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May the 40th be with you!
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garyfritz




Joined: 08 Apr 2006
Posts: 12024
Location: Fort Collins, CO


PostLink    Posted: Thu May 25, 2017 4:36 pm    Post subject: May the 40th be with you! Reply with quote


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Wow. Star Wars premiered 40 years ago today.

I still remember going to see it, at the biggest/best theater within 200 miles -- the River Hills Cinerama theater in Des Moines, Iowa, which was one of only 43 theaters in the country screening the movie on opening weekend. (I didn't realize that only 32 theaters premiered it on the 25th, and the Des Moines theater started showing it on Friday the 27th -- so I guess it isn't quite "my" 40th yet.) We got there almost two hours early, but the line was already so long that we couldn't get into the first showing. When the earlybirds got in, we were waiting in line inside the theater lobby, and every once in a while somebody would come out of the SW showing and we could see the action on screen -- we kept getting more and more wound up and excited. Finally we got into the theater, and the movie started -- with the blast of John Williams' theme and the big STAR WARS title -- and I said in a hushed voice "Oh I'm gonna LIKE this movie..."

I was a totally broke 20-yr-old college student. I hadn't paid to see many movies in high school. I had NEVER paid to see a movie more than once. And that spring and summer I went to see Star Wars SEVENTEEN TIMES. (About half the time in an "altered" state... Laughing) It was just that amazing compared to anything before. 2001 was also amazing, but it wasn't so viscerally engaging and so damn much fun.

It was cheesy and ridiculous, and I loved it. Star Wars was a huge part of my coming-of-age time. Lucas has desecrated a of of the canon, but I'm still glad Star Wars is still such a beloved story.

Great background on the Star Wars release: http://www.in70mm.com/news/2003/star_wars/
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jbmeyer13




Joined: 03 Dec 2010
Posts: 1135



PostLink    Posted: Thu May 25, 2017 5:23 pm    Post subject: Re: May the 40th be with you! Reply with quote

garyfritz wrote:
Wow. Star Wars premiered 40 years ago today.

I still remember going to see it, at the biggest/best theater within 200 miles -- the River Hills Cinerama theater in Des Moines, Iowa, which was one of only 43 theaters in the country screening the movie on opening weekend. (I didn't realize that only 32 theaters premiered it on the 25th, and the Des Moines theater started showing it on Friday the 27th -- so I guess it isn't quite "my" 40th yet.) We got there almost two hours early, but the line was already so long that we couldn't get into the first showing. When the earlybirds got in, we were waiting in line inside the theater lobby, and every once in a while somebody would come out of the SW showing and we could see the action on screen -- we kept getting more and more wound up and excited. Finally we got into the theater, and the movie started -- with the blast of John Williams' theme and the big STAR WARS title -- and I said in a hushed voice "Oh I'm gonna LIKE this movie..."

I was a totally broke 20-yr-old college student. I hadn't paid to see many movies in high school. I had NEVER paid to see a movie more than once. And that spring and summer I went to see Star Wars SEVENTEEN TIMES. (About half the time in an "altered" state... Laughing) It was just that amazing compared to anything before. 2001 was also amazing, but it wasn't so viscerally engaging and so damn much fun.

It was cheesy and ridiculous, and I loved it. Star Wars was a huge part of my coming-of-age time. Lucas has desecrated a of of the canon, but I'm still glad Star Wars is still such a beloved story.

Great background on the Star Wars release: http://www.in70mm.com/news/2003/star_wars/


Thanks for that link Gary! That looks like quite an interesting site to navigate in general. God, what I would pay to see the original films in 70mm. I first saw Star Wars in the spring of '79 and the original trilogy was perhaps the most indelible influence on my chldhood.

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AnalogRocks
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Joined: 08 Mar 2006
Posts: 26690
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

TV/Projector: Sony 1252Q, AMPRO 4000G


PostLink    Posted: Thu May 25, 2017 5:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was 4 years old. Had to beg my dad to go. He couldn't care less about movies. It corrupted me for life. Very Happy
I peaked at the show before ours. X-wings and TIE fighters flying down that trench. My eyes got real big. I wanted to run into the theater.
They had to hold me back. lol


Since then I've seen it over 600 times. I'm thinking I should watch it today. Thumbs Up

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WanMan




Joined: 19 Mar 2006
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PostLink    Posted: Thu May 25, 2017 8:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yep, life would be a lot more boring without the SW universe. Of course there are other franchises, but this one seems to last very well.
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cmjohnson




Joined: 03 Apr 2006
Posts: 5180
Location: Buried under G90s


PostLink    Posted: Thu May 25, 2017 11:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The theatre I saw it in back in '77 still exists but today it has four screens. Back then it was a SINGLE. In the same floor space.

That's a trifle misleading, because it was a twin cinema for many years. The new owners shortened both rooms, installed short
throw projectors, and got four rooms in a 2x2 configuration. Screen width is still the same as when it was a twin, but the rooms are shorter now.

Needless to say, back when it was a single room theatre, that was a HUGE screen. Still to this day the largest screen in any theater I've ever been to short of a full-blown IMAX theatre.

Star Wars (original) had an excitement to it that I don't think I've ever felt again with any other movie.
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AnalogRocks
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PostLink    Posted: Fri May 26, 2017 2:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Now watching it again for the 6xx'th time Very Happy

Original unmolested edition. Thumbs Up

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garyfritz




Joined: 08 Apr 2006
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PostLink    Posted: Fri May 26, 2017 3:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

cmjohnson wrote:
That's a trifle misleading, because it was a twin cinema for many years.

Yeah, the theater I saw it at was kinda like that too. It was "a rare example of two theaters, in the same building, which operated under different names; and not as a twin." 1300 seats, HUGE screens.

Quote:
Star Wars (original) had an excitement to it that I don't think I've ever felt again with any other movie.

I remember coming out of the first Indiana Jones and saying "The only thing I didn't LOVE about that movie was that I can never see it again for the first time!!" But the way my memory's going these days, maybe I can...... Laughing
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AnalogRocks
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PostLink    Posted: Fri May 26, 2017 4:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

40 years later and still love that film!
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garyfritz




Joined: 08 Apr 2006
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PostLink    Posted: Fri May 26, 2017 10:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You mean Raiders? It came out in 1981 so not quite 40 yet.

Damn I haven't watched that thing in YEARS. As soon as my remodel project is done, I plan to spin up the theater again. That one's gotta be on the playlist.

Quote:
I remember coming out of the first Indiana Jones and saying "The only thing I didn't LOVE about that movie was that I can never see it again for the first time!!" But the way my memory's going these days, maybe I can...... Laughing

Case in point... I had to look it up to remember the title of "the first Indiana Jones" ... eek Shocked
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AnalogRocks
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PostLink    Posted: Fri May 26, 2017 10:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

garyfritz wrote:
You mean Raiders? Shocked


Nope I was still talking about the original Star Wars.

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kal
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PostLink    Posted: Sat May 27, 2017 12:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

AnalogRocks wrote:
It corrupted me for life. Very Happy

Me too - I was 8 years old at the time. In all seriousness it's why you guys are able to sit here and type stuff about home theater. It's what changed me. I was hooked!

Kal

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AnalogRocks
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PostLink    Posted: Sat May 27, 2017 3:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Do any of you guys remember a toy that projected a grid on the wall that you could shoot at. Like the scene where Han and Luke are fighting the Tie fighters from the gunners seats on the 'Falcon?
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draganm




Joined: 08 Mar 2006
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PostLink    Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2017 8:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

garyfritz wrote:
Damn I haven't watched that thing in YEARS. As soon as my remodel project is done, I plan to spin up the theater again. That one's gotta be on the playlist.

remodel? do tell
Did you change the theater? I'm guessing the sewing room/beading room is gone?
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garyfritz




Joined: 08 Apr 2006
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PostLink    Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2017 10:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The room is still there but the beads &etc are long gone, along with the beader. Laughing

No change to the theater itself. But for the last couple of years I've been renting out the walkout basement to a housemate -- it has its own little kitchen and everything. The stairway was open with no door separating the "apartment" down there, and I had to walk through my housemate's living room to get to the theater. That was awkward so I haven't been using it much. So while I'm at it, we built a door down there -- and extended a little "hall" from the bottom of the stairs to the theater entrance so now the theater is in "my" space. So I'll probably use it a lot more.

Other than that, the remodel is from the ground floor up. The house is 26 yrs old, and all the carpet, paint, appliances, etc were all original. So on the main and upper level, paint/carpet/tile everywhere, new granite & appliances in the kitchen, refinish kitchen floor, some minor structural changes, stone facing & hearth on the fireplace, and then we also gutted and re-built the master bathroom upstairs. It's been a project -- for various reasons it went a lot slower/longer than it was supposed to (don't they always??) and it's damn near a freaking YEAR since we started. But next Monday the carpet goes in, and then it will be 98% done and I can finally live in my house again (as opposed to everything being crammed into two bedrooms).
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AnalogRocks
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PostLink    Posted: Sat Jun 10, 2017 12:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

garyfritz wrote:
It's been a project -- for various reasons it went a lot slower/longer than it was supposed to (don't they always??) and it's damn near a freaking YEAR since we started.


Ohh yeah, sure do!

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draganm




Joined: 08 Mar 2006
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PostLink    Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2017 5:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

garyfritz wrote:
The room is still there but the beads &etc are long gone, along with the beader. Laughing
Other than that, the remodel is from the ground floor up. The house is 26 yrs old, and all the carpet, paint, appliances, etc were all original. So on the main and upper level, paint/carpet/tile everywhere, new granite & appliances in the kitchen, refinish kitchen floor, some minor structural changes, stone facing & hearth on the fireplace, and then we also gutted and re-built the master bathroom upstairs. It's been a project -- for various reasons it went a lot slower/longer than it was supposed to (don't they always??) and it's damn near a freaking YEAR since we started. But next Monday the carpet goes in, and then it will be 98% done and I can finally live in my house again (as opposed to everything being crammed into two bedrooms).
wow that sounds expensive, we looked at adding 1 bdrm and 1 half-bath to finish off our basement, involved moving the washer/dryer and some floor cutting, but got estimates from $17K to $26K uggghh

Anyway, I bet it feels good to get it all done, and congrats on finding a new route back to the HT . I looked at mine this weekend and it's looking really old, dated, and worst of all dirty with a thick layer of dust on everything. Had to spend last 2 days cutting back trees that were either dead or rubbing on the house but a general HT clean-up is on my list and maybe some minor new things like commercial sound panels that aren't a fire-trap like the ones I made and covered in Burlap.

Really we need to move, but I'm sick of even hearing myself talk about it
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garyfritz




Joined: 08 Apr 2006
Posts: 12024
Location: Fort Collins, CO


PostLink    Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2017 5:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

draganm wrote:
wow that sounds expensive, we looked at adding 1 bdrm and 1 half-bath to finish off our basement, involved moving the washer/dryer and some floor cutting, but got estimates from $17K to $26K uggghh

uggghh is right!! Good God, when we finished off the rest of our basement (2 bedrooms, the HT, big open living-room area, almost 1000 sq ft of finished space) most quotes were in the mid/high 20's but we picked somebody who came in about $18k. That was 10+ years ago, and there was no plumbing involved, but geeze...

This project was about 3-4x that much. But the house was getting pretty worn and ratty-looking. I had 2 appraisers and a realtor tell me the upgrades will fix the value-killing negatives of the old/grubby/dated interior, and because of that they say I'll get back more than I put into it. So I consider it an investment.
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draganm




Joined: 08 Mar 2006
Posts: 8990
Location: Colorado


PostLink    Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2017 7:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

garyfritz wrote:
This project was about 3-4x that much. But the house was getting pretty worn and ratty-looking. I had 2 appraisers and a realtor tell me the upgrades will fix the value-killing negatives of the old/grubby/dated interior, and because of that they say I'll get back more than I put into it. So I consider it an investment.

yeah it's that last part that's always a gamble. Right now the market is bloated here like never before, crazy home prices. If that drops, then any investment like home upgrades might not pay off.
Adding a bdrm and bath would make our house a 4bdm, would probably get the $16K back, or most of it, Definitely not the 26k
Really, we need to move, but if we do that, I want to leave the front range entirely. Quality of life here has gone to sh*t, feels a lot like AZ when I finally escaped from there.
This morning as I was driving into Boulder, Dirty brown skies, fracking wells, nasty traffic with lots of heavy trucks, and a sign "
Quote:
new homes starting in high 400"s

Who the f*ck is stupid enough to be paying that? Someone is, can't all be people who came here to smoke pot? Sad
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garyfritz




Joined: 08 Apr 2006
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Location: Fort Collins, CO


PostLink    Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2017 4:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

draganm wrote:
yeah it's that last part that's always a gamble. Right now the market is bloated here like never before, crazy home prices. If that drops, then any investment like home upgrades might not pay off.

Truth. And my house is towards the higher end of the range for this area, and that's the softest/squishiest segment. If I was smart I would sell now. But damn, I like living here...
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DarkKnight83




Joined: 05 Jun 2017
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PostLink    Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2017 2:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can't wait to watch Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
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