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Posted: |
Dec 8, 2014 - 6:45 AM
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By: |
Tall Guy
(Member)
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This last Friday, my brother lost his three-year battle with cancer. I've been reflecting on many things recently, and one of them is the number of films we saw together in the 70s. He'd left home by then, but when he visited we often went to the pictures. He being in his early 20s and me in my mid-teens but easily passing for older, we got into what used to be called X-rated films without any difficulty. It was also the days when films would appear repeatedly in cinemas a few years after release - the passing of which I regret, even though it's wonderful to have access to them at home on disc.
I'm sure I've forgotten many of the films we saw together, but the following is a randomly recalled list of some that spring to mind and which have stayed with me since those days 40 years ago...
When Eight Bells Toll
Where Eagles Dare
Breakheart Pass
Earthquake
Enter the Dragon
Freebie and the Bean
Superman
Get Carter
High Plains Drifter
Kelly's Heroes
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
Live and Let Die
Airport 1975
Gold
Juggernaut
The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3
Straw Dogs
Mandingo
Dark Star
Assault on Precinct 13
Escape From New York
Cross of Iron
Once Upon a Time in the West
Rollerball
Being introduced to these films cemented my love of the silver age, including of course the scores. In fact, the last one on the list is of particular significance, because my brother also bought the soundtrack LP - which introduced me to the music of Shostakovich. And you may know where that led!
Later we still watched films together, usually with our respective partners and on video. As enjoyable as such times were, it was then the 80s and it didn't come close to the experience of the previous decade. When I remember my big brother in years to come, and recall many happy times in his company, I think that those cinema visits will be my enduring memory.
Thanks, Tom.
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Sorry to hear your sad news mate.
Thanks for sharing your memories.
Take care.
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Chris, I'd like to add my condolences. I am truly sorry to hear of your loss. You and I are both, I believe, "of a certain age", and many of the films on your list rang bells with me. In fact, I saw most of them with my own brother. We still share many things - even if we're now in different countries. It's so nice to have a great brother when I see so much bickering in other families.
My thoughts are with you.
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Posted: |
Dec 8, 2014 - 10:45 AM
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By: |
Joe E.
(Member)
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My sincere condolences on your loss, TG. Cancer's a nasty adversary, isn't it? As it happens I'm currently away from home to visit and take care of my cancer-stricken mom, so that dad can visit his own mom, who's very seriously ill herself. Mom's chemo is pretty hard on her, and a few times yesterday I almost cried just from looking at her because I couldn't bear seeing her in pain, and I'm also still terrified of losing her. She's tough and she's fighting, and I do think she'll be around a good while, but I can't help but worry.
While I've always been the main "movie person" into family, all of us have enjoyed them our whole lives, and there have been a few movies we've all enjoyed together - some at home on video (Cool Hand Luke and The Great Escape were among the first movies we had when we got our first VCR - a Betamax! - and were household staples while my brother and I were growing up, while in the last decade the Olymics hockey docudrama Miracle has become a sort of annual family tradition in those years when we can spend Christmas together), to ones we've gone to see together in theaters (the original Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies were big deals for not just me but the whole family when I was young; more recently all of us went together to see each installment of The Lord of the Rings at Christmas each year when they were coming out). We all have pretty different tastes and interests, but movies (at least certain broadly popular ones that all of us like) have been one of a few ways we've all been able to connect and enjoy shared experiences, and I treasure these memories.
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Very sorry for your loss.
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hiya mate, so sorry to hear your sad sad news.
i can only echo what others have said here already.
Its not the same but you also have a few surrogate brothers on here.
Some of which separated at birth! And when your great bruv was getting you past the pay booth at all those cinemas up north, somewhere in the south of england my older cousin was swearing blind i was 18 and smuggling me into see the same films!! Tom's list reads to me like 70s heaven! The man obviously knew a great film when he saw a movie poster!
Tell me the two of you never went to see Mandingo??!
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, I got to experience movies like The Fugitive, From Dusk Till Dawn, Citizen X in the theater and oh so many good and bad sci-fi and horror movies that we rented. I enjoy talking film with him, last weekend we watched the remake of Total Recall on tv and ended up talking more about the Verhoeven version and how that related to the Philip K. Dick story, I don't think we could have made it through that awful remake without mocking it. 
So even though we are of a different generation, in a way I can relate to the bond you had with your brother and I would miss it terribly as well! My condolences to you and your family. 
