So, today is my 22nd birthday, and I thought I would mark it by taking a look back at some of the films I have seen for my birthday. The only thing I ever wanted to do from a very young age to celebrate my birthday was go to the cinema, but the films I’ve seen to commemorate my passage from young awkward boy to young awkward man are an odd bunch of mainly awful blimps on the screen. I blame this on the time of year – by the time October comes around, there are none of the award grabbers or the blockbusters, just the waifs and strays. I’ve been looking for a film to go and see for my birthday this year and have found myself at a complete stand still, there is nothing I want to see.
For my 9th, I was welcoming in the new Region 1 DVD player my father had procured, and was bought Lost In Space to watch with friends. I don’t think I’ve watched it again since. My overwhelming memory of the film is Matt Le Blanc being a prat and drawing Bugs Bunny on a steamy window, and being in love with the CGI creation, I think it’s name was Binky? Since seeing that movie, when reading the Harry Potter novels, all I could see when Dobby was on the page was Binky. I was most disappointed when the film came out and he looked nothing like that.
For my 11th birthday, I forced my father and best friend to come with me to see that marvellous film, The Nutty Professor 2: The Klumps. My main reason for wanting to see it? I really liked the Janet Jackson song that accompanied it. The main excitement factor for me in seeing the film was that the film was a 12 certificate (remember those?!) and I was 11. Oh, what larks.
For my 12th, I had apparently garnered an interest in actual decent cinema (well, at least a step up from an Eddie Murphy film), and forced both my parents to take me to see Spielberg’s A.I. My parents have never quite forgiven me, and all I remember is being absolutely petrified at the time. Haley Joel Osment is terrifying to an impressionable young child. It struck me recently that the main reason I wanted to see it may not have been the desperate need to see Kubrick through the eyes of Spielberg, but that I had recently developed somewhat of a crush on Jude Law. Oh, to be a 12 year old again, and find a receding hairline and a penchant for nannies attractive.
Fast forward to my 17th birthday, and my best friend took me to see The Devil Wears Prada, possibly the only film I have ever seen on my birthday which I do not look back on and cringe. What is most surprising to me, however, is the fact that the friend who took me to see this did not know I was gay. No-one did. How that one passed by, I will never know. Or did every 17 year old boy have a longing to go and see Meryl Streep play the bitch editor of a fashion magazine?
Those are the films which I definitely remember seeing. There are vague memories of others – a Disney here and there, but in recent years, I’ve found the offerings on my birthday to be pretty sub-par. Perhaps it’s not that, though. Perhaps it’s the fact that more often than not, now, I’m paying for my own ticket, and am much more picky in what I actually go and see. I’ve an overwhelming urge to move this article into a rant over the rising costs for cinemagoers, but that’s a well-worn topic.
What I find interesting when I look over these films is the sheer range of films I’ve thought it necessary to see in a cinema. Even from a young age, it’s become apparent to me, I was reaching out to see as much as I could. How many 12 year olds would beg their parents to see A.I, albeit for slightly bizarre reasons? This year, I imagine I’ll be settling down with my other half to watch an old favourite – I’ve got a selection ready already, including Fried Green Tomatoes, Pretty In Pink, A Single Man and Alfie (never did quite shake that Jude Law thing…). These are all comfortable movies for me, movies I’ve seen a thousand times over and will see a thousand times again.
Am I becoming too comfortable in my movie-viewing habits? Is that necessarily a bad thing? Perhaps I’ll toddle off to the local indie cinema tomorrow and see what’s on offer. Hopefully I’ll be pleasantly surprised. Who knows, there might even be a celebratory showing of The Nutty Professor 2 in honour of my birthday…
bywayofthegreenlinebus 