the AOX

This was the summer (and year) I fell in love with film.

It was a great year for Hollywood. The last hurrah for 1980s culture before film would get serious again; before film latched back onto the gritty realism that papa Reagan had tried so desperately hard to shield us from. America still felt good about herself and was steaming ahead into the 90s.  Not knowing what to do with me that summer, my mother would bring me to work with her at her dental office where I would hang out with her all day.

Anyway, this admittedly sounds like it would be boring for a child, but next door to this office was a 7 screen dollar movie theater. I spent 5 days a week in this theater and saw at least two movies a day…sometimes three. And, since my parents were very liberal with me, never shutting the world out, my mother allowed me to see (most) rated R films which was truly exceptional and I am so grateful to her to this day.

In the beginning of the summer, I remember having to bring my mom to the ticket office to purchase the tickets to R films for me… Kind of embarrassing. However, by the end of the summer, the workers knew me and just let me pass. Looking back, this dollar movie wasn’t your typical cheap theater. It had new carpet and bright lights. I can’t imagine what it looks like 20 years later.

Of course, seeing R rated movies this young was a bit awkward at times. I remember sitting watching The War of the Roses. There is a sex scene towards the beginning with Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas. This shithead teenager sitting behind me trying to impress his friends, leaned over, tapped me on the shoulder, and asked if I was taking notes. His friends erupted in laughter and I sunk down in my seat…

Anyway, these were the big films that year (1989):

Three Fugitives
Back to the Future II
Lethal Weapon 2
Batman
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
The Dream Team
Turner and Hooch
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
Ghostbusters 2
Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier
Driving Miss Daisy
Born on the 4th of July
Field of Dreams
Dead Poets Society
My Left Foot
Do the Right Thing
Parenthood
Steel Magnolias
When Harry Met Sally
Sex, Lies, and Videotape (this is the only one I didn’t see until years later)
The Abyss
Glory
Black Rain
Always
War of the Roses
Halloween 5
Nightmare on Elm Street 5
Friday the 13th pt. 8: Jason Takes Manhattan
The Little Mermaid
Look Who’s Talking
Crimes and Misdemeanors
The ‘Burbs
Casualties of War
The Fly 2
The Karate Kid 3
Major League
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Pet Semetary
Road House
Uncle Buck
Weekend at Bernies

Now, I realize some of the dates of these will have them being released that fall, but the year sort of blends together at this point. I know for a fact Back to the Future II came out in November because I went to see it for my birthday… but everything else, I have no clue. I just know that I saw a majority of these films that summer and all of them by new years. I saw most of these films twice, some as much as 5-8 times. Not all of them are great; most of them are Hollywood schlock, but they were pretty exciting for me. This could arguably be the year of the sequel.

Great year. I would do it all again.