Movie – Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)

In the fall of 1982 I was a barely 18 year old incoming college Freshman.  The very first night all the students were there the drug dealer on our floor gathered all of us together in his room.  We shot the shit for a while then he whipped out some pot.  He’d let us smoke that night for free.  (All part of creating a market for his product – this was a business school after all).  None of us were brave enough to be the first to get up and walk out, but only one of us was weak enough to smoke his pot.  With his lack of success the dealer started badgering us all the next day about another party.  This time we knew it would be more of a hard sell and a bunch of us wanted no part of it.  We decided to get off campus that evening and in this small town about the only thing we could agree on was to see a movie.  Only one of us had a car so seven guys all piled into it.  The car could comfortably hold two and realistically hold four, but we made it there and back, although probably not legally.  The movie we decided to see was one none of us had heard of, but that looked like fun: Fast Times at Ridgemont High.  It was HUGE.  We talked about it all the way home and were still quoting it weeks later.

Movie – S.F.W. (1994)

The title “S.F.W.” stands for “so fucking what”, the unintended catchphrase of the main character of the film.  Obviously the studios couldn’t put the full title on posters, in print ads, or in TV trailers, so they abbreviated it, much like the more recent Canadian film YPF (2007) where the first two letters stood for “young people”.  S.F.W is a biting satire on the media and instant celebrity, as well as anticipating the rise of “reality” shows.  For 1994 it was WAY ahead of its time.  While I would not compare it to 1976’s Network in terms of quality, the two are certainly twins in how the things in the movies that appeared to be insanely over the top when they came out have come true in the years since then.  S.F.W. is also the first film in which I ever saw Reese Witherspoon and Tobey Maguire.

Movie – Something Wild (1986)

Something Wild holds a number of firsts for me.  It was the first movie in which I ever saw Jeff Daniels (Dumb & Dumber, Gettysburg), Melanie Griffith (Working Girl), and Ray Liotta (Goodfellas).  It was the first film directed by Jonathan Demme (The Silence of the Lambs) that I ever saw.  The film contained songs from a number of bands that I was hearing for the first time.  I can’t be positive, since it was more than 25 years ago, but I believe that this film is the first one for which I ever bought the CD soundtrack.  I still own it.  I took it off the shelf and I’m listening to it as I write this.

This film was not always easy to find.  It did get issued on DVD in the early days of the medium, but that disk went out of print.  Thankfully, Criterion recently bought the rights to the film and released it on both DVD and Blu-ray.  They also added a bunch of new content.  Even though I own the original DVD, it doesn’t have those extras on it so I have thought about getting the Criterion edition.

Movie – Mystic Pizza (1988)

Before Pretty Woman made her a household name, and before she got an Oscar nomination for Steel Magnolias, I first saw Julia Roberts flash her famous smile in 1988’s coming of age film Mystic Pizza.  And playing a younger brother in this movie was a seventeen year old Matt Damon in his big screen debut.  This film also features early performances by Lili Taylor, Annabeth Gish, and Vincent D’Onofrio.  Roger Ebert noted in his review that this film might one day be better remembered for the talent within it than for the movie itself.  I think he pretty much nailed that prediction.

Movie – Dead Again (1991)

It’s not too common for me to be completely blindsided by a reveal or twist in a movie when much of the action hinges on the fact that we don’t know yet what is going on.  Whether it’s because I subconsciously recognize little clues and hints, or whether it’s simply the sheer number of movies I’ve seen, I tend to correctly anticipate twists.  It’s a pleasure then when I encounter a movie with a twist that completely surprises me.  I love that.  Now imagine a movie with two huge twists, neither one of which I remotely saw coming.  Dead Again is that film.  (Don’t worry – I won’t be spoiling them in this post.)  It features great double mystery stories – a murder in the 1940s and an amnesiac woman in the present – and the possibility that the two are connected somehow.  This film is a psychological thriller with honest to God genuine goose bump raising moments.  It’s also the first movie in which I ever saw Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson, who play the double leads.

Movie – 2 Days in the Valley (1996)

After Pulp Fiction came out in 1994 any film that featured intersecting narratives got branded as a “ripoff” of “Tarantino’s idea”.  Of course, he was hardly the first person to use this story device in a film – watch Robert Altman’s 1975 film Nashville, 1992 film The Player, and 1993 film Short Cuts, for instance.  Usually any charges of a film being directly related to Pulp Fiction because of its story structure can be ignored, but in the case of 2 Days in the Valley that might actually be correct.  It came out only two years after Pulp Fiction – enough time to develop and shoot a film based on the popularity of another.  It features at least a dozen familiar faces playing characters in and around Los Angeles whose lives end up connecting over the course of 48 hours.  Among those faces is Charlize Theron.  Other than an uncredited appearance in a horror movie sequel, this was her first film role and also the first film in which I ever saw her.

Movie – The Night Before (1988)

Before he was an action star, before he was in the Bill & Ted movies, even before a key supporting turn in Dangerous Liaisons, I saw Keanu Reeves in the comedy The Night Before (not to be confused with 1986’s About Last Night.)  It was written and directed by Thom E. Eberhardt as his follow-up movie to 1984 cult classic Night of the Comet.  (You can read my review of that here.)  The Night Before has obvious influences from both Risky Business (1983) and Adventures in Babysitting (1987).  It has just as obviously influenced a whole bunch of later films from a low of Dude, Where’s My Car? (2000) to a high of The Hangover (2009).

Movie – Lone Star (1996)

Back in 1996 Lone Star was my first exposure to writer/director John Sayles.  Even though I had heard of some other films of his like The Brother from Another Planet (1984) and Eight Men Out (1988), I had not seen them.  (Still haven’t, actually.)  Sayles’ critics, much like Kevin Smith’s, complain that he is a better writer than he is a director.  I say give me an engaging story any day, rather than a bunch of “look at me, I’m an artiste!” camera movements.  In fact, the screenplay for Lone Star received numerous nominations, including ones for the WGAs, Golden Globes, BAFTAs, and Academy Awards.  This film also happens to be the first one in which I ever saw Matthew McConaughey.  It is a well-written story of parent/child relations, white, latino, and black relations, and the legacy of a man vs. the reality of that man, all wrapped in a 40 year old mystery story.

Movie – Gattaca (1997)

Although the concept of genetic engineering had been around for decades in science fiction writing, movies had tended to either stay away from the potentially controversial subject, or they had presented a very simplistic view of it as something only evil scientists wanted to do.  Gattaca was the first film I saw that treated the subject intelligently, and that dealt with the social impact this would have on the world.  It is also the first film in which I ever saw Jude Law.

There are some other firsts that go along with this movie.  It was the first film for writer/director Andrew Niccol (writer of the Truman Show, writer/director of Lord of War – a much overlooked movie that is well worth your time.)  Gattaca was also the first film that Maya Rudolph (Saturday Night Live) ever did.  Finally, it was the film where Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman first fell in love.  They eventually married and had two children.

Movie – Dead Calm (1989)

The Australian film Dead Calm, based on the Charles Williams’ novel of the same name, is the first movie in which I ever saw Nicole Kidman.  She was just 21 years old – pre-Oscar win, pre-Tom Cruise, pre-Hollywood, even pre-boob job, as we find out.  (Don’t worry ladies, there’s equal opportunity nudity for you from 22 year old, full head of hair, buff Billy Zane.)  The two, along with Sam Neill, are pretty much the only cast in this intense thriller, so even though Kidman was relatively new to films she gets a chance to shine.

Movie – Hackers (1995)

Hackers is a film very much of its own time.  Because of rapid advancement in computer technology young people watching it today probably do not even understand some of the terms the characters are using.  The film has a bunch of references to the history of computers, the history of hacking, and the cyberpunk literature movement that was started in the 1980s.  As both a computer person and science fiction fan, I got a great deal of enjoyment from this film.  All of that paled in comparison to something else this film provided to me – it’s the first time I ever saw Angelina Jolie onscreen.

Movie – My Father the Hero (1994)

My Father the Hero is the first film in which I ever saw Katherine Heigl.  She was in her teens and was playing the daughter to Gerard Depardieu in this comedy vehicle for him.  The film is actually a remake of the original 1991 French film of the same (translated) name, which also starred Depardieu.  In that one Belgian actress Marie Gillain played his daughter and it launched her career.  While Heigl eventually needed a TV show to make her a household name, she did work steadily after making this film.  The problem is that a story that works for a French audience isn’t necessarily one that works for an American audience.  This remake was polarizing for some people.

Movie – Back to School (1986)

Back to School was a comedy vehicle for Rodney Dangerfield.  He had been doing standup for years, but his appearance in 1980’s Caddyshack had made him known to a whole new generation of people.  He also became almost ubiquitous in advertisements for Miller Lite beer in the early 80s.  By the time this film came out he was a full-fledged star.  Not a star yet, but one that soon would be, was Robert Downey, Jr.  He plays a prominent supporting role in this film.  It was the first time I ever saw him in a movie.

Movie – What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)

What with the subject matter in the movie, and with the word “grape” right in the title, it’s impossible not to use the word “bittersweet” to describe the film What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.  Johnny Depp is the star and he was already a household name when the movie was made.  Also in the film, and someone who I had never heard of before I saw it, is Leonardo DiCaprio.  He plays a mentally retarded younger brother of Gilbert’s.  Because I knew nothing about DiCaprio, and because he did such a good job in the role, I honestly wondered if the young man they got to play the role really did have that condition.  I must not have been the only one who was impressed because DiCaprio received an Oscar nomination for his performance.  He didn’t win, though. Those of you who saw the film Tropic Thunder know why.

Movie – Belle Epoque (1992)

Belle Epoque is one of the few comedies to ever receive an Oscar in any of the Best Picture categories.  In this case it was the 1993 Best Foreign Language Film winner.  It also won nine Goyas (the “Spanish Oscar”), including Best Picture, in its own country.  It is the first film in which I ever saw Penelope Cruz.  She was about 18 when it was shot.  It’s also the first time I ever saw Maribel Verdu and Ariadna Gil, too, but they are not as well known in the U.S. despite the fact that both were in Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) – Verdu as the housekeeper and Gil as the mother.

Movie – Empire of the Sun (1987)

Empire of the Sun was the first “serious” Steven Spielberg movie that I saw.  Yes, he had done The Color Purple two years earlier, but I never saw that until about a year ago.  Spielberg was tired of being passed over by the Oscars because people thought he only did popcorn movies.  He started doing “serious” movies to change his image, although it still didn’t work until he did Schindler’s List (1993), which even the old grumps in the Academy finally couldn’t ignore.  Empire of the Sun is also the first film in which I ever saw Christian Bale, who plays the lead character.  I consider this movie to be the best Spielberg film that relatively few people have heard of.

Movie – Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)

Drop Dead Gorgeous is a mockumentary in the style of This is Spinal Tap, except instead of covering a rock band, this film covers a small town Minnesota beauty pageant.  Like Spinal Tap everyone in Drop Dead Gorgeous plays it straight – as if the outlandish things that are going on are completely normal.  In and of themselves pageants are funny anyway.  Now add in the small town gossip, rich family/poor family, good girl/bad girl, pervy judges, amateur talent productions, sabotage, death, and much, much more and you’ve got a funny, tongue in cheek comedy.

Movies Where I Saw Someone for the First Time

“Sawyer, you listen to me, and you listen hard.  Two hundred people, two hundred jobs, two hundred thousand dollars, five weeks of grind and blood and sweat depend upon you.  It's the lives of all these people who've worked with you.  You've got to go on, and you've got to give and give and give.  They've got to like you.  Got to.  Do you understand?  You can't fall down.  You can't because your future's in it, my future and everything all of us have is staked on you.  All right, now I'm through, but you keep your feet on the ground and your head on those shoulders of yours and go out, and Sawyer, you're going out a youngster but you've got to come back a star!” – Julian Marsh, 42^nd Street

Over my years of watching movies I have sometimes taken a special notice of a performance from an actor or actress I have never seen before.  Sometimes those people have gone on to become household names in later films; sometimes they have not.  I honestly gave up a long time ago in trying to figure out why some of them made it and some didn’t.

Obviously, just about every movie I have watched features someone I have never seen before, so I needed to come up with some ground rules to limit the number of films in this category.  

1.  The person has to be a reasonably well known name today.

2.  They have to have been relatively unknown when I first saw them (i.e. Sandra Bullock in Love Potion #9).

3.  The film I first saw them in cannot be the one that made them a star (i.e. Tom Cruise in Risky Business).

4.  Even if the film didn’t make them a star, it cannot have been a blockbuster (i.e. Eliza Dushku in True Lies).

5.  I cannot have first seen them on a TV show (i.e. Anne Hathaway on Get Real).

6.  I cannot have forgotten them from that first sighting (i.e. Jim Carrey as the rock star in The Dead Pool).

7.  The movie cannot be so bad that I would not recommend it (i.e. Johnny Depp in Private Resort).

8.  “First movie” is the first one I saw them in, not the first one they ever acted in (i.e. I’ve now seen Tom Cruise’s 1981 debut movie Taps, but that was years after I had seen him in Risky Business).

Even with these restrictions, I still came up with 20 films from my own movie collection.  I will list the names of the performers now and I will add the links to the reviews of the first movies I saw them in as I post those reviews.

By the way, the first film that I saw both Reese Witherspoon and Tobey Maguire in is probably not the one you are thinking of.

Amy Adams – Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)

Christian Bale – Empire of the Sun (1987)

Sandra Bullock – Love Potion #9 (1992) (posted October 9, 2011)

Kevin Costner – American Flyers (1985) (posted August 24, 2012)

Penelope Cruz – Belle Epoque (1992)

Leonardo DiCaprio – What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)

Robert Downey, Jr. – Back to School (1986)

Katherine Heigl – My Father the Hero (1994)

Angelina Jolie – Hackers (1995)

Nicole Kidman – Dead Calm (1989)

Jude Law – Gattaca (1997)

Matthew McConaughey – Lone Star (1996)

Carey Mulligan – Pride & Prejudice (2005) (posted February 11, 2012)

Keanu Reeves – The Night Before (1988)

Charlize Theron – 2 Days in the Valley (1996)

Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh – Dead Again (1991)

Julia Roberts and Matt Damon – Mystic PIzza (1988)

Reese Witherspoon and Tobey Maguire – S.F.W. (1994)

Jeff Daniels, Melanie Griffith, and Ray Liotta – Something Wild (1986)

Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Phoebe Cates, Forrest Whitaker, Nicolas Cage, Eric Stoltz, Anthony Edwards, and Judge Reinhold – Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)

On to the reviews…

Movie – American Flyers (1985)

Return with me, if you will, to the mid 1980s.  This is a time when men could have facial hair without being considered “gay” (as so many youngsters on this film’s IMDB board refer to the characters), when cycling was pretty much an unknown sport, and when the big bad Soviet Union was still a ready made antagonist for any American competitor.  The movie I speak of is American Flyers – the first film in which I ever saw Kevin Costner.  He did this movie two years before the film that made him a star – 1987’s The Untouchables.

Movie – Pride & Prejudice (2005)

This is the first real adaptation of Pride and Prejudice that I saw.  I had seen Bride & Prejudice (2004) the year before (you can read more on that in the parent post.)  After seeing the 2005 version via rental, I went out and bought it.  I’ve watched it three more times since then, and I’ve watched some scenes from it even beyond that.  This is the adaptation that made me understand why so many people love the story.  It truly captured the romance between Elizabeth and Darcy and it is one of the best romantic dramas I have ever seen.