month or so there is a FATHOM special HD event and every weekend there is a midnight movie.  Last week they were The Exorcist and Full Metal Jacket respectively.  I was thrilled.  One of the best horror films of all time followed by one of the best war films of all time two days in a row.

The Exorcist was playing because the blu-ray is coming out soon, so the print was a super clear ultra HD silky smooth presentation.  It was nice, except I do believe it was the director’s cut, not the crappy ultra CGI director’s cut, but still, kinda lame.  But you know what?  It really didn’t matter.  Just being able to sit in a theater with a bunch of other people who wanted to be there was the greatest.  A couple of default college guys behind me had never seen it and within the first few minutes were whispering to each other, “Now I’m gonna have nightmares”.  Awesome.  It was great, it was terrifying, and it was easily the best time I’ve had watching the film.  There was also a cool added making-of thing after the film which was kind of gimmicky, but still informative. 

However, the HD remastering, streamlined production, special event screening and bonus features made it not as special.  This is why my Full Metal Jacket experience was way better.  My entire evening was perfect.  To start out I got to the theater way too early.  So my only choice was to sit at the bar and have a beer.  Meanwhile I get to listen to the awesome bar pianist play Stairway to Heaven and Hey Jude. Awesome.  After a few minutes of sweet tunes and drinks it’s showtime.  I head to the theater and sit.  It’s doing the lame pre-show thing and it’s hilarious because it’s the “children’s movie” pre-show thing so they’re talking about Mac and Cheese and new direct-to-DVD Scooby Doo movies which I find particularly funny because we’re all waiting to watch a super violent war movie.  Pre-show over, lights go dark, I hear the clanking and grinding of the trusty old 35mm behind me and strap in.  Then my brain EXPLODED.  A TRAILER FOR ESCAPE FROM LA.  I almost had a heart attack.  I had NEVER seen a trailer for Escape from LA, much less see one on the big screen.  Kurt Russell wise-crackin with Steve Buscemi, surfing past Jaws rides, and hang-gliding into battle.  Again, Awesome.  The trailer ended and the movie began.  You could tell the actual film was from 1987.  It was a little beat up, the sound wasn’t great, and cigarette burns were in tact.  It. Was. Perfect.  I ceased to exist in 2010.  It was now 1987 and I felt like I was seeing FMJ for the first time.  Every joke, every line, every bit of dialogue and nuance seemed brand new.  Ermey’s insults, D’Onofrio’s suicide, and Baldwin’s stupidity/courage were all instantly fresh and brilliant.  After the film, I now feel completely different about FMJ.  I had watched it before, both at home and at school, but I had never SEEN it, until last week.