The worst was he gave Star Wars a shitty review and then years later when Empire came out he had the Audacity to say "I loved it almost as much as the first one!" or words to that effect. Before the internet there was NO accountability in journalism. We truly live in a golden age.

justinsdisgustin:
Star Wars wasn't the first movie I saw in a theater but it was close and it's definitely the most vivid moviegoing moment of my childhood. Nothing has come close since, and there wasn't even any swag.

First movie I recall seeing was Ghostbusters. Which still holds up. But as much as I love Zuul, I don’t think it’s really a “must-see” from a cinematography perspective.

Once Upon a Time in The West, in my mind one of the best cinematography experiences I have experienced.

The theater release was before my time, but the first time I saw A Fistful of Dollars (and subsequently the other two films in the trilogy), it blew my mind. Wish I had seen them on the silver screen, that must have been amazing. I've since visited a few of the filming locations in Almeria, Spain, and I was lucky enough to have been able to attend Ennio Morricone's concert in Taipei many years ago; just the music sent chills down my spine.

Likely not the first film I saw at a theatre, but the first that really stands out, was The Birds. I was maybe 10 years old [what were my parents thinking??]. From a cinematography perspective, definitely a "must-see".

justinsdisgustin: Why do you doubt me, Justin? Why do you doubt me?

Star wars is unquestionably a cinematic masterpiece. It's not even subjective. Also a highly coked out movie (they had all the fun back then). My first was superman. We arrived late and I saw this flash across the screen and this guy fucking lie down on the train tracks on a mountain pass so a train could run over his caped back. WTF?! Cool. We're staying. But I remember it also freaked me out. Like I don't know. It was hyper real. Too much for my brain. Especially all the just human stuff was so weird at the daily planet. Like it was like life, but it was more, like life on steroids (or coke),, like Christopher Reeves and his jutting chin and Debra Winger with her crazy ... I'll stop... energy, like they were exploding off the screen. And it somehow dripped with sex, all of it, every different kind of sex. Even at 5 I could feel it, that there was something else totally going on they were winking at but not saying. Richard Donner man. Dude was a fucking genius, no one even really knows who he is now. I feel like I've been saying that a lot lately. It feels like we're descending into a black hole of screens with no memory.

By the way, Justin, we're in a golden age of journalism? LOL. I love you man. Rotten Tomatoes is not better than 1 bad Gene Shalit review of Star Wars that he later denied! I will take a half a Pauline Kael review of Grease II for the entirety of that dumpster fire that is Rotten Tomatoes that has helped destroy the movies.

Edit Margot Kidder, not dear Debra Winger.

By the way Popeye must have been completely obscene to beat Apocalypse Now with a in his prime Dennis Hopper running amuck.

LeeLee Revisited the Superman films recently for the first time since childhood— so the first time on a large tv. Didn’t realise just how beautiful Donner’s original is - all those widescreen cornfield vistas. Maybe inspired by Andrew Wyeths paintings? Superman II (my fave as a kid) felt small and murky by comparison. (And the less said about III the better).

(Donner was a cool cat. A craftsman more than an auteur but an idiosyncratic flourish I noted in a lot of his movies — characters falling away from the camera at a great height in slo mo — Remick in The Omen, John Savage Inside Moves, Kidder in Superman, Gibson in Lethal Weapon. Probably others too)

I honestly don't remember what my first movie theater experience was. I grew up in a film family so it I was going to movies before I knew I was going to movies. My earliest recollection is one weekend my dad rented a projector and a few Charlie Chaplin movies (The great Dictator and Modern Times).

Unfortunately I remember my first. Grew up in a strict family and cinema was seen as a gateway to moral ruin so missed out on Star Wars and Raiders etc. So eventually my first was Uncle Buck. And I can say with confidence that it’s not the best movie I’ve ever seen.

I will brook no hatred for Uncle Buck which is a John Candy masterpiece. Not quite at the level of Planes, Trains and Automobiles, but not that far off.

Bertolucci's The Conformist; an absolute master class in framing and composition by DOP Vitorrio Storaro. Exquisite use of negative space, deff a must see for any photographer IMHO