Joe’s UPTOWN Movie Blog

Dateline: Washington, D.C., May 26, 1977

The Place: Uptown Theater

That was the day it all changed. 

At the age of nine, the mere prospect of seeing any movie or any media (TV, music, concerts, plays) was enough to send my spirits soaring. Remember in 1977, there were only maybe 6 stations to watch and there were no home video stores let alone video games. But what I saw that day expanded the possibilities and made the man you’ll meet in this blog. It was my “Apollo,” my learners permit, my moment…OK! OK! so seeing STAR WARS (1977) was a lot of people’s moment. But hey I saw it in only one of roughly 50 theaters to play it on the second day of release and the most press it had had was a glowing article in TIME magazine (May 30, 1977 edition). My cousin Jim, God Bless him, took me and my cousin Eric. We complained about the line around the block. Yes, a line around the block…hard to believe. I fear we’ll never see anything like that again. We sat in the balcony first row. I’ll never forget how COOL it felt when the star destroyer came on screen!      

On Monday, when I got back to school no one knew what I was raving about (no box-office reports in 1977), but they politely listened again and again. Note this was akin to what would be today my “virtual BLOG” or “social networking experience.” Probably sounded something like this: “it is the greatest movie I’ve ever seen! You have to see it! Take me back!” 

Seriously because of STAR WARS and George Lucas how many people have went on to work in Media for almost 20 years? How many people have degrees in film? How many people have met there heroes? And how many still embrace their inner child as a result?  ANSWER: A lot I imagine…but the only one I really know is myself.  

I hope you’ll enjoy! 

Hey what film made you a movie lover?

The new trailer for the re-launch of the Star Trek film franchise (see below) had me on the edge ready to see it. And it doesn’t even open until May 5, 2009. That is still six months away! As Mr. Spock might say, “fascinating!”  Which begs the question, “why is STAR TREK:TOS (The Original Series) so great?”

I think this trailer shows that even a series with legions of fans (Trekkies or Trekkers), like anything iconic, has the ability to attract a new audience. Maybe Gene Rodenberry’s characters and vision are like Shakespeare and given enough distance can prove that great writing and vision stands the test of time. Or maybe I’m just having flashbacks to the days when WDCA-Ch 20 announced that “Star Trek” was gonna be broadcasting every afternoon. For years it had looked boring to me but all of sudden, that summer, I saw it brand new.

Over the years, I got to meet James Doohan (Scotty) and Walter Koenig (Chekov). I once was walking down the street next to Paramount Pictures in Los Angeles, CA and saw Gene Roddenberry drive out in a Lincoln Continental (not the USS Enterprise). But nothing compares to the day in 1986 when I was riding down the 405 on a charter bus and looked out my window to see none other than Leonard Nimoy -Mr. Spock himself- driving a Mercedes-Benz.

You ask how is it to see the Enterprise crew grounded? REALLY REALLY COOL - like the Earthbound scenes in this trailer! These characters will forever take me where “no man has gone before” - back to my childhood!

I guess what I am trying to say here is that I hope folks - trekkies and newbies alike - will give the film a fare shake. It really looks like Paramount, J.J.Abrams, and all involved wanna please. “Failure is not an option.”