Moving Shadows

For as many movies as J and I watch (and research ad nauseam), we really don't own that many. Rent? Sure. I've rented enough movies to make Ebert blush, but rarely do I buy them. I make exceptions for Life Changers. You know, the movies that help shape your life or make you think until your ears ooze thinking juice, or forge a bond between you and a loved one. My film library contains moving snapshots from my personal history, and serves as physical illustrations of why I cherish movies and everything that surrounds them. Everything I relate to in life either has some basis from film, or I just haven't found that particular piece of celluloid yet. But I will.

When I moved to Oregon from Ohio, I brought what I could shove in my Buick and a whole lot of baggage that no suitcase could contain. An interested observer might be prompted to ask me if I've actually sought treatment for my neurotic disorder from my odd movie collection (which made the trip at the expense of most of my clothes). Looking at it objectively, yeah, I guess it's a little unusual to find "Unforgiven" propped up next to "Sleepless in Seattle", or to find "Fairy Tale: A True Story" mingling with "The Exorcist", but if I told you that Dad took me to see "Unforgiven" in the theater and that Mom took me to see "Sleepless in Seattle" at the same theater, it might start to make sense. My movies aren't arranged alphabetically. They're ordered autobiographically.

I took my beautiful, incredibly pregnant dear friend to see the re-issue of "The Exorcist" eight years ago so that we could enjoy the extra 11 minutes of footage together, and hopefully smoke the baby out of her well overdue burrow. It made perfect sense. She and I were roommates for three years in college and watched the original movie enough that we could absolutely pinpoint the extra footage when it came up. Especially the emotionally scarring backward spider walk down the family stairs. The bowel-loosening memory maker did the trick. Her sweet daughter was born the next day. That little girl and I spent lots of Aunt Sheila/Miss Lady time together and one of our favorite movies was "Fairy Tale: A True Story". Ahhhhhh, now it's coming together.

Just as I keep family photos together, I keep family movies together. I can glance over and see "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" and remember my brothers helping me rent it from Cromaine Library. The cover of "To Kill A Mockingbird" reminds me of staying with my sister and brother-in-law in their first house on McCormack Street where the basement could have easily served as the stand-in set for the storage unit in the "Silence of the Lambs". Speaking of which, holding my "Silence of the Lambs" tape brings me back to the night when my brother taught me how to take a shot like a badass and then hid his face under a pillow until the bad guy was taken care of at the end of the movie.

It would be a crime to finish this post without talking about my personal story of "E.T". This is the first movie I can remember seeing with our family's best friend, Bill Carr. Every ounce of my cinephilia is rooted with Bill. Never in my life have I known anyone who culled as much genuine enjoyment from the theatrical experience as he did. He truly believed and imparted that movies are meant to be powerful and magical. They are salves for tattered souls that can neatly stitch broken hearts as good as new. He didn't have any patience for movies that didn't take that responsibility seriously and were spattered with gore or profane language. If the movie wasn't suitable for an innocent, imaginative child, Bill didn't want any part of it either. The night we lost Bill, I watched "The Muppet Christmas Carol", the first movie released under the Henson name after Jim Henson died in 1990. Bill had taken me and my brother to this movie in December of that year to help celebrate that while Jim Henson's time had come to an end, he can still live on through the wonder of the movies.

Contrary to my standard system, "E.T" isn't next to "The Muppet Christmas Carol" on my movie shelf. Instead, "E.T" is the first movie on the top shelf, and "The Muppet Christmas Carol" is the last movie on the bottom shelf, as movies always begin and end with my gratitude to Bill.