Movies you're most glad about seeing in the cinema

FIGHT CLUB: I saw it two days before it left my local theater in '99. No other movie has affected me in such a visceral way before or since, and I'm eternally grateful to my friend Ryan for giving me the heads-up that I should see it before its gone.

HERO (Jet Li's) Great effects, very cinematic, much better on a large screen. The rain scenes just blew me away.
I HEART HUCKABEES A friend convinced me to see it - I was iffy on the film (liked the idea, wasn't sure it could be well executed). It was hilarious, and there was a small part of me snobbishly satisfied that we were the only people who found it so funny (half the audience walked out).
LOTR:FOTR Saw it on a midnight showing with the person who got me interested in the LOTR. Great audience, great atmostphere, and a girl who let out a perfect horror-film scream when Bilbo reacted to seeing Frodo with the ring.
LOTR:Trilogy Tuesday Seen with same friend. Great way to spend a day. Getting to see the first two extended editions on the big screen. And ROTK was better the first time with a crowd of enthusastic fans.
THE STATION AGENT Saw this as a free preview after a long day, and very glad I did. Might not have seen it otherwise, and the enthused art house crowd was really into it, which made the emotions of the film stronger (it just isn't the same with a few folks and a little TV).

... I'll probably think of more later.

Aladdin: Fun film that came during Disney's glory days. Remember that awesome Genesis game that came out around the same time?

Jurassic Park: Seeing life-like dinosaurs up on the big screen like that was certainly a great experience.

The Lion King: Along with Aladdin is tied for my fave Disney flick of all time.

Goldeneye: The series made a strong entry with a new Bond and great supporting cast.

The Cable Guy: Well I find it funny, sue me.

Star Wars Special Editions: Wasn't old enough to catch them during their original releases so this was a great movie going experience for my young nerdy self.

The Lost World: Sue me for liking this too.

Kill Bill 1& 2: Enjoyed both very much.

Austin Powers 2&3: While the original film is the best one I enjoyed seeing these two on the big screen.

A more recent film for me was Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. I saw this at the Archlight on a Sunday evening. The sound was incredible and I had seats dead center. I know that most moviegoers dislike this film and think it's boring but I was totally engrossed in it all the way through. Great sci-fi and beautiful animation.
I am extremely grateful that I saw this one in the theater.

LOTR - Trilogy Tuesday

Ghostbusters II-- Yeah, it's not as good as the original. I was also 5 when it came out, and madly obsessed with all things Ghostbusters. Seeing this in theatres was a great experience, and as far as my dad can recollect, I was pretty well behaved (not all 5 year olds are idiots!).

Solaris-- Because not only was it amazing, it was also almost totally empty when my brother and I went to see it. There were maybe 15 people in the theatre, two of which walked out, and two other people fell asleep. I loved the simple beauty of it, while at the same time being excited that my younger brother finally understood why I love brainy sci-fi films like this and 12 Monkeys. He's developed a taste for them since seeing this, and now holds Gattaca as one of his favorite movies, which is great since he never would've watched it unless he'd seen this as a primer. Oh, and the score is killer in a real theatre sound system. Totally involving.

I Heart Huckabees-- Because so very few people did. I went in with high expectations, and was delighted about three quarters of the way through that I realized that this was easily one of the best movies I've ever seen.

Pulp Fiction-- This wasn't the original release, and I'd already seen it, but for whatever reason my local Cinemark decided to hold a midnight screening of this the week before Kill Bill Volume 2 opened. I own the movie on DVD and have watched it several times, but seeing it on the big screen in a theatre full of fellow Tarantino fans was almost like watching it fresh for the first time. Favorite part: at the end of "The Gold Watch" segment, the entire audience quoted, in unison, Willis' immortal line: "Zed's dead, baby. Zed's dead."

Hellboy-- World Premire. Paramount Theatre, with the CHUD gang in Austin. I still owe Nick my firstborn son for the honor of getting to hang out with Guillermo DelToro, Ron Perlman and Mike Mignola all in the sam evening.

Dragonheart-- Yeah, I know what you're thinking. It's not too popular a movie (I like it, warts and all, and it's probably the closest thing to a good movie Rob Cohen will ever make), but it carries special value for me as the last thing my older brother and I did together before our parents got divorced (my mom, his dad) and we drifted apart. We've talked and spent some time together in the years since then, but for that one day it was just him and me.

A Knight's Tale-- Because more people need to see it. It's such a vastly under appreciated movie, and it was great to see it a second time and notice that I wasn't the only one who enjoyed the classic rock soundtrack.

TITANIC - Opening night. Before the hype and the news stories and the media overload. When it was just a throwback to Hollywood epics of old. Fantastic experience.

LOTR:FOTR - Midnight showing. I felt like a little kid again.

THE MATRIX RELOADED - It honestly felt like the gift that kept on giving. The first time I was as mentally engaged in a film as emotionally on the first viewing. Second viewing was even better.

FIGHT CLUB - Opening weekend. Don't know why. Seemed like my kind of film It was.

ARMY OF DARKNESS - Not too many fanboys can say that. I saw it the same day I lost my cherry. The movie was cooler. Well, not really, but it lasted 90 times as long.

THE LION KING - Great theater movie.

INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE - I fell in love with movies (really fell in love with them) in 1989. A young high schooler, my parents let me see this film opening night, and I haven't looked back. The packed theater, the fresh (no one had seen it) responses, the energy, etc.

TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY - When is the last time a summer film just demolished it's own hype? A feast for the eyes, every dime of it's then legendary $90M budget was on-screen. A monster entertainment.

ALIENS - One of my earliest R movies, my mother almost CRUSHED my hand. Still one of the most intense things I've ever seen.

EQUILIBRIUM - Thanks to CHUD. Just happy I saw the thing in theaters for the first time.

Others have mentioned numerous great theater films - Jurassic Park, Hero, Heat, the list goes on and on.

I love the theater,
Chuck

Ditto the LOTR Trilogy Tuesday love. Especially with the surprise guests at our theater.

The Star Wars Special Editions.

Ghost In The Shell: Innocence.

Donnie Darko Director's Cut

Mortal Kombat. Theater was packed full of MK fanatics who were just losing ther minds the whole night. Probably the most fun I've had in a theater.

Pulp Fiction - Before all the crazy hooplah and re-release. My friend had no idea
what I was taking him to see and he was literally shell-shocked afterwards.

Jaws - My first memory of going to the movies. It was at the drive-in, sitting on
lounge chairs in the back of my Dad's pickup. Classy.

Fight Club - There was no way I was missing this one opening night. I think the release
was delayed at one point because I remember telling people about it a long time before
it actually came out.

Predator - I had nightmares and wanted to go to school covered in mud for weeks.

I'm going to list movies I wasn't sure about, but I went anyway and I'm glad I did. So no LOTR here (that's a given).

Pulp Fiction. This is the movie that turned me into a movie geek.
Fight Club. I wanted to like it, but the marketing confused me.
South Park. My wife was the only female there. She wore a sundress and a hat with a big flower on the front. She stood out like a candle in a cave.
Event Horizon. Like it or not, this movie really benefits from a big screen and huge sound system.
Office Space. What a great movie.
Chasing Amy. The first Kevin Smith movie I saw. There were a lot of women there. (Mostly in couples, but I don't mind.)
Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. I considered skipping them, but I would have regretted it.

Aside from the big epics already mentioned -


EQUILIBRIUM - I saw it twice during it's six day theatrical run in South Florida. I still remember a couple of ushers that would drop in just to see the pistol whipping scene.

MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000: THE MOVIE - There were only about a dozen people in the audience, but still one of my best theater experiences ever. After seeing it on TV for so many years, I loved watching it with a crowd on the big screen.

THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE - Went with a friend of mine, and despite his rave review, it just took me completely by surprise. I lost count of how many people I converted once the DVD came out.

Same here. Late show, opening night. People actually jumped to their feet when Reptile appeared.

Evil Dead 2 and Nightbreed. Saw both of these three times on the big screen. Now that's hardcore.

I'll second The Emperor's New Groove. One Sunday when I was in high school my friends and I woke up still fucked up from the night before and decided that the best way to spend the day would be to buy a dirty porno and drink all day while watching it. So we bought Ejacula: Part One, featuring Ron Jeremy as a hunchback with Billy Bob teeth in, and watched it. Toward the end, my friend remembered that we were supposed to go see a movie to get extra credit for some class that afternoon. We got to the theater late and drunk, and decided we'd give ENG a shot instead. I laughed my ass off pretty much the entire time. So I had two positive film experiences that day. I have converted many people it on video as well.

Oh, and the movie we were supposed to see? Sweet November with Keanu Reeves. Best. Decision. Ever.

I love having a great experience in a theatre. It can make a shitty movie enjoyable. The ones I'm most glad to have seen are:

FIGHT CLUB - I had managed to stay spoiler-free the whole time this was in cinemas, and ended up going to see it the week before it stopped showing and it blew me away. I had avoided it because it didn't seem like "my" kind of movie, but I was incredibly impressed.

LOTR - Saw each of the 3 movies on their opening nights at midnight. Not only are they great films that are best served on a giant screen, but it was a great "event" to look forward to for three years. It was fun to feel like a part of an audience as opposed to a smattering of people in the same room. This is pretty weird for me, because I've grown to detest seeing a film in a packed theatre.

GHOSTBUSTERS - I wasn't able to see this during it's initial run (I was 1), but a couple of summers ago, they showed a print at The Orpheum as part of their summer movie series, complete with a pre-show organist, old newsreel, and Looney Tunes short. I had seen the movie countless times, but this was by far the most fun I had watching it.

GOOD WILL HUNTING - Say what you will about Robin Williams, Matt Damon, and Affleck, but I love this film. I went with my two best friends to see it the weekend it came out (I think it might've even been limited release at that time) before anyone I knew (besides me) had even heard of it. We all loved it, and later that year it became the "it" movie.

ABOUT A BOY - I know I'm going to get laughed at for this one, but this is the one film that stands out for being one that I went into blind, and ended up leaving with a top 10 favorite movie. I got dragged to it by two of my female friends, and since I was looking to hook-up with one of them, I obliged, thinking it was a "chick flick" and I might get some for going. When we got there I found out it had Hugh Grant, and my disappointment was tempered by the fact that watching him for a couple of hours might get her all worked up. I ended up falling in love with the movie, thinking every shot and performance were spot-on, and the soundtrack would become of my favorite CDs. Beyond that, it meant a lot to me, being essentially a "guy" movie about learning how to be in a relationship (which I surely had issues with at the time). This is also the film that turned me onto Nick Hornby and HIGH FIDELITY, which is a film that goes into the list of movies I regret not seeing in theatres.

HUSTLE + FLOW - Saw this at the Memphis premiere, sitting behind Steven Seagal no less. That was a fun crowd that reminded me somewhat of the church scene in THE BLUES BROTHERS.

I'm sure there are more, but my hangover is preventing me from thinking further. I'm already exhausted from typing this much.

EDIT: Forgot to mention PITCH BLACK for giving me a place to sleep for a couple of hours and sober up before driving home one night.

From all that has been listed, let me add one more:

"Schindler's List." Kicking my ass - was stuck to the seat, unable to move for twenty minutes after the credits stopped rolling (along with most of the rest of the theater audience).

Many of mine have already been listed, but here's one more.

Requiem For a Dream. As intense as this movie is anyway, it was a real shocker the first time I saw it(on the big screen, with good sound). I ended up going again with some friends, but I'm still glad I caught it before DVD anyway. Now I own it on DVD, love it, but never watch it. Go figure.

The first hour or so of War of the Worlds was a theater experience I wouldn't trade in for home video any day of the week either.

Movies I'm glad to have seen as a kid (or early teen): Star Wars, Song of the South, The Man With The Golden Gun and The Spy Who Loved Me, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Pinnochio, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, Airplane, Meatballs, The Road Warrior.

Movies I have great memories of seeing in High School or College: Return of the Living Dead, Pee Wee's Big Adventure (about half a dozen times), Aliens, They Live (while very stoned), Fritz the Cat (as a midnight movie, fun experience), Hairspray (a John Waters flick in first run! And it was a midnight movie!). I guess Rocky Horror, too.

First-run movies post-college: Pulp Fiction (packed house opening weekend, the audience was totally grooving on the movie, broke into cheers when Vince agreed to the dance contest), Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Kill Bill 1&2(obviously), Blair Witch Project (great experience in the theater, would probably not have been the same at home), Dazed and Confused, The Killer (not exactly first run, but it was around 1992 I think), Godzilla GMK and Godzilla Final Wars, Baron Munchausen (utterly stoned, huge screen in Washington DC, also ate Ethiopian food for the first time right before).

Revival movies post-college: Playtime, Baron Munchausen (Karel Zeman's version), In A Lonely Place, Evil Dead...I'm sure there's some others I can't remember.

Single best would be Trilogy Tuesday. It's the peak of my film geekery. Even if another series of big "event" films are released, and even if I had the same quality of investment in the source material, I don't think I could put aside my life for a day like I did for Trilogy Tuesday. Big "event" stunts normally aren't my kind of thing.

I didn't see all the Star Wars films in midnight showings, and I've never travelled hundreds of miles for a premiere, and I don't go out of my way to attend movie festivals or catch short runs of classic films. But by God I was there for Trilogy Tuesday, third in line, and I had the best seats in the house.

Seven. Nobody said a word as the crowd was leaving the theater. 800 people. Everybody looked like they'd been punched in the gut. It was awesome.

First-run:

South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut - It was opening night, and from "Uncle Fucka" onward, it was the longest, continuous stream of laughter I've ever heard.

L.A. Confidential, Magnolia, Almost Famous, True Romance - I think I saw them all either at previews or on opening weekend, and each turned out to be just as good as I'd hoped from the previews. I think I was a little baked for True Romance, but I still remember it pretty vividly.

The original Star Wars trilogy, the Indiana Jones trilogy, and the LOTR trilogy - I think it'll just be cool to tell any kids I may have that I saw all of these when they first came out (though I barely remember Star Wars - I remember it more from the re-release pre-Empire).

Aliens and Requiem for a Dream - Perhaps the only two films I can think of that had a profound physical effect on me. I wasn't a big horror or thriller fan when Aliens came out, so I wasn't prepared for how constantly intense it was. I was exhilerated by the end - my dad thought it was too much to be enjoyable. Requiem for a Dream's final sequence actually had me shaking on the way to the parking lot.

Revival/midnight movies:

Seven Samurai - I'd love to see more Kurosawa on the big screen, but this has been it for me so far.

Alien - There was a nasty storm that night, and we thought we were going to see a midnight showing of Young Frankenstein at the comfy indie theater in town (velvet couches, beer on tap, pizza, etc.) When we got there, we found out that there were technical difficulties with that one, so they showed Alien instead. Due to the storm, there was barely a crowd, so each of us got his or her own couch. And, of course, the movie was pretty okay, too.

JURASSIC PARK will always hold a special place in my heart because it's the first event movie that I remember going to. I saw it at Greenwood Park Mall and it completely blew my young, dinosaur-loving mind to smithereens. To the wide-eyed, 10-year old Gist, JURASSIC PARK was pretty much the greatest fucking thing in human history.

SEVEN was the first R-rated film I ever snuck into. I still remember people walking out after the "Sloth" bit.

RETURN OF THE KING is another obvious one. I was in the absolute front row, far left side. Basically the worst seat in the theater. It was still a staggeringly amazing, magical experience.

It was cool to see THE PIANIST and SIDEWAYS before they became Oscar buzzwords.

Seeing BUBBA HO-TEP at the rickety, freezing-cold, indie-fave Key Cinemas was damn near a religious experience.

Jurassic Park: was the first big movie I went to, I remember that day well as I had bought the official magazine on JP and my Aunt took me to see it later that day and good times were had when the T-Rex broke out.

South Park: It's awesome to see this opening day in Canada.

Team America: Ditto, but with more laughing at puppets and the rediculousness of the musical numbers and montages

LotR Trilogy Tuesday: The crowd was so into it by RotK

Kill Bill vol. 1 and 2: Skipped School to see both at 12:30 and both times were awesome, saw 2 again on my birthday with friends and that fucking rocked.

Anchorman: Had me at "and suits so fine they make Sinatra look like a hobo"

Phantom Menace: 13 years old and I saw it a week early. Fuck fanboy outcries and flaws that was a memorable time.

Let's see:

FIRST RUN

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Batman
Pulp Fiction
Jackie Brown
Kill Bill: Volume One and Two
Jurassic Park
Chasing Amy (The first time that a Kevin Smith flick was shown here outside of the dollarhouse circuit)
L.A. Confidential
Fargo

and

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (It was the return of a childhood favorite, I saw it with twenty four friends and a couple of family members on Opening Day. Unlike the vocal minority, I wasn't disappointed.)


REVIVAL THEATER

Vertigo
To Kill A Mockingbird
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Superman: The Movie
Citizen Kane
Creature of the Black Lagoon
The Goonies
The Philadelphia Story
Nosferatu (Murnau version)

Glad to see so many other Chewers dug the LOTR trilogy day.

Austin Powers. After leaving school early in 7th grade i got to see this and was laughing so hard I had to tell everyone about it the next day.

Spirited Away. A rare chance to see Anime on the big screen

I've seen Citizen Kane on the big screen, complete with a vintage newsreel. That was pretty awesome. I drove like 70 miles each way for it.

I also wanted to mention Ong Bak and Equilibrium here. I almost skipped them, thinking watching at home would be sufficient, but I decided to go. I saw both alone, but I'm really glad I did. They're both cool little underground type movies, and both awesome.

A few, including Trilogy Tuesday, but probably BLADE RUNNER.

Revival Theater-

Susperia
The Hills Have Eyes
Demons
The Beyond
The Equinox
Black Sunday
The Gates of Hell

Half of those failed to impress me on video. But seeing them in a theater gave me an all new level of appreciation.

Fuck it. I'll say it.

The prequels. Seeing these three films in theaters was still like communion, even if the reaction afterward wasn't so holy. For a grand total of 6 hours, I shared new Star Wars with an audience. And especially with Episode III, where much of the audience walked out in tears, thats an experience worth treasuring.

American Pie: My generation's answer to movies like Ferris Bueller and Breakfast Club. Because you cared about the characters. Finch's frantic run for a toilet needs to go down in history with moments like the parade in Ferris Bueller. I saw American Pie 2 and loved it just as much.

American Wedding: Even if I didn't like it(and I did), the theater experience was worth it. It. was. packed. WITH ELDERLY PEOPLE. And they were cracking up.


Aladdin: My first Disney movie. Saw it three times because I kept dragging my parents back.

Gladiator: Like movies such as Ben Hur, you won't "get it' until you hear Maximum yell "ARE YOU ENTERTAINED?" on a huge screen.

Blade: My first movie where I had to sneak in because it was R. Loved every minute and The Blood Rave scene is a great movie memory.

Blade 2: Just as fun and everyone cheered at the right scenes.

SPIDER-MAN: My favorite super-hero. Instead of graduation night, I went out with friends to see this. I'm convinced this is the Superman of my generation. No apologies, just a straight super-hero movie and everyone cheered when Osborn got it in the end.

Spider-Man 2: Again, no one will "get it" unless they see things like the train scene in the theaters.


Moulin Rouge: My friend called me and said "Cameron, I'm coming to get you, You MUST see this" and he was right. One of my favorite movies still and my first musical.

Halloween: It was screened again a couple years ago at a theater. Weirdly, it works better on T.V., but I'm glad I saw it and people STILL gasped and screamed at the scary moments and screamed for Jamie Lee Curtis to get away when Michael was going after her in the closet.

The LOTR trilogy: The Star Wars of my generation. They'll be talking about this 50 years from now and old men and women will just nod and smile because they were there.

Ocean's 11 and 12: The two absolutely coolest ensemble movies I ever saw. I finally got why everyone loves Clooney and Brad Pitt

Mr. and Mrs. Smith: GREAT film experience. I love this movie to death. Perfection.

Batman Begins: This is "my" Batman. "SWEAR TO ME!" and scenes like that were perfection.