While perusing the Surf Report photo library this morning, I came across this one, and started thinking about the two guys pictured and their special brand of nerd humor. As geek “jokes” go, theirs is a good one. But I have a feeling (and I could be wrong) their overall hit/miss ratio isn’t too impressive. Ya know?
Then I started thinking about the number of times those two douche-bobs have likely seen the Star Wars movies. And then, the films I’ve seen in theaters more than once…
I’ve never been a huge movie buff. I don’t know why, but that’s one obsession which passed me by. Music, baseball, and anti-social humor magazines took up most of the space in my head when I was a youngling. And maybe there wasn’t enough room for film fanaticism? I’m unclear on it.
In any case, my list of movies seen in theaters more than once is quite abbreviated. In fact, I can only think of two. There might be more, but I can’t think of them right now.
The first was Monty Python’s Life of Brian. It’s by far my favorite Python movie; I thought it was freakin’ brilliant the first time I watched it, and still do. Some of you will probably gasp when I admit this, but I could never get into Holy Grail. There are a few funny sequences, but here’s video footage of me watching most of that movie.
Life of Brian, however, is great throughout. Plus, there were wild, crazed church people in front of the theater, protesting the film. They had signboards and the whole nine yards. It was great! After crossing a picket line of humorlessness, then seeing a hilarious movie… man, what an intoxicating experience. I had to do it again!
And on the second trip, a few days later, the furor had died down a lot and the protesters were just going through the motions. There were only a few remaining, and they were phoning it in. Kinda disappointing, but the movie still kicked ass.
The second one also blew me away: the original 1978 version of Dawn of the Dead. Holy shit! I’d never experienced anything like that before, nothing had even come close. It was just wall-to-wall creative gore, but was also funny and suspenseful. It’s still one of my favorite movies of all time. That shit is a masterpiece, straight-up.
I saw it at the theater with some friends, and we couldn’t stop talking about it. So many great scenes… And the fact that it was set inside an abandoned mall made it even cooler. Yeah, I need to dig out the DVD and watch if again, for the fifth or sixth time.
This was back during an era before easy access to everything at all times, so when Dawn of the Dead popped up as a midnight movie a couple of years later, I was super-excited. I was dating a girl at the time, and had talked-up the film so much, she reluctantly went along with me. She said she wasn’t a horror fan, but I told her it’s not really horror. It’s so much more.
Yeah, and I think she started crying around the halfway mark. Just sobbing like a crazy person… WTF? We left the theater (dammit!), and I couldn’t console her. She cried all the way home, and was crying as she slammed the door of her house in my face.
What in the ever-lovin’ heck?? Worst date ever. At least up to that point… it was later surpassed. But that’s another story for another day.
And that’s it for me. I seriously can’t think of any other movies I’ve seen in a theater more than once. The Rocky Horror Picture Show? Maybe. But that was just to throw stuff and act like a jackass in the dark.
What about you? Do you have anything on this subject? What movies have you seen in a theater the most times? Tell us about it, won’t you? Use the comments link below.
And I’ll be back tomorrow, my friends.
See ya then!
Now playing in the bunker
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FIRST. A GREAT EVENT IN AN OTEHRWISE SHITTY SHITTY DAY!!!
I had a girl bawl with “white guilt” after I took her to see Amistad. She wanted to hug every African American in the theatre and apologize. She simply couldn’t stop and it ruined the night as it went on long into the post movie drinkin’ time.
TWO – and Congrats, Tilly!
Never went to a theater twice for any movie. Who the hell had the money?
But I’ve watched movies a skillion times over. Jaws, Goodfellas, My cousin Vinny, Planes Trains & Auromobiles – I can probably recite entire passages.
Rocky Horror, of course,
and Jurassic Park.
My ex & I went through a financial hard time a while back, and thankfully the town we lived in had a 39¢ hamburger stand and a 99¢ theater. too m any friday night dates for under $10.00.
Star Wars- Summer of 77 in Nacogdoches TX, my friends & I would ride our bikes to the giant old theatre on the main drag at around 11am, & watch all the SW matinees, playing pinball between each feature. It was a good way to escape the rotten chicken stink I mentioned in yesterday’s comments. Probably saw it at least 30 times that summer.
Army Of Darkness- Being the prolific stoner I was in the early 90s, it was mandatory that I owned Evil Dead 1&2 on VHS. I was a huge fan of the Raimi/Campbell duo when AOD came to theatres, & I was fully engorged with blood & anticipation. Would hotbox for 30 minutes in a Dallas cineplex parking lot with friends before the 11pm showing. Did that routine roughly 5 times…it never disappointed.
Probably caught the Rockies 1-4 multiple times each, along with the John Hughes teen flicks of the 80s. But SW & AOD are the most prolific in my somewhat damaged memory.
I mowed grass all summer long back in 1980 to see ‘AIRPLANE!’ a total of 13 times. Love, love, love that movie!
Rocky Horror was the only one.
Did anyone ever see the Triumph the insult dog clip of him in line with all the Star Wars nerds? That is some hilariousness! I couldn’t stop laughing!
Hitchcocks’ The Birds twice – yeh i’m that old.
I’ve seen every James Bond movie at least twice (except for the ones starring Roger Moores stuntman.)
Animal House
The Exorcist
I’m sure there were others – stoopid enter key – stoopid
Animal House was probably the only one, and that was cause it was at a $1.00 movie house.
I’m not old enough to have seen it at the movies, but Its a Mad, mad, mad, mad, world was as funny a movie ever made.
jurassic park twice since it was re-released.
phantom menace twice and revenge of the sith twice
titanic twice i think, maybe it just seems like i saw it twice.
dawn of the dead is awesome.
The Walking Dead on AMC should be awesome, too.
“Easy Rider” twice when it first came out. Nothing after that.
Oh…wait…I was playing in L.A. in ’75, I’d guess and there was daily double feature me and this wacked out piano player, Mike, use to go to a lot. Maybe daily…dunno.? We’d get totally baked and go see “Deep Throat” and “Behind the Green Door”. I’m not making that up!
I’ve seen a handful of movies in the theater twice, mostly because I’ve gone with two groups of people who ended up seeing something I wanted to see again anyway.
Grindhouse was awesome both times, as was Inception and the Dark Knight – particularly because they were all awesome movie theater experiences.
The last movie I went to see in a theater was E.T. and I only watched it once. I don’t go to theaters anymore because I have a debilitating fear that somone besides me will have a gun in there, and I might get my brain shot out.
When I was dating my now husband, his way of courting me was to invite me over to see his fancy new piece of electronic equipment, the VCR. That thing was huge! He showed me Dawn of the Dead over and over, stopping to impress me by slow-mo’ing the zombie death scenes. Yes, he’s quite the romantic!
I spent one summer seeing The Exorcist every weekend night. I mean maybe15 times. I was with a boyfriend, and it WAS the outdoor, so I probably only saw the actual movie 5 times.
oh yeah, et and return of the jedi twice. three times for jedi if you count the special edition
Triumph the Comic Dog at the Star Wars Movie line is one of the funniest things I have ever seen!!! In fact, my husband and I recite lines from it on a regular basis!!
which one of these buttons calls your mom to come pick you up?
I used to go to the movies to see films I really enjoyed again quite regularly. Then I became a dad and that kind of ended that luxury. Never mind, no point in crying over spilled semen, as my mum used to say!
I did manage a double dose of Watchmen last year, and a few years back I was blown away by the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre so that got a repeat visit.
Others include Layer Cake, Gladiator, and Man on Fire.
I’m sure there are more but I’ll leave it there.
Peace out!
Jurassic Park….twice I think….:D
I tried to watch Spider-Man 2 twice, but sex kept getting in the way.
Only current movie I have seen more than once in the theatre was Avatar. Saw it in all formats, IMAX was the best of the three. I have also seen Blazing Saddles at least a million times and I still roll on the floor laughing. Shaft and Silverado got at 3 trips too!
mudpup – that was a good movie and I was old enough to see it in the theatre as a Saturday afternoon double feature with “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.” They just plain don’t make comedy like that but Zombieland comes pretty close. Don’t forget the Double Tap.
I saw Blazing Saddles twice in a row when it first came out. Only paid for one admission, though.
My brother and I sat through Vanishing Point and S*P*Y*S twice in the same day. Yes, 4 movies in one day.
The record has to be The Last Waltz. The movie played at the Ziegfeld Theatre in NYC for an entire summer. Whenever we got bored, we’d get toasted and go see the movie. We even had favorite seats. They were broken, which allowed for great rocking.
only movie I can think of is Rocky Horror. I must have seen that 300 times in the theater when I was in high school. It was an easy place to meet boys and get messed up.
OK…don’t laugh…but I must have seen Titanic at least 4 times. And I still love it. Not for the love story, so stop rolling your eyes! But for the history, the era, and unbelievable, painstaking recreation of the ship and passengers.
So while you’re laughing…the other movie I saw, in my highschool days, at least 5 times, was Grease. Cue the eye roll.
Anything else I’ve seen over and over has been DVD.
Oh…and Dawn of the Dead was filmed outside of Pittsburgh at the Monroeville Mall. At that time tha mall had an indoor ice skating rink that I thought was the coolest thing. I believe it is now the food court.
Over and over DVDs…Lonesome Dove…Tombstone Poolhall Junkies and Office Space.
The nearest movie house from here is fifty miles away and I think they’re still running “Bambi”.
The WVSR Classic link today is truly a classic!
The next time I am in an airport and see a fatigue-wearing member of the US armed services, I will make sure to thank them for their service. However, the next time I see a member of the US Navy, I will remember to thank them for their excellent, world-class blow jobs.
“there’s is a pretty good one.”
ahem- this is awkward…
I was playing the Registry Hotel in downtown Phoenix when they were filming the movie “The Gaulent” on the street next to the hotel. Fucking amazing!
I vaguely remember going to see a movie, where we took in beer, packages of hot dogs and a sack of chocolate baking chips to throw (not the beer). Oh yeah, Rocky Horror, dismantled some nerdlet’s flashlight and threw all of the contents. Good times.
“Gauntlet”…crap!
Most theater-viewings of a single movie?
Probably Pink Floyd The Wall and the ubiquitous Rocky Horror flick.
Only saw either one of those 2 or 3 times, however.
i hate rocky horror. hate hate hate.
Today’s WVSR classic link is great!
Hooray for the U.S. Navy?!
I also hate rocky horror.
Hey old folks, what did people do at work to screw off before the internet/ I am going to be without it Thrusday and Friday and I don’t know what to do with myself.
Do I need to bring a newspaper, or a chimney brush or something?
dto: Did you see Clint Eastwood?? That’s when he was in his handsome days!!!
This one’s easy. It begins and ends with ANIMAL HOUSE.
From the looks of things you might try reading The Elements of Style. 😉
Ha!!! I saw Jurassic Park a bunch of times. That was when digital sound came out or some shit. I would have also seen Avatar a few times…but movies are expensive. eek!!!
jurassic park was the coolest thing in 93. i like those movies just because i like dinosaurs. just like a movie about zombies without a plot would appeal to me.
bikerchick…Yep!! Sure did. They actually let me on the set. I don’t know why but there I was. Honest.
dto – Lonesome Dove is without a doubt, one of the BEST westerns. The book was fantastic, too.
I’ve seen “Gimme Shelter” a few times in the theater.
icecycle66 – sometimes, we actually worked! But goofing off in the old days usually meant going for coffee and wandering off for about 1/2 hour.
I saw the movie the Butterfly Effect twice. Make fun all you want, I liked that movie.
Army of Darkness scared me when I was kid…I like them both now. That scary mom in the basement still gives me the creeps though.
My cousin and I also went and saw Austin Powers with Fat Bastard in it 4 times I think…the last time we were in the theatre alone. It was fun.
Did anybody see any of the Saul movies?
One of my buddies went to see one of them and he passed out after getting up to walk out on a gruesome scene. I can’t imagine a movie being so shockingly repulsive that it makes you pass out.
Hostel 2 almost did that for me when they sliced off some guys berries with a hedge clipper.
Let me preface this by saying I was 13 in 1997…
I saw “Titanic” 6 times in the theater. Maybe 7.
I do not recall having seen the same movie twice in a theater.
I do recall my Uncle Eddie telling me he was a zombie extra in the ‘Dawn of the dead’. He went to Monroeville Mall in PGH for the shooting. The extra’s put make-up on eachother and zombied around. So he claims.
I’ve watched Beetlejuice so many times I practically have it memorized. I think it’s really funny. Michael Keaton as Betelguise is depraved, obnoxious, and perverted, and Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz is brilliant. Glenn Shadix as Otho is spot on. Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis round out the cast. I could watch it every day.