Celluloid Memories: An essay on movies -Jeremiah

I can remember the first scene of a movie I saw in theaters, the very first one. Is that weird? My earliest celluloid memory, you could call it. It's a close up of a pair of hands emptying a case of shotgun cartridges into the palm of their hands and then loading the shotgun. It took me years to find that scene; I found it about 10 years ago. It's from Disney's "The Fox and the Hound".

You're probably wondering why I'm telling you this, and you'd be right to think the thought. I'm telling you this to demonstrate to you how much I love movies. I love them. They invade my thoughts and dreams. In fact you could say my life is watermarked by these "celluloid memories". I remember things by the movie I was watching, on my way to watch, or talking about. Like some people need to breathe, I need movies.

Hi, my name is Jeremiah Sherman, one part of the Three Geek Review group. This is basically my way of introducing myself to you. For those of you who do not want to get too personal and just wish to read my reviews, I say: how can you? Movies are personal. They are, by their very nature, an art form. To put a finer point on it, a subjective art form.

There are very few movies that are factually good. There are movies that are considered by a vast majority to be great, but even those have dissenters. To know a reviewer is to understand how they come at movies.

What I love about movies is the fact that they perpetuate understanding. When you talk about what movie you saw with a friend or co-worker, you are trying to make yourself understood or, if both of you have seen the same movie and are at an impasse, trying to reach an understanding with each other.

When you tell someone your favorite movie, or your favorite actor/actress, you have given up a piece of yourself to be understood intrinsically. Too deep? Am I overreaching, do you think? It's how I am. To me movies can be philosophical, as can the discussion of movies, even so far as what you are saying about yourself or a belief you have.

Have you got the point yet? I love movies. Where the love started or where it came from, I can not say for sure. Maybe it came from the Disney Channel, who used to play old Disney movies all those years ago. Maybe it came from my mother dropping me off at Noland Fashion Square Theater for the afternoon, while she cleaned houses. Possibly it came from us not being rich and if we couldn't afford camping, bowling, we could usually afford the dollar show in Independence Square. The fact that my father used to take me to movies when I spent the weekend with him, might have had something to do with it. Who knows? All I know, is that of all the people who took me to the movies, none of them enjoyed it as much as I did.

You could ask, why I love movies so much? I wish I had a ten word answer, but I don't. I love watching those larger than life images flick across the screen at 24 frames per second. I love gasping, crying, laughing, screaming, or applauding with a group of my friends. For me, a good movie -- I mean a great movie -- is akin to a religious experience.

A movie theater to me is much like a church. I hold it in the same reverence as a church goer holds a cathedral. I love sitting in the blackness and letting the film envelop me. I love the communal sharing of a cinematic experience. I don't mind going alone, I've gone solo often times, but it never holds a candle to when I go with friends.

I love how some directors will push the camera so close to an actors or actresses face as to allow me to study them. I love being manipulated by a musical score. I love watching a camera zoom in or out. What can I say? The Cinema and I are in it for the long haul. 'Til Death To Us Part. I hope to have many more "celluloid memories", and I hope you will let me share them with you.


Yours Until Hell Freezes Over,

Jeremiah