ADRIAN MA, HOST:
For a certain kind of film buff - or maybe they prefer to be called cinephiles - there's just nothing better than seeing a movie on the big screen, in a movie theater, and they will insist that there are just some movies that should only be seen in a theater. Think big-budget Hollywood epics like "Lawrence Of Arabia"...
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "LAWRENCE OF ARABIA")
PETER O'TOOLE: (As T.E. Lawrence) No prisoners. No prisoners.
MA: ...Or "Titanic"...
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TITANIC")
LEONARDO DICAPRIO: (As Jack Dawson) I'm the king of the world. Whoo.
MA: ...Or "The Matrix."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE MATRIX")
LAURENCE FISHBURNE: (As Morpheus) The matrix is everywhere. It is all around us.
MA: But the good news is that all around us, it seems, multiplexes are bringing back films into theaters, giving cinephiles a chance to see some of those old classics on the big screen. For example, this month, Regal Cinema here in D.C. is showing the 1959 religious epic "Ben-Hur," a 1973 crime caper, "The Sting," and the Coen brothers' "No Country For Old Men," among a lot of others.
So it seems like these rereleases are becoming a way for studios to, you know, sort of pad out their release calendars and bank on the good old-fashioned nostalgia of the theater. And this got us interested in talking about some of our own memorable movie theater experiences and also some of the films we think you should see on the big screen. So to help us get into it, we're back with Stephen Thompson, host of Pop Culture Happy Hour. Thanks for doing this again.
STEPHEN THOMPSON, BYLINE: It's great to be here.
MA: And ALL THINGS CONSIDERED producer Mallory Yu.
MALLORY YU, BYLINE: Hey, Adrian.
MA: Thanks for being here, everybody. To start us off, could you each talk about the first movie you remember seeing on the big screen that really had a big effect on? Stephen, you want to go first?
THOMPSON: This is where we inadvertently give away our ages.
(LAUGHTER)
THOMPSON: I would say the first movie that I can think of that I remember really falling in love with on the big screen was probably "Back To The Future" in 1985, when I would have been 12 or 13, and 12 or 13 is a perfect time to experience that movie for the first time.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BACK TO THE FUTURE")
MICHAEL J FOX: (As Marty McFly) Wait a minute, Doc. Are you telling me that you built a time machine out of a DeLorean?
CHRISTOPHER LLOYD: (As Doc Brown) The way I see it, if you're gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it in some style?
THOMPSON: It definitely imprinted on me the experience, you know, seeing it on a big screen in this kind of communal environment and this very kind of exciting story really, really well told.
MA: I love it. Mallory, what about you?
YU: So, I saw Disney's "The Lion King" in theaters...
THOMPSON: Ooh.
YU: ...When I was 5 years old.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CIRCLE OF LIFE")
LEBO M: (Singing in Zulu).
YU: And it became my entire personality. Like, I still remember seeing the "I Just Can't Wait To Be King" song on the big screen.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I JUST CAN'T WAIT TO BE KING")
ROWAN ATKINSON: (As Zazu, singing) This child is getting wildly out of wing.
JASON WEAVER: (As Simba, singing) Oh, I just can't wait to be king.
YU: It just completely blew my tiny childhood mind away. But if we're talking about, like, being aware of the sheer spectacle and scale of what movies can do, I do have to go back to "Titanic," which we mentioned in the intro. It came out three years later, and I was maybe a tiny bit too young to have seen the movie. But I also vividly remember the Titanic breaking apart in front of me and just being awed by how big everything looked.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TITANIC")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) Iceberg, right ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) Hard to starboard.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) Hard to starboard.
YU: And I also remember the conversation around the movie, like, girls in my Chinese afterschool program talking about the romance or Leonardo DiCaprio. And maybe it's a cliche, but I'll never forget the experience of, like, leaving the theater into a bright, sunny afternoon day after having been, like, sobbing my eyes out over this, like, doomed romance.
MA: I mean, that kind of makes me think about one of my fondest movie theater memories. And I'm cheating a little bit with this response because this isn't the first movie I remember seeing, but it's one of my fondest. And I brought up "Zoolander" before on this segment.
(LAUGHTER)
MA: I've said before that...
THOMPSON: You have, just last week.
MA: ..."Zoolander" is my "Citizen Kane."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ZOOLANDER")
BEN STILLER: (As Derek Zoolander) Did you ever think that maybe there's more to life than being really, really, really, ridiculously good looking?
THOMPSON: I love that about you, Adrian.
YU: Incredible.
MA: So I'm just gonna keep the streak going and say that, like, the reason I remember it was, you know, "Zoolander" actually came out - I think it was a few weeks after 9/11. And I just remember, like, how morose everything felt. And I didn't know anything about the movie. And then I go into this theater with, like, you know, 100, 200 strangers. And for like an hour and a half, we're just, like, laughing our butts off in a room with each other. Stephen, why don't you pick up on this point? Like, is that still a good argument in our current age of movie theaters, right? Like, where you go and the tickets are so expensive.
THOMPSON: Sure.
MA: And they show you, like, half an hour of trailers. And then, like, people are actually on their phones in the theater, like, taking pictures...
YU: I know.
MA: ...Off the screen sometimes.
YU: We live in a society, people.
THOMPSON: I mean, look, the downside of seeing a movie in a theater is people. The upside of seeing a movie...
MA: It's people.
THOMPSON: ...In a theater is people.
MA: Yeah.
THOMPSON: And so you're going to get these kind of tradeoffs. I think theaters have gotten a little bit better about - especially if you see a movie at some place where they have kind of rigidly enforced rules around talking and texting. I haven't had too many terrible experiences in recent years at theaters. Though, obviously, anecdotes aren't data. I - you know, tons and tons and tons of people have had rough times at movie theaters. I still really enjoy it.
And I want to pick up on something Adrian said about comedies because I do think there is nothing quite like seeing a very, very, very funny movie in a room full of people who are enjoying it. You know, that "Naked Gun" reboot with Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson was the kind of experience watching it where it felt like the kind of movie that doesn't really get made anymore.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE NAKED GUN")
LIAM NEESON: (As Frank Drebin Jr.) Says you served 20 years for man's laughter. Must have been quite the joke.
THOMPSON: It's like 90 minutes long. It knows exactly what its assignment is, and its - that assignment is to dish out laugh after laugh after laugh.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE NAKED GUN")
CCH POUNDER: (As Chief Davis) You arrested the entire staff.
NEESON: (As Frank Drebin Jr.) I wasn't thinking clearly. I was furious about the Janet Jackson Super Bowl.
POUNDER: (As Chief Davis) That was 20 years ago.
NEESON: (As Frank Drebin Jr.) Not to me.
MA: To bring things back to where we started, we talked about how, you know, for certain movie fans, there are some movies that they would say can only be seen in the theaters, and I'm interested in what those movies are for you. And let's skip over the obvious ones - right? - like "Star Wars" or "Lord Of The Rings."
YU: Sure, sure.
MA: Surprise me.
YU: I think for me, a movie like Alex Garland's "Annihilation"...
THOMPSON: Oh, yeah.
YU: ...Which is about scientists investigating this mysterious shimmery phenomenon that appears on Earth.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ANNIHILATION")
BENEDICT WONG: (As Lomax) It came here for a reason. It was mutating our environment. It was destroying everything.
NATALIE PORTMAN: (As Lena) It wasn't destroying. It was changing everything.
YU: Seeing it on a big screen in the dark, it just feels like you're in the strange Shimmer with the characters.
MA: Yeah.
YU: And also that bear scream in surround sound...
THOMPSON: Oh, God.
YU: ...Is definitely one of the most chilling moments I've ever experienced in a theater. And for a complete tonal shift, Barry Jenkins' 2016 movie "Moonlight"...
THOMPSON: Oh.
YU: ...About a Black gay kid growing up...
MA: Oh, yeah.
YU: ...In Florida.
MA: Oh, yeah.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MOONLIGHT")
MAHERSHALA ALI: (As Juan) At some point, you got to decide for yourself who you're going to be. Can't let nobody make that decision for you.
YU: It's breathtaking wherever you watch it. But I'm so glad I saw it on a big screen because that movie is so quiet and so contemplative, and so much of the story is told in these minute expressions and the space between characters that the big screen really allows you to sink into that world and into that space. And the darkness of the movie helps the colors and Barry Jenkins' cinematography to really pop. It's gorgeous.
THOMPSON: So beautiful to look at. Strongly cosign both of those recommendations if you can see them on a big screen. I got to see both on a big screen and was so glad I did. I'm going to throw out the movie "Project Hail Mary"...
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "PROJECT HAIL MARY")
SANDRA HULLER: (As Eva Stratt) The sun is not the only star dying. Every star was infected by its neighbor, except one.
RYAN GOSLING: (As Ryland Grace) Why?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters) We don't know.
HULLER: (As Eva Stratt) Which is why we build a ship to go there and find out.
THOMPSON: ...Which is directed by Lord and Miller, who are known more for comedies. They're adapting a book by the guy who did "The Martian," and it's very much of a piece with "The Martian." It's kind of hard science fiction, starring Ryan Gosling. There are these beautiful, beautiful images of space and kind of imaginative depictions of other planets. It is so beautiful to look at. It's emotionally rich and resonant. This movie's gorgeous to experience on a really big screen, and I think people will love it.
MA: Thank you very much Stephen Thompson, host of Pop Culture Happy Hour, and ALL THINGS CONSIDERED producer Mallory Yu. Thanks, guys.
YU: Always a pleasure.
THOMPSON: Thank you, Adrian.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SIGN OF THE TIMES")
HARRY STYLES: (Singing) Just stop your crying. It's a sign of the times. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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