I don’t have many things
to brag about my life, but one thing I can boast about is that I’ve seen a lot of good fucking films. In my late
teens and early twenties—formative, formative years—I was blessed to have a
couple of friends in my lifeless, pedestrian, suburban hometown of Fremont, CA who
had wicked-good taste in films. They opened my impressionable eyes to a slew of
gnarly movies. Before I could legally drink, I was an undergraduate film
student at San Francisco State and pulling a Tarantino by working at a local
video store (which back then was this corporation known as Blockbuster Video).
During my two years of film studies—especially the first year—I saw (and slept!)
through a parade of fantastic films during my 9 a.m. classes when my night-owl ass
would stagger through the early morning hours to commute from my parents’ house
to the fog-veiled westerly end of San Pancho.
In compiling this list, I
was surprised that none of my all-time favorite movie-going experiences happened
at the Embarcadero Center Cinema, the exquisite Castro Theatre (Eddie Muller’s
annual Film Noir Festival is
always fucking awesome), or Shattuck Cinemas in Berkeley. I’ve seen a lot of movies
at these film houses, especially the Embarcadero Center Cinema, while I was a
substandard film student.
This list was originally
meant to be five deep with a few honorable mentions, but the longer I sat and
rifled through my memories the more my honorable mention list
ballooned (much like the budget of a James Cameron film).
But without further ado,
here are the top ten I’ve been graced with.
