Lost Boys - Continued (Or, Favorite Movie Moment)
Runner-up for: Favorite movie-going experience.....Seeing Scream 2 with Jennifer at the Orpheum in Madison, during the year we were both incredibly depressed. That was also the year I grew my hair out to hippie-length proportions and sported a mustache and goatee, hence making me look "smarmy" as well as some warped version of a pimp daddy who was way too fond of bright Hawaiian silk shirts. Jennifer, thanks for coming in at #2!!!! I had such a blast with you--waiting in that long line for the advance screening, the wild and reckless audience, the workers there dressed in costume, the laughter and applause and, yes, screams....
Now, on to our show....
I wish I could give lots of specifics about that day, but it's more a feeling that Mom and I captured when we went to see The Lost Boys during my fifth grade year. I believe it was an overcast day (I don't think it actually rained, though) and Mom and I drove to this theatre right outside of Lemont....Was it called the Watchtower Cinemas? Something like that. A.J. and I used to pay for PG movies and then sneak into R movies there all the time (ahh....Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, Pet Sematary....so many more....And total tangent here: I just finished the first season of Life Goes On, and Corky has the ANOES4: Dream Master poster on his wall AND the same Alyssa Milano poster I had on my wall during my orientation-confused days. Mom used to say: "Can't they airbrush Alyssa's pleasure trail off the poster? You'd think she'd want them to do that....") From the opening moments of The Lost Boys, Mom and I were swept away into this haunted universe with gypsy veils, Star-crossed lovers, amazing Jason Patrick '80s hair, both Corey's, Diane Wiest (love you!), a goth-punk-magical reimagining of the vampire mythology, and a kick-ass soundtrack. Who could forget “Cry Little Sister (Theme from The Lost Boys)”, by Gerald McMann? The way the song swept over you as the camera swept over the Pacific Ocean during the opening credits? And one of Mom's favorite moments is when Tim Cappello's “I Still Believe” plays on the boardwalk in that first hectic night in Santa Cruz, and that hottie saxophone player with the bulging muscles and great braid starts busting out. Is that actually Tim Cappello playing the part, or did they loop his voice over an actor's?....Hmm....Just curious....I think I truly fell in love with vampires that day in the theatre. There was just this mystic magic hanging in the air, and really, who would have minded being bitten by a bleached-blonde pre-24 Keifer Sutherland? I love consuming vampire movies, vampire fiction, vampire anything. At Our House of Portland last week, one of the residents--after reading some of my poetry--asked me jokingly if I was a "lesbian vampire." This may be the most strange and wonderful compliment that anyone's given me! (Besides that one about a year ago when someone asked if I was a senior in high school. That person is, like, my best friend of all time.)
Reliving our favorite movie memories on VHS and DVD may not be the same, but it sure feels good to wrap ourselves up in Comfort Food, right? I can't tell you how happy I am to have my collection of Nightmare on Elm Streets, my Friday the 13ths, heck, even my JEM videos! They bring me back in such a good way.
You know, I don't know if it's my subconscious working and thus my reason for this post, but I just started watching the first season of Gilmore Girls (amazingly witty banter, by the way, makes your heart chuckle in all the right places). And who is one of the stars of GG, but Edward Herrmann, who plays Max in The Lost Boys! Finally, I just have to mention Jami Gertz, who I think I had a "crush" on in the same way I had a "crush" on Elisabeth Shue. (Scratching your head? Look two posts back.) Damn. Jami got lusted after by Jason and Keifer, as well as by Andrew McCarthy and Robert Downey Jr. in Less Than Zero. (I am purposefully leaving out a certain actor in Listen to Me that she starred with; love the film, but man, I sure don't live up to the Bible enough to please his demands now that he's gone all freaky-religious on us. Jesus, you get such a bad rap....You probably just sat around smoking pot, preaching love, and getting your groove on with Mary M., and folks like a Certain Actor have to make some of us shake our heads at their Throwing Stones version of Christianity.) In any case, Jami, you've still got it. You'll always be Star to me. Sometimes I wish I was the gypsy-witch-lovechild of Star and Stevie Nicks. Maybe in a parallel universe?....
Excuse my ramblings....I have a touch of the flu, and my mind and body feel like we're floating (maybe above those opening credits in The Lost Boys). Movies. Mom. Memories. The tagline for The Lost Boys is:
Sleep All Day. Party All Night. Never Grow Old. Never Die. It's Fun to Be a Vampire.
I think I'd add: It's Fun to Have a Mother That Loves to Watch Blood and Guts Get Spewed on the Big Screen as Much as I Do.
posted by Nathan Buck at
12:37 PM
6 Comments:
Favorite Movie Moment;
I can remember in the 4th grade, when my soul was young and pollution free, going to the movies to celebrate a close friends birthday (a person today that I haven't seen or wished to see in years; it is funny how time shifts and people dissappear). Being his birthday, obviously he was allowed to chose the movie, and the event of the evening was to be ROCKY IV. Now, being 1985 at the time (deep in the frosty era of the cold war), going to see Sylvester Stallone pound it out with a giant, steriod-sheened russian seemed appropriate. Being young and full of exuberance we rushed to the front row, thinking that every blow Rocky dealt to Drago would be much more accentuated. The 8 of us were extremely excited going in, but only seven of the veiwers left satisfied. During the show I could hear my counterparts cheering, squirming in there seats, astonished and pleased by thoughts of the U.S.A tromping our rivaled U.S.S.R counter parts. However, I sat quietly. I remember thinking how bad the dialogue was, and how sterotyped all of the russian characters were. The insistent ballads, convienantly timed to play during the multidtude of Rocky's training montages were sickening. The score was as ridiculous as the plot. My friends left the movies throwing imaginary punches in there minds, laughing, dancing, faces flushed, while I contemplated how I was to get the last two hours of my life back. I guess this is my favorite movie moment because it was the first time in my life that I realized there was difference between good and bad movies. This moment allowed me to see good cinema for what it was: ART, and bad cinema for what it is: SHIT. On that note, Nathan I am with you on "Lost Boys." I would not have wasted my time explaining my epiphany if I had thought your taste in movies would not have understood. You maintain an amazing blog, and at least a small part of my life is spent wondering what will appear next. At the very least you have affected one man's life, I think you'll find that alone yeilds your thoughts a great deal of worth. Thanks agian for your words, and if you are ever at a red-neck hay-party with a guy preaching the praises of ROCKY IV, ask him if he remebers the fourth grade at the Triad Theatre. Tell him: "I was sent by McPotty, now you must die."
Love always,
Snotty McPotty
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Nathan,
Lost Boys is also one of my favorite movies growing up. Can I just say two words: the Coreys! I had the biggest crush on Corey Haim. I am confortable enough with who I am to admit that. I may still have a audio cassette copy of the entire audio track to the Lost Boys. Why? Because sticking my boom box in front of the tv speaker and hitting record was the only way I could keep a movie and play it over and over again (either we had no vcr, or I couln't record on it for some reason). Sitting in my room, while doodling, I would memorize the whole damned movie. This is not a movie you would want to sit through with me, because of course I would recite every line.
Eddie Murphy's Raw was another movie I recorded and memorized. My parents surely were unaware of all the sexual content and f-words being emblazoned onto their child's delicate mind.
Anyway, I love that you are watching Gilmore Girls. Do you love it?
-Theresa
Hey Nathan! (:
Just wanted to say hey on your blog, and thank you for watching the movies with me tonight! Many of my favorite movie-going experiences have been with you, and that "Scream 2" showing would definitely be on the list if I managed to compile one.
My favorite movie time was with my mom, too. "Romancing the Stone" in the third grade. It was a rainy day; we had just bought me a new raincoat. And mom was thinking out loud that she wanted to see that new movie, but I wouldn't like it. And I said, "Yes I would! Yes I would!" because I wanted to spend more time with my mom. And so we went. And I loved it. And I got to spend more time with my mom. (:
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