Memory, for better or worse, is a powerful part of human existence.  

     Every year on or around June 6 I rewatch the Russel Crowe boxing film Cinderella Man. In memory of my grandma.  The 2005 release was one I took her to see while working at the a local chapter of a chain theater.  I had already seen it but throughly enjoyed it.  She wanted to see the movie and Russel Crowe was her Hollywood crush.  On the car ride home she was talking about the boxing matches portrayed in the movie.  She was remembering listening to the fights, on the radio, with her father generations ago.   The memory of that car ride is why I pull the dvd, she gave me later that year for Christmas, every year on her birthday.

   What movies are associated with memories?

     For starters I saw The Incredibles and it was the first time I made out with a girl.  That remains a positive memory despite losing touch with her.

   A memory I am torn on is the one associated with watching the Arnold  Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis action flick True Lies. My sister and I watched it on the Sunday after the towers fell in 2001.  This was the last thing we ever watched together before her unexpected passing forty eight hours later.  This memory I am torn on.

    A positive memory was seeing a David Cronenberg double feature of The Dead Zone andThe Brood in theaters. This was the night I became a certified horror film fanatic.  I had enjoyed the genre prior, seeing primarily franchise highlights likeHalloween and Friday the 13th.  Since then I have seen all sorts of horror films ranging from the obscure, like The Manitou, to epic classics like The Shining.  To paraphrase Casablanca this was the beginning of a cinematic obsession.

   Speaking of cinematic obsessions a grade school version of myself loved walking to the $1.50 theater to see Tomorrow Never Dies on the big screen.  Following this I started renting, on VHS, the 007 films, lovingly making my way through the franchise. To this day James Bond remains my favorite.

    One March dayI did a double feature of the Indy film Charlie Bartlett and costume drama The Other Boleyn Girl.  I am aware of how random that pairing is.  My great uncle, who I am named after and was close with, had just passed.  Passing the time, alone in a darkened theater, was my way of ignoring the grieving process and hiding from the world.  

   Through my many adventures in movie going there are many, good and bad, memory movie match ups. 

   Until next time I will see you at the movies!