I love going to the movies.
or 'the pictures' as we always called it when i was a 'bairn'.
my older brother was a film buff.
he had to take us with him when he went, by order of my mam.
and if he really liked the picture we had to stay for the second performance.
all day admission it must have been back then.
we were there for hours!
there'd always be a 'b' movie before the main feature.
and it all kicked off with the ' british pathe news'.
that terribly upper class british voice telling us about the royal family and what they'd been up to recently.
their lives baffled me.
but
we really thought they were OUR royal family in those days.
brainwashed as we were.
then we'd be hungry and we'd have to spend our bus fare on sweets and so have to walk home.
and it was a good 5 mile walk.
rain, hail or wind.
this was the bleak north east of england.
on the blustery coast.
but it was worth it.
we couldn't leave the pictures until my brother had read all of the credits at the end of the film.
the director,
the producer,
the cast and crew.
who was the gaffer,
the set builder,
the gofer,
everybody.
i suppose he thought every job was important and deserved to be acknowledged.
or he was just fascinated by all of the people that were involved in making a picture.
he could recognize crew and say which other movies they'd worked on!
everyone else had their coats on and were already at the bus stop.
not us.
"wait." he'd say. "just wait."
I love the darkness, the huge screen, the loud music, the trailers, the popcorn, the surround sound, the action, the atmosphere.
the complete escapism of it all.
sometimes I even like the movies I'm watching.
doesn't happen every time, but I still like to go.
last night we went to see DOUBT
it's based on the Pulitzer prize winning play of the same name.
it's my kind of movie.
my kind of drama.
Meryl Streep, or Mel Street, as great nanny noo noo likes to call her.
Philip Seymour Hoffman,
Amy Adams,
Viola Davis
now THAT'S acting!
because you can't see it.
Clippy Mat gives it 2 thumbs up.
21 comments:
My first film was Pete's Dragon with my mum in 1977 (I was 8) and I loved the whole experience.
Thanks for posting about "Doubt" - I watched the trailer and it's definitely one for me!
Is your brother by chance, Steven Spielberg???
Doubt looks thrilling. No doubt I'll see it at some point. Glad you enjoyed it.
I had heard this was good too....your brother sounds very interesting. He must have had a huge brain to remember all those movie folks.
Like Pam, I remember going to see Pete's Dragon too w/ my Mom. How funny....
glad to see doubt gets 2 clippy thumbs up - i've been loving the previews, but then again i pretty much look forward to seeing everything mel street does.
i was just giggling @ your brother's little movie credits idiosyncracy; i'm totally the same - i will not budge from my seat until i see each and every credit (mostly the soundtrack information, which everyone knows is pretty much always last!) i also love to see who got the dubious distinction of being the "best boy" and "dolly" grip - have no idea what those particular jobs entail, but i think they're awesome job titles :)
Pam: you and Suz have a lot in common. see how my blog brings folks together? ;-))
smileygirl:
my bro sadly didn't turn out as well as mr. spielberg. but he does or did know a lot about movies back in the day. bless him. :-)
fran:
i guess i'm like that too because last night i noticed on the credits a last name of someone whose job title i forget now, was 'streep' too. a little nepotism i wondered?
i also like to sit to the end. esp. if it's to see who sang the theme song etc. that's the best bit.
Dear Clippy Mat: What does "Clippy Mat" mean?
Sincerely,
Gberger
dear karen:
i like it when you visit. :-))
this might help explain clippy mat. http://talesfromclippymat.blogspot.com/2008/11/blog-post.html
rhyming slang is particular to the english i think. we often use it instead of the actual word e.g.
apples and pairs, = stairs
boat race = face
ham and eggs = legs
tin flute = suit
etc. etc
but i think you get the picture.
therefore clippy mat = pat.
and a clippy mat is particular to my neck of the woods, the n.e. of england and was a home made mat made from old clippings of clothes.
:-))
That was a wonderful post! The first movie I remember is E.T.
It's so expensive, but nice to get away.
Why is it that a lot of people dontcwant to go to the movies alone? I love doing that!
'Tis been a while since I;ve seen the word bairn in print.
No bairns in our clan for three generations, now they're all over this mob of cousins!!
I've been feeling rather wishy washy about seeing "Doubt". Think I'll give it a try. ;-)
David:
welcome to my blog and thank you for your comment. tho' honestly speaking, i have no idea what it meant. no bairns for 3 generations?
but i will check out YOUR blog and see if i can figure it out. :-)
ATM:
thanks for the visit too. I hope you do see Doubt and I hope that you like it. I don't know if it's everyone's cup o' tea but it's certainly well done, so there's always that. :-))
I take it Meryl Streep was a lot better in Doubt than she was in Mama Mia?
Glad you enjoyed it, I'll wait until it comes out on dvd, or until one of the kids get it, from the Pacific Mall in Markham.....not saying anymore about that..wink, wink!!
Gill
Gill:
yes she was in her element in a drama as opposed to a musical. tho' she proved with devil wears prada that she can do light comedy too. i liked her singing in mama mia but i agree there were some cringeworthy moments in that.
;-)
ooo looks good, not sure if its out here yet. Went to the flicks Friday and saw Daniel Craigs new movie -Defience -I like a true story -seen it yet?
Michaels favourite movie of all time - ZULU - think he saw it over 20 times at the pictures (!)
LeighAnn: I have only been to the movies on my own once in my life and I did feel pretty strange about it. Like Johnny no mates. :-)
Vron: haven't seen Daniel Craig's movi, it's not out here yet. Zulu! Love that movie. Might watch it tonight actually. :-))
That reminds me of the Picutres on Gateshead High street where I used to go with the older kids in our street. We were there for about three hours but I don't remember them showing the news. They used to give you a ticket as you went in and if your number came up, you had to go up on the stage, answer a dead easy question and then you'd win a prize. I got called a few times but was too embarrassed about my name to go up there. Imagine?
Terrific post. Like it loads. Do you remember the Odeon in Newcastle - Pilgrim St.? I remember the long queues (we were in one of them) around the block waiting to see "Star Wars"..... :)
oh so are you talking about Michael and not John?!
I didn't know this story!
expat mum:
what's in a name eh? my maiden name was Rice so I was tortured by some talentless children who called me pudding. also, I had thought of blogging under the name, expatpat. glad i didn't now with all of the expat names like yours and expatkat etc. that would have been too confusing. :-))
Hadriana's:
I do remember the Odeon. I have some great memories of sitting in the 'smoking' section there when I was a teen. Imagine the place was FULL of second hand smoke. Those non-smokers must have been stinking of fagsmoke LOL :-)
Sara:
Yep, Michael. He was mad on the movies back in the day. Uncle John was much too studious and 'refined' to be a movie goer I'm sure LOL :-))
sounds good!
id like to see it
was that uncle john who liked the movies?
love ya
jenn xx
nm just saw it was in fact uncle michael
aw bless him
maybe thats where i get my love for movies then? hehe xx
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