Q:
IF YOU COULD ATTEND THE PREMIERE OF ANY FILM, PAST, PRESENT, OR FUTURE, WHICH WOULD IT BE AND WHY?
A:
Tough one. I’d probably say I would have loved to be at the premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring with all of the folks who worked on it. I had the pleasure of spending more than seven hours interviewing the cast and crew of The Return of the King, and I think it would have been very special to be in their midst when they saw the fruit of all their labors on the big screen for the first time.
But I would also have enjoyed being in the audience for the first screening of Wings of Desire. I’ll be that theatre was silent and filled with awe.
The premiere of The Muppet Movie would have been fantastic, with all of those stars, and the Henson/Oz team being celebrated as heroes.
I have a hard time imagining what the first screening of Star Wars did to its audience.
I have vivid memories of many press screenings and opening days. Paul Thomas Anderson and Adam Sandler sat right behind me for the Seattle press screening of Punch-drunk Love at Seattle’s Cinerama, which was an unforgettable event.
Good question.
•
Q:
I REMEMBER WATCHING THE KEVIN SMITH FILM “DOGMA” MY FRESHMAN YEAR IN COLLEGE AND BEING IN TEARS AT THE END FROM THE GRACE-FILLED (ALBEIT NOT WHOLLY THEOLOGICAL) MESSAGE. WHAT FILMS HAVE REVEALED GOD TO YOU IN SURPRISING WAYS?
A:
Wings of Desire
Three Colors: Blue
Babette’s Feast
The Double Life of Veronique
Ordet
The New World
The Son (Le Fils)
Amadeus
Would you believe… The Muppet Movie?
Just to name a few.
I say a lot more about all of these in Through a Screen Darkly. That’s why it’s called “a memoir of dangerous moviegoing.” It’s about how cinema can illuminate and change your life if you’re not careful.