Who's Your Movie Watchin' Daddy?

The year was 1981. The hostages in Iran were freed as Ronald reagan took the oath. Pope John Paul II was wounded by a gunman. A little network called MTV graced our sets for the first time, and Pacman mania was at full speed. A horse named Pleasant Colony won a little race called the Kentucky Derby. And, the greatest movie that would ever grace the silver screen premiered, changing my movie viewing life forever.

Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Indian Jones did it all...got the babes, whacked the bad guys, found the treasure, swung across ravines with his whip, whacked more bad guys, taught a little school, took on the Nazis, traveled across the sea on the outside of a submarine, faced a gazillion snakes, and whacked even more bad guys...all in 115 minutes.

I first saw it at a drive in movie with my parents. The first feature was an all-time classic: Popeye, starring Robin Williams, and Shelley Duvall as the beautiful Olive Oyle. I believe it was overlooked at the Academy Awards for political reasons. (I jest. I hate that movie.)

After filling my belly with snuck in snacks ("frugal" parents...instead of movie popcorn, I got generic pretzels...) , the screen lit up with the opening moments of this classic. A non-descript man in a fedora walking thru the forest with some shirpas. What had I gotten myself into?

Oh, the impatience of a 16 year old. Had I waited another 5 minutes to pass judgement, I would have given it three thumbs up!

After that night, I saw the movie two more times at the Dayton Mall theater. Indoor theaters are always better than drive-ins (my Dad says it's because you can pick your own seat...then he laughs hysterically. Welcome to my childhood.). Then, after a several month run, it went away.

But then, a wonderful thing happened. The Dabel Theater, a couple blocks from my house, began running something new...second run features. For $1. And guess what the first movie shown was. RAIDERS! Oh...My...Gosh!

I saw that film 26 times while it ran there. 26 times. I even took my grandpa once to see it. He said it was too loud. I never took grandpa to another movie.

Why do I tell this story? No real reason, really. Just want to give you a glimpse of my childhood. None of that pesky excercise or playing outdoors for me...just alot of butt-n-the-seat movie goin'.

Oh yeah...the new Raiders movie comes out on May 22. The trailer is to the right. I got goose bumps just writing that.