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garyfritz
Joined: 08 Apr 2006 Posts: 12026 Location: Fort Collins, CO
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Link Posted: Thu May 25, 2017 4:36 pm Post subject: May the 40th be with you! |
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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... ) 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
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Link Posted: Thu May 25, 2017 5:23 pm Post subject: Re: May the 40th be with you! |
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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... ) 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 Forum Moderator
Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 26690 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Link Posted: Thu May 25, 2017 5:52 pm Post subject: |
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I was 4 years old. Had to beg my dad to go. He couldn't care less about movies. It corrupted me for life.
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.
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WanMan
Joined: 19 Mar 2006 Posts: 10273
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Link Posted: Thu May 25, 2017 8:06 pm Post subject: |
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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
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Link Posted: Thu May 25, 2017 11:41 pm Post subject: |
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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 Forum Moderator
Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 26690 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Link Posted: Fri May 26, 2017 2:26 am Post subject: |
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Now watching it again for the 6xx'th time
Original unmolested edition.
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garyfritz
Joined: 08 Apr 2006 Posts: 12026 Location: Fort Collins, CO
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Link Posted: Fri May 26, 2017 3:21 am Post subject: |
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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......
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AnalogRocks Forum Moderator
Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 26690 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Link Posted: Fri May 26, 2017 4:24 am Post subject: |
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40 years later and still love that film!
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garyfritz
Joined: 08 Apr 2006 Posts: 12026 Location: Fort Collins, CO
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Link Posted: Fri May 26, 2017 10:12 pm Post subject: |
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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...... |
Case in point... I had to look it up to remember the title of "the first Indiana Jones" ... eek
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AnalogRocks Forum Moderator
Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 26690 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Link Posted: Fri May 26, 2017 10:35 pm Post subject: |
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garyfritz wrote: | You mean Raiders? |
Nope I was still talking about the original Star Wars.
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kal Forum Administrator
Joined: 06 Mar 2006 Posts: 17860 Location: Ottawa, Canada
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AnalogRocks Forum Moderator
Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 26690 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Link Posted: Sat May 27, 2017 3:48 am Post subject: |
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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 Posts: 8990 Location: Colorado
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Link Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2017 8:12 pm Post subject: |
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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 Posts: 12026 Location: Fort Collins, CO
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Link Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2017 10:15 pm Post subject: |
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The room is still there but the beads &etc are long gone, along with the beader.
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 Forum Moderator
Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 26690 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Link Posted: Sat Jun 10, 2017 12:10 am Post subject: |
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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 Posts: 8990 Location: Colorado
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Link Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2017 5:44 pm Post subject: |
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garyfritz wrote: | The room is still there but the beads &etc are long gone, along with the beader.
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: 12026 Location: Fort Collins, CO
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Link Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2017 5:07 am Post subject: |
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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
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Link Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2017 7:46 pm Post subject: |
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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?
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garyfritz
Joined: 08 Apr 2006 Posts: 12026 Location: Fort Collins, CO
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Link Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2017 4:17 am Post subject: |
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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 Posts: 8
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Link Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2017 2:10 pm Post subject: |
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I can't wait to watch Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
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