"Going to the Movies"
Funny Stories
Introduction
The old, giant street movie theaters, well, they are gone. We have welcomed the multiplex, the dolby-stereo, digital cinema, mountains of popcorn and rivers of soda. Personally, all I need is a box of Mentos.My brothers and I had loved the matinees, the Disney films and classic animations. It was always a large group of friends marching downtown, to the movie theater.
I don´t remember what my first movie was, probably Disney´s “Fantasy”. I do remember the classics like “Snow White”, “Pinocquio”, “Bambi”, and the french “Asterix”– I was a great fan of Goscinny and Uderzo´s graphic novels.
Chapter One: The Travolta NightmareWhen I was a teenage, I had this girlfriend that was crazy about John Travolta. She used to make albums of Travolta´s magazine photos and articles. So, to bound, I started my own collection – that album may still exist, though I haven´t see it in years.
At the opening of the most awaited “Saturday Night Fever” movie– it was summer – we faced long lines to watch Travolta in his tight white suit. It was a very adult film and I was properly shocked by some spicy scenes. The OST was an instant hit, and everybody was dancing with one arm pointing to the sky.
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Travolta was god! Every smart girl was in love with his blue eyes and big teeth.
Without the internet´s amusement – it was that 70´s days! - we had to wait patiently for his next movie. The expectation was great, and nobody was disappointed with Travolta´s new blockbuster – “Grease”.
Grease was so funny, and romantic, and I totally had identified myself with Olivia Newton-John´s soft, candid character. Finally I could make a well deserved scrapbook, like a true fan.
But...no love lasts forever, or at least a heart can be broken by a bad film.What a nightmare! Imagine the terror of watching the worst movie ever – twice in a roll. All because of that silly friend that loved blindly this hollywood star, formely known as “the bubble boy”. In the middle of the second section of “Moment by Moment”, I had a terrible stomach ache. That night almost destroyed my love for the cinema.
Worst experience I´d have years later, with Prince´s “Purple Rain”. But that´s another story...
{ Based on actual events, The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976)
became part of another true-life tragedy when John Travolta's lover, Diana Hyland, who won an Emmy for her portrayal of his mother, died of cancer within a year of its release. The role of a teenager born with an acute immunity deficiency was something of a risk for Travolta, who was then cutting a dash as Vinnie Barbarino in the sitcom, Welcome Back, Kotter. But his combination of courage and vulnerability does him credit, while Randal Kleiser (who would direct him in Grease) avoids undue schmaltz in depicting his relationship with neighbour Glynnis O'Connor.}
