Firstly, I found these pictures.
This is me holding the block of wood with my number in line for the Phantom Menace on it. We were 43rd in line or something. This is the night before the night the movie came out. I slept in the parking lot that night, but my roommate Curtis stayed in line the whole next day for us. (Don't worry, I brought him an egg salad sandwich to eat for lunch).
And this is me the night that the movie opened. We didn't make it into the midnight show, but I got tickets to see it twice during opening day.
Lastly, here's the Phantom Menace memories of my buddy Josh. Josh was a New Yorker for a while, but now he's a DC'er. He's famous in his own right, but his wife Naomi has this blog that's an absolute internet sensation. Presently she's been posting people's lists of the 10 Things that Make Them Happy. I don't know what my whole ten are, but I do know that on my list you'll find "The second of silence between the 20th Century Fox fanfare and the Star Wars theme." Holy smokes, goosebumps right now just thinking about it.
Josh wanted to have a lot of links in his Phantom Menace memory. Mission accomplished, dude:
10 years is a long time, but I remember there being so much hype and anticipation built up for the release of Episode 1: Phantom Menace. This probably had to do with the incredible amount of advertising for the new Star Wars movie. There was a Superbowl commercial, Pizza Hut/Taco Bell/KFC cups and collectible toys , Pepsi commercials starring an alien named Marfalump, and of course the usual posters, billboards, cardboard cut-outs, and tee shirts.
Looking back, I ask myself what was different about this, since there's always hype with each block buster that comes out. And then I remember how exciting is was to have something that had only been watched in people's living rooms on 10-year-old VHS tapes come to the big screen...and how exciting it was to realize that there were actually millions of OTHER people who got goosebumps when they heard the opening Star Wars theme and remained equally enthralled with each character's successive Wagnerian leitmotif. Truly, the release of Episode I was a unifying experience for the world, full of joy and new hope, much like Luke was for his far-away galaxy in Episode IV.
Lastly, I poignantly recall that Natalie Portman was an extremely hot and deeply sexy queen.
And althought this comedy sketch by Triumph the Insult Comic Dog on Conan O'Brian came a little later, it brings back fond memories of Star Wars debuts.
Okay, so that's the end to the series of themed posts that you probably thought had ended.
...Unless anyone else has something to say.
2 comments:
I remember Curtis waiting in line for a week and then a movie theater south of Provo decided to show it opening night at the last minute. My roommates and I waited for 2 hours and got in the midnight showing... You were good to go with him...
Oh believe me, I remember that too.
And then you came over at nearly 3 in the morning to reassure me that it was great.
Memories.
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