Yo Johnny, I'll See You In The Next Life

While I was never a fan of "Road House" or "Ghost", "Point Break" is one of my all time favorite movies that has held up to hundreds of viewings since 1991. It was released in the summer of 1991 but I didn't catch up with it until it made its way on video. I remember at 11 years old loving it so much, when it was over, I hit rewind and watched it again.

It was the first movie I remember seeing where you loved the bad guy. Patrick Swayze was great at Bodhi. He was so great, there were all those knock offs of "Point Break" trying to use his rules for bank robbery.

It was great to see "Hot Fuzz" pay such homage showing Nicholas and Danny watching it after a night at the bar, Danny explaining how Keanu Reeves can't shoot Swayze because he loves him so much. "Point Break" is the quintessential bromance of the 90s.

"Point Break" is a throwback to when Swayze was still a star and Lori Petty was still a viable actress. Keanu Reeves has gone on to do some good films but "Point Break" still holds up as his other films fade.

I remember a friend spoiling the ending before I saw it. He told me Swayze surfs a hurricane wave at the end. When I think about it, he didn't really spoil it. That scene where Johnny Utah lets him go to die doing what he loved, he was thanking Bodhi for changing his life. Then the FBI shows up and says, "You let him go," and Utah says "No I didn't." Then those FBI guys say, "We'll get him when he comes back in." Utah says, "He's not coming back". Then you see Bodhi ride that wave to the score of the film. The end of his life wasn't as glorious as Bodhi's, but Swayze had ridden enough big waves to justify his run.

"Yo Johnny, I'll see you in the next life."

1999: The First Rule of Fight Club is.........

Where "Office Space" hatched a plan to rob from the country stolen from Superman III and "American Beauty" had blackmail, Lolita like lust and drug use, neither pushed the envelope like David Fincher's "Fight Club."

"Fight Club" is a masterpiece on all accounts even on things having nothing to do with the film. This film caught all the right breaks at the right time from timing to studio backing. The money was there from Fox because you had Brad Pitt. Fincher wasn't executive produced to make mainstream film.

It is a film that isn't handicapped because it has to have a love interest. Marla Singer's part plays a pivotal role in the film. The timing of this film was brilliant, just two years before 9/11. With acts of vandalism and terrorism, there's no way this would've been released after that.

"Fight Club" author Chuck Palahniuk worked with the screenwriter Jim Uhls on the script. The source material wasn't just ravaged by hack screenwriters. The film cost 63 million and only took in 37 million. It made its money overseas and on video.

You have this incredible director, two of the best actors of their generation, a script and a studio willing to release it. As great as this film is, it still hasn't been seen by the masses like you would think. More people have probably seen "Office Space."

Then there are people who have seen it only for the fighting. Meatheads of the world, the film isn't really about fighting, it's about the male experience. It's about society. Our culture. It's about spitting in the face of all the expectations and norms we have.

In the film, Jack blackmails his boss like "American Beauty" and uses the money to start up Fight Clubs all across the country. Fight Club becomes Project Mayhem, a group who pulls pranks all over cities with their big goal being to blow up the credit card companies. The debt goes back to zero. Everyone starts over. The film is about ridding your life of all the stuff that doesn't matter. It's about human sacrifices that give rebirth. It's about selling women's cottage cheese back to them.

We had "The Sixth Sense" earlier but "Fight Club" caught us off guard because Tyler isn't a ghost. Turns out he's a figment of Jack's imagination. We've seen this device countless times over the last ten years to where it's standard, but in 1999 it was a jolt. Fincher has done some good films notably "Zodiac" but none of them have been a masterpiece. Brad Pitt has done a lot but will he ever get to play a counter culture character of this magnitude? Will Ed Norton get to have a character and story of this level that has a studio backing?

When asked about the miracle of how this got made, Slashfilm Managing Editor Dave Chen summed it up best.

“You have to accept that Fight Club was kind of a happy accident. You have an auteur director taking on a big budget film that’s virtually unmarketable.”

If a studio accountant looks at that equation, that is why we may never see a film of that caliber ever again.

1999: American Beuty...Look Closer

"American Beauty" also dealt with waking up to life in suburbia in a dead end job in a loveless marriage saying "We're not gonna take it anymore." Kevin Spacey plays Lester Burnham who gets little respect at work and even less at home. He feels he's lost something. He meets his neighbor, teenage Ricky Fitts who invites him to smoke some grass. Something more was lit than the joint cause Burnham trades in a Camry for a 1973 Pontiac Firebird, blackmails his boss and stands up to his wife and daughter. Where "Office Space" was rebellion against the corporate life, "American Beauty" was a rebellion against the American dream we've all been sold. In the directorial debut of Sam Mendes, this film went onto make out of the Oscars like gangbusters. Every performance is the peak for each actor and while Mendes has done some interesting work, nothing with the gravity of "American Beauty."

Party Like It's 1999: Have You Seen My Stapler?

The fall out from "Wall Street" wouldn't be felt for twenty years when the economy nose dived our 401Ks. The "greed is good" manifesto that yuppies and everyone from the financial sector to desperate housewives justified for their every indulgence seems to be finally catching up on us.

In the 80s, baby boomers went from peace sign smoking hippies to yuppies bent on decadence. "Greed is good" must've been the 80s investor's favorite movie line comprable to the 90s Swinger's line, "You're so money and you don't even know it." We had seen shades of the fall out of the Wall Street mentality in films like "Falling Down" but that was a little too psychotic. Who would deliver our first counter corporate film of 1999? The man who brought you Beavis and Butthead.

"Office Space" grossed ten million dollars in its initial release. The little movie that could is probably in your dvd collection because regardless of how much studios preach first weekend grosses, this film had legs because it was great. Even if it's not in your collection, you've probably quoted lines about "TPS reports" or "I wouldn't say I'm missing it Bob." "Office Space" stars "Swingers" alum Ron Livingston as Peter Gibbons, a working stiff who one night after being hypnotized wakes up with a whole new attitude. Instead of being a slave to the grind, he comes in when he wants, cleans fish in his cubicle and tells efficiency experts how little work he gets done during the day. "Office Space" gives Ron Livingston his last great role and Mike Judge may have peaked with this one as well. This film brought us a true big screen adaption of "Dilbert" to the big screen.

Party Like It's 1999: Angelina Jolie Before She was Tabloid Fodder

Angelina Jolie burst onto the scene with "Gia" in 1998, then the next "It" girl, where would she head? In the fall of 1999, she was in "The Bone Collector." From Netflix, Rookie cop Amelia Donaghy (Angelina Jolie) reluctantly teams with Lincoln Rhyme (Denzel Washington) -- formerly the department's top homicide detective but now paralyzed as a result of a spinal injury -- to catch a grisly serial killer dubbed The Bone Collector. The murderer's special signature is to leave tantalizing clues based on the grim remains of his crimes. This movie is unforgettable ten years ago after seeing it in theaters. All I remember is it trying to be as good as Fincher's "Seven" and how the killer just popped out at the end, like they just picked a name out of a hat. Luckily for all of us, this wasn't Jolie's only film in 1999. She had a small part in "Pushing Tin", a remarkable film because it makes air traffic controllers looks cool. She showed us what she could do in "Girl, Interrupted."

"Girl, Interrupted" starred pre-kleptomaniac charged Winona Ryder as Susanna Kaysen, a girl in the 60s who is sent to a mental institution because she didn't know what to do after high school and didn't want to turn out like her mother. It mentions she swallows a bottle of aprin with a bottle of vodka. So the girl has her issues, seems pretty tame to everything else we've heard about the era. In the institution she meets all kinds of new gal pals including the with the rebel yell, she cried more, more, more Lisa played by Angelina Jolie. Jolie takes her Gia character and splashes danger and psychotic psychedelics to this 60s film. The role garnered Jolie an Oscar. Ryder is good in it but for all intents and purposes, Jolie elevated this out of Lifetime M.O.W. status and made it something more. James Mangold directed the film which would be put him on a path of making quality films for years to come: "Identity", "Walk The Line", "3:10 to Yuma". For pure oversight and fairness, he also did "Kate and Leopold". It's an underrated film with some flaws but the role of Lisa is one of the best female written roles in the last ten years. After "Gia" and "Girl, Interrupted", Jolie went on to play video game vixens, "Tomb Raider", sexy drivers, "Gone in 60 Seconds", assassin wives, "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", grieving wives, "A Mighty Heart", secret society assassin, "Wanted". I'm afraid Angelina Jolie is playing the sexy fill in the blank way more than she should. Are the studios to blame for not focusing on good scripts for women or are they not just wanting to make them? Angelina Jolie could be much more than Cambodian adopting tabloid fodder. I wish her assistant, her agent, whoever is the Ari Gold and Eric Murphy to her Vincent Chase are able to find a role to keep her in the game when she can no longer play the sexy fill in the blank, though she could probably convince all of us as the sexy geriatric in the nursing home.

Small Town Movie Theater Trumps IMAXES and Theater Chains of the World

I got married last year and moved within 50 miles of the Dallas/Fort Worth area. There were all kinds of films being shown in the more artsy theaters like the Inwood. They also have movie events like midnight showings of the Rocky Horror Picture Show and other cult movies. What’s great about this kind of viewing is everyone in the theater knows the movie, loves the movie. Some even live the movie by dressing up like Dr. Frank-N-Furter or Magenta. While I never made it out for those features, I found something closer.

I’m a big movie buff from Texas and there are three movie theaters in my hometown. Carmike Cinemas, the one at the mall with broken speakers, immature staff and small screens, but hey they have digital screens. Technology doesn’t matter when everything else is tanking below mediocrity. Everyone cringes when a highly anticipated film lands at Carmike Cinemas.

Another one is a two dollar theater where films finish their theatrical run. It’s a theater that is about to be torn down so sometimes the speakers aren’t great and some of the seating has trash bags over it. It used to be one of the premiere theaters in the 80s and 90s.

“Paul Blart: Mall Cop” was there after it was already out on dvd. It’s a good deal and sometimes it’ll get movies that didn’t hit the other two theaters like “The Brothers Bloom” and “Fanboys.” Plus you can get a popcorn and coke for under five dollars. It’s an enjoyable theater that’s on its last legs with a lease about to strike midnight for this Cinderella.

None of these are my favorite but I’m such a cinephile that I’ll wade through sticky floors and bad service and sit next to trash bag seats if a movie is at one of these theaters.

This leads me to Cinemark Theaters. Oh, how I wish that all the movies could be here. The staff is nice but when asked, they will go after people messing with their cell phones during the film. It has huge screens, nice seats and is clean. The concession is a financial nightmare but you can’t have it all. They have more screens and summer movie times but they also get independent films that used to never see these parts.


What made me so happy about moving closer to Dallas were the more opportunities to interact with people really into movies. It is so hard to connect with other people about films, I wanted that kind of communal film experience.

While the Star Wars Prequels were disappointing to a perfection, I really take a shine to “Attack of the Clones”. I attribute this to seeing the midnight showing of the premiere. I was in a theater full of Star Wars fans and that collective energy led to a very exciting viewing.

I’m moving back to my hometown where Carmike and Cinemark reside. I never made it to the Inwood for smaller independent films. I never made it to the Rocky Horror Picture Show at midnight. I worked in Arlington last year, leaving me to drive four hours a day and racing 30 thousand miles on my car. I was too tired to go into Dallas, fight the traffic and try to enjoy something I would have loved.

While I didn’t get to dress up like Tim Curry or watch “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” at midnight, I found something else.

Decatur was ten miles from my apartment. It’s been a small city since forever. I knew they had a movie theater, a three screen cinema. Naturally I stuck my nose up at it. I wanted something bigger and better.

My whole life, I’ve wanted to see a new movie opening night. I remember my parents being away and staying with my grandmother when I was 11 years old, trying to convince her to take me to see “Lethal Weapon 3”.
“Please, I’ve wanted to see this for two years,” I said.
“How can you have waited two years to when it starts tomorrow?” my aunt said.
“Because I’ve been seeing previews and knew they were making it,” I said.

That Friday, my grandma and I were in the theater at four o’clock after school waiting for “Lethal Weapon 3” to start. Turns out my grandma really loved it.

That detour illustrates my intensity to see a movie on opening night, a trait I’ve seen in very few.

My wife is a fanatic for “Twilight”. She considered going to the midnight show but had teaching and coaching the next day so she elected for sleep. I was in Decatur and she called to ask if we could go see “Twilight.” I thought she’d be exhausted as she had coached basketball games after school. For the first time in my life, I tried to talk someone out of seeing something opening night. She wasn’t having it. In ways, I loved this passion for film, even if it’s only for the “Twilight” films and Harry Potter.

We ended up seeing it in Decatur at the Three Screen Cinema. I remember being in awe of how low the prices were for popcorn and drinks. It was really packed with Twilight tweens and all the other that made it a huge it that weekend.

I didn’t return to the theater for months when I went to see “Watchmen” a second time on a Sunday. I love Sunday afternoons and having a relaxing day but just couldn’t get it going since I’d been married. “Watchmen” gave me that opportunity. The Twilight phenomenon wasn’t happening so I was in a quiet theater with short lines for popcorn and Coke. I got all this for under ten dollars.

It’s only a three screen cinema. They are going to have mainstream movies. Some I wanted to see, others I wasn’t so crazy to see but I ended up going because of the great experience at this theater. I saw “Knowing”; not great but I enjoyed it with popcorn on the side. At $7.00-$9.50 for a matinee, I wouldn’t have gone to see “Knowing” but for 9.50 for a ticket, popcorn and Coke, I did. I saw the fourth “Fast and the Furious” installment on a Sunday afternoon and was able to ignore plot holes and character development and revel in fast cars and Vin Diesel acting tough. When the price isn’t so jacked up, your investment and expectations don’t have as high a bar.

This last year, I have seen very few movies on Friday night. Exhibit A is me trying to get out of seeing “Twilight.” One Friday night in May, I had planned to go.

The theater was packed, not Twilight packed but packed. Some woman across the aisle was texting at the beginning of the movie. I didn’t want to get the theater staff and I didn’t want to worry about it the whole movie cause you know if someone is messing with their phone at the start of the movie, odds are they won’t leave it alone. I just walked up to her. This was a woman with two kids and gym shorts, not the Star Trek demographic. If she wasn’t going to be into the film, she wasn’t going to ruin it for me.
“Could you not text during the movie?” I said. “It’s distracting.” I sat down and she put her phone up.
I loved “Star Trek” so much that I went the next afternoon. It had been really hard for me to relax and enjoy myself for the last year and I had finally found my outlet.

I saw “Terminator: Salvation” on a school night. I saw Pixar’s “Up”. My wife started going with me to some movies. We saw “Ghosts of Girlfirends Past”, a film that wasn’t a first choice of mine but was easier to swallow than I thought.

We saw “Night at the Museum 2”. I really disliked the first film but really liked the second one. Even “The Proposal”, the Sandra Bullock/Ryan Reynolds concept romantic comedy was a lot of fun.

The toughest viewing had to be Will Ferrell’s “Land of the Lost”. It was a mess of a movie but I loved watching it on a Tuesday afternoon. It was like my summers as a kid, dropped off at an afternoon matinee and then hitting the arcade.


This theater had some sort of magic that allowed every movie to be at least good or at worst watchable. This theater had small screens, but I didn’t have to watch twenty minutes of commercials before the movie. I never had to go tell the staff the projection wasn’t working. This small theater was more efficient than the IMAXes and AMCs of the world. It’s not the size of your screen. It’s how you use it.


No screen size could save the mess that was “Transformers: Revenege of the Fallen.” While nowhere near the quality of the first film, it was okay in some areas. I had to give it the Fast and the Furious treatment. Ignore plot holes and character development.

The day before we moved was a Sunday on Fourth of July weekend. I had seen all of the movies at the theater. Even with all its flaws, I saw Revenge of the Fallen again. In ways, it was better the second time. For one, I knew when to get popcorn. They were so busy that day that they ran out of popcorn. I went back to Transformers and waited twenty minutes for hot popcorn. I knew which scenes would be strong like ones featuring Optimus Prime and ones that weren’t, ones with no robots.

I thought this would be my goodbye to the theater. A few weeks later, my wife and I were finishing up the move out of our old apartment, turning in keys and what not. We left just in time to see “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.” It was more fun than other theaters because the kids were into it and cell phones were kept to a minimum.

This theater had been so therapeutic for me. It was an escape from the stress of work and life. This theater meant more to me than midnight showings of cult classics and costumes. I had gone to most movies in my life by myself. A lot of my friends didn’t have parents that let them see a lot of movies or they didn’t want to spend their money that way. I ended up seeing a lot on my own which I’m comfortable with because you don’t have to worry if that person likes it. You can just see it for yourself. It only makes sense one of my favorite theaters wasn’t a community experience but a one on one experience. Me and the movie.

Party Like It's 1999 Even With The Phantom Menace: Episode 8 Kevin Smith Gave Me A Religious Experience and Never Called Me Again

Can you have a religious experience during a Kevin Smith movie? His last film, "Chasing Amy" in all respects was a guy trying to reform a lesbian film filled with penis jokes. His other films go even further into immature sexual discussion. It does work. Kevin Smith films will make you laugh if you can stomach them, but could he get serious?

"Dogma" is about two fallen angels trying to get back into heaven through a loophole that will destroy everything. A band of Apostles, angels and Jay and Silent Bob are trying to stop them. Alanis Morrisette plays God in this movie that was being protested as an abomination before it was released.

The film works really well and it has a lot of great points about religion and God without taking itself too seriously. Chris Rock is a black Apostle in one of his better film performances. The supposed to be next big thing, Linda Fiorentino was the lead with direct bloodline to Jesus even though she worked at an abortion clinic. This was a really great satire about religion and faith that gave way to new questions to ask after the movie ended.

It made me really think about the powers that be over the years who could have edited the Bible. It made me question some of the status quo beliefs that are thrown to us over the years. Maybe God really is a woman. Maybe God really is Alanis Morrissette. Maybe Jay and Silent Bob have a part to play in God’s plan.

Where has Kevin Smith gone after this film? He went back to Jay and Silent Bob. He did a “Clerks” sequel. He did a movie with Ben Affleck, “Jersey Girl”, which I never saw. He did a Judd Apatow impression with “Zack and Miri Make A Porno.” He’s really stayed in his comfort zone. It would be nice to see him write and others direct. It would be nice to see him take the kind of creative risk he did with “Dogma”. In the end, he does have to pay a mortgage and if it’s with Jay and Silent Bob, so be it.