"ADAM'S CINEMA"

Part 1 "...AND SO IT BEGINS."

2005-09-06T19:24:00.000-05:00

I will never forget my first, honest-to-goodness, REAL movie theater experience. It was when I was about 5 years old, watching KING KONG with my Mother around 1976, at the theater on BOLLING AIR-FORCE BASE, near Washington, D.C. (where we lived at the time). As I recall, she had to put her coat on the seat that I was sitting in, not only to boost me up, but also to keep the stupid thing from folding up on me. My most vivid memory of that film was the part where Kong rips open the mouth of the giant snake that he’d been fighting. Too cool! Later, when asked about her memories of the whole experience, my Mom declared, “I honestly don’t know what the heck I was thinking back then, bringing you to that movie. I must have been having a bad day, or something.” Well, maybe you were just a little off back then, but it was a memory of being with you that I will always treasure. I love you, Mom. Thanks.

Part 2 "TAUN-TAUNS AND TRANS-AMS: (THANKS UNCLE BRUCE)"

2005-09-06T18:39:00.000-05:00

Another movie event that I will never forget was when STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK came to town. It opened up July 25th, 1980 at The ROXY Theater in Potsdam, New York, near where we were living at the time. The funny thing is, it wasn’t watching it for the first time that sticks out the most to me, but seeing it the second time. My Aunt Nancy was up visiting us, and somehow I overheard her and my Mom having a conversation about the new STAR WARS movie. (Who knew that either one of them would even be interested in such a thing?). When I heard them talking about going into town to see it together, I knew what I had to do. I waited for my opportunity, and when the moment was right, I snuck into the backseat of our car. Shortly after they pulled out of the driveway, I made my sneaky little presence known, and much to my surprise, they actually let me tag along. (I guess only having to take one kid to a movie theater was better than three). We arrived at the theater about ten or fifteen minutes into the film, so after watching the whole thing, we actually stayed until the next showing just to see the beginning part that we had missed. I, of course, didn’t object in the slightest. To this day, EMPIRE is my favorite STAR WARS movie. The third time that I saw EMPIRE was just as memorable. Later that winter, it came back around for another screening. This time, it was playing at The AMERICAN Theater in Canton, New York. With very little coaxing, my Uncle Bruce took my brother Jeremy and I, and our cousins Jay and Matt to see it again. Afterwards, we went to the AMES Department store in Potsdam to look at STAR WARS action figures, and, for what was definitely the highlight of the evening,(at least from a dopey ten-year olds perspective),he drove us around in his silver Trans-Am doing “doughnuts” in the store parking lot. Was he a good role model? Probably not. Was he a good uncle? No. He was the best. Thanks Uncle Bandit.

Part 3 "THE ULTIMATE HERO, IN THE ULTIMATE ADVENTURE"

2005-09-06T18:36:00.000-05:00

The first time that I was exposed to the character of “Indiana Jones”, was when I saw his picture in a movie ad, from a copy of “The Courier Observer” newspaper, (dated Tuesday August 11, 1981), that my Great-Grandmother had laying around on her back porch, (along with an unusually large supply of washed out Styrofoam Filet-o-Fish containers from McDonald’s). The ad read;
“The ultimate hero, in the ultimate adventure. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK”.
Now this looked to be promising. Later, upon finding out that the main character was none other than my hero, Han Solo, (and with a hat & whip to boot!), I purposed in my young heart to see this movie. Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, but soon…soon.

Part 4 "AUNT NANCY TO THE RESCUE..."

2005-09-06T18:34:00.000-05:00

Eliot Ness and Al Capone. Superman and Lex Luthor. The Lone Ranger and Butch Cavendish. Some people are just made to be mortal enemies. Such was the case with Mom and “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial”. No matter what, she was NOT going to take us to go see, “that thing”, as she so affectionately called him. But somehow, some way…my Aunt Nancy, (good ol’ Aunt Nancy), saw to it that my brother Jeremy, my sister Rebecca and I were able to witness this historic motion picture when it first came to The ROXY Theater in Potsdam, during its initial run in June of 1982. I don’t know how you did it Aunt Nancy, but I’ve always appreciated you giving me the opportunity to see, what would later become, one of my favorite films of all time. Thank-you.

Part 5 "MY FAVORITE MOVIE OF ALL TIME"

2005-09-06T18:33:00.000-05:00

I knew that it would just be a matter of time. It had now been well over a full year since I’d caught my first glimpse of “Indiana Jones” in that newspaper ad on my Grandma’s back porch in Potsdam. We’d since moved to Massena and, after having obtained and read the official comic adaptation of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK too many times to mention, I was finally going to get the opportunity to see the movie for which I had waited so long. It was playing, during a limited re-release, at The 56 AUTO-THEATER right up the road from where we lived, starting on Friday August 13th, 1982. I couldn’t wait. At eleven-years old, this was one of the earliest memories that I have of attending a movie, ANY movie, with my entire immediate family. My Mom, Dad, brother and sister were all there with me. It wasn’t just a movie to me, it was an event. From the opening boulder scene, to the climactic “Raider’s March” that played during the end credits, I was enthralled. It hadn’t merely lived up to my expectations; it had flown past them at light-speed. For the better part of the rest of that summer, I was not often caught without my trusty bullwhip/electrical cord. I remember Jeremy and I taking turns using each other as “practice dummies”, standing on one foot, while the other one would skillfully, (or many times, not so skillfully), wrap the makeshift “whip” around the others ankle in an often vain attempt to “trip up” their imaginary foe. Of course, with his penchant for wearing shorts, and sneakers with no socks on, during those hot August days, my poor brother often received the raw end of the deal during a lot of those sessions. Our sister, Rebecca, also supplied the valuable service of chasing after us in the woods behind our home, executing a flawless performance as a generic “Native Warrior/Nazi henchman”. (Bravo Rebecca, Bravo). Thank you both for sharing that special part of my life with me. I will always love you guys for it. RAIDERS remains, to this day, my favorite movie of all time, due in part to the experiences that I remember sharing with you that summer. You’ve always been a great brother and sister. Thank-you.

Part 6 "MY DAD VS. JABBA THE HUTT"

2005-09-06T18:29:00.000-05:00

Would Han Solo ever be freed from his Carbonite prison? Would Luke Skywalker become a Jedi Knight and, more importantly, was he in fact the son of Darth Vader, dark lord of the Sith? These and many other seemingly useless questions would soon be answered in a yet to be released film entitled, that’s right…STAR WARS: RETURN OF THE JEDI. Right off the top of my head, I can’t honestly think of a single topic, or of another movie for that matter, that my Father could possibly have less interest in. (He’s always been more of a “Cowboy/shoot-em’-up” kinda’ guy, ya know? Ewoks and Jabba the Hutt just weren’t his thing.) But there he was, waiting around with my brother and sister and me for the theater to open up, underneath the overhanging marquee of The MASSENA Theater on Main Street, that mid-July day in 1983. I am quite sure that there were any number of things that he would have rather been doing on that sunny afternoon, but he wasn’t doing them. He was with us. My Dad has always worked longer hours, during his career, than any other man that I’ve ever known. Now that I’m a father myself, I more fully realize how precious his few days off must have been to him, and it makes the times that he spent with us all the more important to me, even decades later. I will always remember first experiencing RETURN OF THE JEDI at the local theater in my childhood hometown of Massena, New York, not because of the epic space battles, or the harrowing escapes portrayed on-screen by my childhood heroes Han & Luke, but because of the time that I spent with my modern day hero…my Father. I love you, Dad. Thanks.

Part 7 "A NEW BEGINNING IN AN OLD THEATER"

2005-09-06T18:24:00.000-05:00

More than a dozen years had passed since I’d seen THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK at The AMERICAN Theater in Canton. Now, here it was July of 1993, and I was sitting in that very same movie theater yet again, only this time I was on a date, a first date in fact, with someone who would go on to become the Love of my life. I remember making sure that we would get there early, not too early, but just early enough so as to make sure that we had extra time to talk before the film started. (In case any of you are wondering what movie we saw on this momentous occasion, it was SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. A girly chick-flick, I know, but you have to lure the fish into the boat before you can whack it over the head with a paddle). Raechell Caron was, without a doubt, the most beautiful, intriguing woman that I had ever tried to whack. (I know that might sound dirty, but its’ not…trust me). One of the first things that she did, after we were seated, was to show me her uncanny ability to be able to stick her legs straight out and place her feet flatly against the back of the chair in front of us, without having to bend her knees. I was mesmerized. This was truly the one for me. By our second date, we had escalated to a slightly more exciting film, (at least to me, anyways). We saw JURASSIC PARK about a week later at the movie theater in Ogdensburg, New York. Having already seen it earlier myself, I knew just the right times to grab her shoulder and yell out some menacing growl. This served two purposes. Firstly, to further enhance her theatrical experience by providing her with a more startling “jolt” than what she otherwise would have gotten without the shoulder grab, and secondly, to simply make initial physical contact on my part. The ice was broken, and the fish was in the boat. Since our first date had been at The AMERICAN Theater in Canton, it seemed only appropriate to me that it should somehow play a part in my official proposal to Shelly as well. I made a date to take her there for a movie back in the middle of November, 1993. Unfortunately, there weren’t that many good films playing there at the time, so we ended up going to see LOOK WHO’S TALKING NOW with John Travolta and Kirstie Alley, (atrocious…absolutely atrocious). When we arrived, I made sure to park the car directly across the street from the theater. While we were inside watching the movie, someone who worked there changed the lettering on the overhead marquee to read; “I Love You, Shelly! Will You Marry Me?” After the movie ended, we walked back across the street to our car, where I casually turned her around to see the lighted message. (Fortunately for me, and for the several people standing across the road watching us as we kissed, she accepted). And the rest, as they say, is history. The AMERICAN Theater now held a whole new meaning for me. It is the place where my life truly began. Thank-you for saying “Yes”, Shelly. I will love you always.

Part 8 "MOVIE GEEKS: THE NEXT GENERATION"

2005-09-06T18:23:00.000-05:00

I have received a lot of enjoyment from movies over the course of my life. I often associate great memories with, sometimes, not even very good films. Whether it was watching GODZILLA: 1985 with my family at the local Cineplex in Utica, New York as a teenager, or seeing numerous “B-grade” movies consecutively on HBO at my Aunt Bea’s house in Kentucky with my brother while on vacation, (featuring such “classics” as FLASH GORDON, SWAMP THING, JAWS 3-D, SMOKEY & THE BANDIT 3, ELECTRIC DREAMS, and NIGHTHAWKS, in just one week alone!), or even just watching ones that came out on standard cable TV while I was growing up like, XANADU, LOVE AT FIRST BITE, ALLIGATOR, or the original SMOKEY & THE BANDIT for the 25th time, it wasn’t just the movies themselves that I loved,…but the people that I got to watch them with. Now that I am blessed enough to have a family of my own, I have gotten the chance, (much to the dismay of my own parents and in-laws at times), to view a whole new generation of films with the two most wonderful daughters that a father could ever ask for. So far, I’ve had the privilege of taking Samantha and Alexandra to our local MASSENA MOVIEPLEX 8 to see movies like TOMB RAIDER 1 & 2, (two of their personal favorites), SPIDERMAN, PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN, FINDING NEMO, ICE AGE, and THE INCREDIBLES just to name a few. I’ve also been fortunate enough to get to take them to re-releases of films that were near and dear to my heart as a child, such as STAR WARS, E.T., and THE WIZARD OF OZ. So in closing, thank-you to everyone in my life thus far, who have made these experiences so important to me. I will always be grateful for the family that I grew up with, and for the family that I will grow old with. I Love You All. Adam

ROXY Theater (Potsdam, N.Y.)

2005-09-04T12:00:00.000-05:00

American Theater (Canton, N.Y.)

2005-09-02T23:59:00.000-05:00

56 Auto-Theater (Massena, N.Y.)

2005-09-02T23:20:00.000-05:00

Massena Theater (aka.Schine's) (Massena, N.Y.)

2005-09-02T17:54:00.000-05:00

Massena Movieplex 8 (Massena, N.Y.) PART 1

2005-09-01T14:03:00.000-05:00

Massena Movieplex 8 (Massena, N.Y.) PART 2

2005-09-01T13:16:00.000-05:00

Lowville Theater (Lowville, N.Y.)

2005-09-01T02:16:00.000-05:00

Capitol Theatre (Rome, N.Y.) PART 1

2005-08-31T18:44:00.000-05:00

Capitol Theatre (Rome, N.Y.) PART 2

2005-08-31T18:43:00.000-05:00

Sangertown Mall Cinema (Utica, N.Y.)

2005-08-30T19:22:00.000-05:00

Stanley Theater (Utica, N.Y.)

2005-08-30T19:20:00.000-05:00

Palace Theater (Lake Placid, N.Y.)

2005-08-29T19:24:00.000-05:00

Ideal Drive-in (Canton, N.Y.)

2005-08-28T20:47:00.000-05:00

Williamsburg Theatre (Williamsburg, VA.)

2005-08-24T20:47:00.000-05:00

Port Theater (Cornwall, Ontario)

2005-08-22T21:40:00.000-05:00

Galaxy Cinemas (Cornwall, Ontario)

2005-08-22T20:00:00.000-05:00

My Ideal Home Theater

2005-08-20T22:23:00.000-05:00