Saturday, March 19, 2011

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History - Movies

Week 12: Movies. Did (or do you still) see many movies? Describe your favorites. Where did you see these films? Is the theater still there, or is there something else in its place?

 I didn't see many movies, but I did see some.  My parents took me to things like Herbie the Love Bug, various Disney movies, etc.  G-rated stuff that came along occasionally.  I started going to movies by myself in the mid-late 70's.  One of the first, of course, was Star Wars.  During the initial run, I watched it seven times.  Since you couldn't rent it on video, that was a lot of screenings!  I saw it at the Paramount Theater in downtown St. Cloud, Minnesota.  The Paramount is a historic old style theater built in 1921 as the Sherman Theater in grand style, with 1,700 seats.  You can read more about the theater here.  It's been renovated and continues to serve as a venue for live performances of all kinds.  Oh, and Han shot first!  Mr. Lucas needs to quit revising his films.

Even that early, I was very interested in science fiction.  I also saw Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Flash Gordon (the 1970's campy version) and Logan's Run.  I also saw Star Trek: The Motion Picture in the theater when it was released.  It's gained a reputation as a horrible film, but at the time it was the only new Star Trek since the end of the original series in 1969, and fans were rabidly wild about it.  I enjoyed watching it, although I do agree it isn't the best of the franchise.

Lately I haven't been watching many movies at the theater.  It's too expensive with tickets being exorbitantly expensive, not to mention concessions, and having three kids to pay for as well...  We tend to watch movies at home, as we have a relatively nice entertainment center that does a decent job.

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