Top Ten Movie Experiences of the 00's

10. I saw Rat Race three times in theatres. Don’t ask me why, because all I can say is that I wasn’t the hippest preteen in rural Ontario.

9. Watchmen was one of the most disappointing films, poorly reflecting all the super-powered hype. I read the graphic novel, so I was a bit more prepared, and I can tell you that it wasn’t that bad; I just wished that Veidt had looked like a little less of a small child.

8. I saw Spider-Man 2 twice in the theatres, and the first time I was sitting in the very front row. If you have ever sat there, you know that you literally have to swing your head back and forth to take the entire picture in. I was web-sling sick in the first ten minutes, but Doc Ock was so darn captivating that I suffered on.

7. In my first year, I wandered into dorm 13, and watched Maximum Overdrive. Camp and convincing, the line “We made you!” became a personal theme for me when my computer failed. As a first year in a second-year dorm, I truly felt like I was cool, and a real part of the University community. It was months before I clued in to the fact that university is a learning community.

6. Back to the Future was likely my first experience with a one-night trilogy. My girlfriend Danielle and I watched all three installments of Back to the Future that I had purchased earlier that day at a pawn shop downtown for 25 dollars. I almost went to bed after the second one, but Danielle called me chicken. Great Scott, I couldn’t help myself after that.

5. S.W.A.T. was one of the last movies I saw at the Goderich Parkhouse Theatre, and I almost saw it twice. A friend and I walked out from the first viewing to see a few friends walking in. We would have stayed to see it again, but I made a comment about how the carpet pattern looked suspiciously like swastikas. Not a smart move if you want to stay inside of a building. The carpet, you may be pleased to know, didn’t last much longer either.

4. The Matrix Reloaded/ Revolutions were perhaps the most colossal pair of disappointments of my high school life. After being amazed by the original and fueled by the hype, we thought there was no way the Wachowski brothers could put a sub-par product on screen, but we forgot one of the major lessons bullet-time had taught us; the Wachowskis seemed to be capable of the impossible.

3. Fantastic Mr. Fox proved to me that even a film made from a children’s book that replaces old fashioned swear words with “cuss” can bring me to hysterical tears. Visually, it was awesome, and the story matched.

2. My first three years in high school were formed around our annual wait around the block of the Parkhouse theatre to see The Lord of the Rings. It escalated to such a high state that at the third movie, a friend and I cheered Frodo’s name during the previews, and in grade 12, I slumped into such a depression that I watched the preview for the ill-fated The Hobbit three hours in a row and convinced myself it was a new movie.

1. Two days before my wedding, my best friends, fiancée, and I went to the midnight showing of The Dark Knight. On year prior, I had seen the teaser trailer for it in theatres, and made a pact with a friend to be there, whatever the cost. While some might consider ignoring the advice of a future father-in-law poor judgement, I considered it an act of faithful friendship to the one person who had been with me to see almost every movie on this list. The Dark Knight is likely the only movie in my experience that truly lived up to all of its hype. If I’m lucky enough to be a few spaces away from Heath Ledger in line at the pearly gates, I will not hesitate to strike up a conversation.

Worst. Movies. Ever.

· I saw Good Luck Chuck with my wife to kill some time between a wedding and reception in the St. Thomas theatre. It was one of the most crude, childish, and plotless movies I have ever seen. We were the only two in the theatre at the time, which should have been a clue for us, but wasn’t.

· Besides being a horrible movie itself, that day I saw Alexander was one of the worst days of my life. It was Danielle’s Birthday, and our friends were split into three vehicles. When the guys in the back mooned the girls following me, I hit the van ifront of me, essentially sandwiching my first car between my friends. If words could describe the loss, I would bare my soul and its Ford Escort-shaped hole. For now, just don’t rent Alexander.