Flashback Friday - The Movie Edition

Flashback Friday has a movie theme this week:

What movies were popular when you were growing up? Did you go to the movies very frequently? Do you remember what was the first movie you ever saw? What is your favorite genre of movies? What were your favorites then, and have they withstood the test of time? Do you have any particular memories associated with movies? Was buying snacks a regular part of the movie experience? What was your favorite movie snack? Have you ever been in a movie or seen one being filmed?

I was a HUGE movie fan as a child. That was back in the day when drive-ins were pretty common. We'd pull into our spot, get all settled with the big speaker hanging over the driver's open window, and break out the snacks, usually brought from home. It was a real treat to get to buy something at the concession stand!

I don't honestly remember going to an indoor theater until I was in my teens, and most of the movies I watched right in the comfort of my own home. There was the weekly offering by Disney, the Monday night movie-of-the-week, and weekend movie marathons of oldies-but-goodies. A kaleidoscope of images race through my head...Shirley Temple, Annette Funicello, Sandra Dee, Elvis, Rock Hudson, Doris Day...

I can't remember the first movie I ever saw. I loved, absolutely loved, all the Disney movies. Absent Minded Professor, Parent Trap, The Shaggy Dog, all the Herbie movies, That Darn Cat, Swiss Family Robinson...and I could never get enough of Shirley Temple, whether she was tap dancing on the stairs in a cute little sailor outfit or trailing down the street in beggar clothes. Who could resist that curly headed cutie?!

Once I was older I enjoyed movies like West Side Story, American Graffiti, any Audrey Hepburn or Barbra Streishand movie, The Odd Couple, Mame, Sound of Music, To Sir With Love, Paper Moon...

There are simply TOOOOOOOOO MANY great movies to include in a single post! I enjoy watching movies over and over and when we lived in the U.S. I would periodically binge on a string of oldies from the video rental store (it helped that those were only $1/per movie -- pretty cheap entertainment).

I often associate movies with where I first saw them...Shirley Temple brings to mind our living room where my sister and I would be sprawled on the floor, chins cupped in our hands, only a couple feet from the television...Doris Day at the drive-in and being squished into the back seat with cousins...The Exorcist (NOT a movie I'd ever want to see again!) in a musty smelling theater in Kentucky...The Muppets Take Manhattan in another old --but better smelling -- indoor cinema in northern Indiana...Pleasantville lighting up the darkness in Uganda because we turned the lights off to conserve energy so we'd have enough to power the television through the entire movie...Julie & Julia on my tiny Macbook screen while my daughter and I kicked back on the couch right here in Argentina...

While I like an occasional movie based on historical events, I prefer watching for pure entertainment the type of movies with "fluff factor". Funny is always good, a little mystery and some action scenes are appreciated, but most of all, believable characters. A movie is a flop, no matter the script or scenery, if the actors can't act.

...which is a bone I have to pick with most "christian" films. What do the directors do, go looking for the most wooden, inarticulate actors available? Because that's how it often seems. It's beyond painful to watch some of the offerings. That's not always the case, but it is more than not. I could really get on a soapbox here but will refrain. I don't want to become known as the blogger who's "always ranting".

Have never seen a movie being filmed or been in one either. Suits me fine. Get me behind a camera, whether stationary or video, and I freeze. Generally into a hideous grimace that makes it clear how painful I find the position. No, I'd much rather be in front of the big screen enjoying a bowl of popcorn and providing a running commentary on whatever we're watching.