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zwolanerd

I guess I just like liking things

CatFromOuterSpaceI was 6 years old in 1978, barely aware that movies were even a thing. I don’t remember what the first movie I ever saw was, but I remember seeing Mary Poppins at a friend’s house when I was young, and I remember the Disney cartoon Robin Hood, but I have no frame of reference for when any of those things happened.

Suffice to say I didn’t see any of these movies until much later. Well, except for the honorable mention. I had to have been pretty young when I saw that one.

Honorable Mention: The Cat from Outer Space – I remember that the cat had a collar that would glow as an indication it was using telekinesis, and that’s about all I remember.

7. National Lampoon’s Animal House – I get that this is an “important” movie in the “wild college movies” genre, but… ehhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Some scenes hold up better than the movie as a whole – who doesn’t want to smash an acoustic guitar at some point in their life, right?

6. Same Time Next Year – More interesting than good, watching the characters grow and change through the different decades. If you didn’t know beforehand that it was based on a play, you’d pretty much guess it while watching.

5. Paradise Alley – I read Stallone’s book way before I ever saw the movie. Very Rocky-ish, which probably isn’t surprising.

4. Grease – Most people have fond memories of this movie because the songs are peppy and fun, but, man, the message is terrible: “Girls, the best way to get a man is to change everything about yourself so he’ll like you.” Bleah.

3. The Deer Hunter – For several years I was really “into” the Vietnam War. I read all kinds of books about it and wrote reports for school. I’m pretty sure it was because of Rambo: First Blood Part II, but it led me to some very interesting movies eventually.  (Like this one, if that wasn’t immediately clear.)

2. Superman – This movie doesn’t really belong this high on the list, but I gotta take the year as a whole into account.  It’s never going to show up on my Top Twenty, Fifty, or even Hundred, that much I know.

1. Halloween – It basically created the slasher flick, and it introduced us all to Jamie Lee Curtis, so give it a little respect, okay? Just, you know, maybe don’t think about the sequels too much.

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