Funny thing about Empire is I don’t actually ever remember seeing it in the theater (or drive-in)! I think I must have erased it upon the realization that Han was frozen in carbonite and Vader was Luke’s fah-zah!!!

AND, just to get in on the feel good stuff, I too had an Uncle (and family) that I used to become the third child for and go on vacations with and to Sox games as a kid. In fact, it is the same said Uncle with which I climbed Chocorua. I almost related that story on Jason’s post, but held it back, but now… I just have to share!!!

But I’m not like most.

I think 3 of your 5 are sound – essentially, I agree with the Spielberg pics. And that there, says an awful lot about the greatness that man has exhibited throughout his career. Hands down, he’s my favorite filmmaker of all time, simply due to those films and so many others (Close Encounters, of course.)

So the two I argue are your #2 – Star Wars and #3 – Alien. What would I put in their place? Simple – their sequels.

I think James Cameron’s Aliens is superior to the already excellent Alien and I think Empire Strikes Back is the definitive Star Wars flick – for it’s in that film, that the entire series hit its mythological peak. Empire is Olympus.

I guess that’s the folly in a Top 5 list – it’s so hard to cram them all in. In fact, T2 probably demands a 5a.

That’s why I decided to cover my Top 5 Summer Movie Memories versus Top 5 Summer Movies. The latter list was too hard to whittle down.

On your other point – Guys Night Out at the Movies – no distance is too far. I can easily swing it and would love to do it. We should make an evening of it – catch the flick then some food and beer where we can all argue over where the flick falls in our current Five. Let’s make this a plan, Stan.

Thanks for the kind words on your last piece. It’s funny – when writing this stuff I figure it’s too easy to apply the internal edit and dispense with some of the soul-baring for fear people will find it corny. But then I remind myself how short and fleeting this life is. Life is too short to let the important things go unsaid.

So with that, thank you (and Aunt Sharon) for everything… Always!!!

1. Jaws
2. Star Wars
3. Alien
4. Jurassic Park
5. Raiders of teh Lost Ark

Thank you for your attention, and i hope you found this educational.

PS – Movie-man, back at you…I have often thought I should round you and Jason up and start a new monthly traditon of guys movie night just like the old days. The logistics makes it a little harder than it used to be, but worthy of consideration?

Ed, I appreciate the thoughts you expressed about our relationship when you were a tad younger, and hope you know that time and distance has done nothing to diminish our relationship. and never will…

5.) Men in Black—For me, summer 1997 was that magical period between high school graduation and the freshman year of college. I spent almost all of that summer working and playing Diablo, but I did come up for air long enough to see this movie three or four times. I loved pretty much everything about this movie and I’m still fond of it.

4.) Batman—Summer 1989 was all about Batman for me. I remember my dad and I trying to see it opening night only to discover it was sold out. To make up for the disappointment, my dad took me to the toy store, where I picked up a Joker figure (since there were no Batman figures to be found). Later, I finally saw the movie with my mom at the Hoyts theater in Plymouth, which moved by the end of that year to the Independence Mall.

3.) Gladiator—I freakin’ loved this movie. I saw it four times that summer, including once in England. I don’t find it quite as entertaining now as I did then—it’s a depressing movie, really—but it was definitely a defining film for summer 2000.

2.) Jurassic Park—Again, I obsessed about this movie for months before it came out. Everything was dinosaurs for me in summer 1993. It’s worth noting this was the first movie I geeked out about over the Internet, way back in the days of Prodigy.

1.) Terminator 2: Judgment Day—I vividly remember my dad coming back from seeing T2 and giving me the thumbs-up, meaning I could go see it. The only catch was I had to close my eyes at certain parts (such as the armageddon dream sequence and several of the stabbings). It was the first rated-R film I saw in the theater, at the age of twelve. I’m still grateful to my dad for taking me to see it.

5.A Hard Day’s Night ( 1964)- in the only theater Key West had:my mother paid my older brother to take me to see what was not only my first movie, but THE BEATLES first movie at that. I was 9, he was 11, he bought me a 3′ rope of red licorice and then left me there. I wasn’t supposed to tell Mom, and I probably didn’t. I promptly took up the guitar so that someday I could meet and marry Paul.It hasn’t worked out so far, but I hear he’s available again…

4.Alien ( 1979)-Loew’s in Boston. I LOVE scary movies, especially the ones that drive you psychologically nuts waiting for the blood. A bunch of us went into Boston to see this one because it wasn’t coming out to the ‘burbs, it was a ” rocking chair” theater set-up, and when the baby alien jumped out of John Hurt’s chest, the entire row flipped so hard back that we all shot out of our seats on the forward return. It was the first movie I remember where the ending just wasn’t the ending…

3. Pirates of the Caribbean-The Curse of the Black Pearl ( 2003)-Flagship Cinema, Wareham. I just flat-out LOVE this movie,Johnny Depp every twist in the story, every bit of dialogue, Johnny Depp, the ships, the scenary, did I mention Johnny Depp? Disappointed with the sequel, haven’t seen #3 yet, but I’m certain it will not be as good as the original. It is one of the very few movies that I saw twice at the theater.

2.Star Wars (1977) Hanover Mall Cinema. Having grown up with Star Trek and all early attempts at special effects, I was stunned by the ships and story, no real need to go into it. Ron had gone to see it first with his buddy Danny, while I stayed home and feathered the nuptial nest, having gotten married that summer, and he couldn’t wait for us to see it together. I think we saw it 3 times over the course of the summer. Believed in the Force, loved everything about it, wanted to name Jason “Luke” but Ron wouldn’t let me since it was sort of close to the last name of an old boyfriend. Star Wars became a huge part of our family for a very,very long time.

1.Jaws ( 1975) Hanover Mall Cinema – Ron and I were just dating when this came out. I had been raised on the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, had seen my share of sharks, and I wasn’t afraid of them. However, I did NOT know that these were the creatures of Ron’s nightmares. From the opening sequence, his imagination worked overtime, the vertical leap out of his seat when Ben Gardner’s head bobbed out of the hole in the boat startled me, Ron crashed back into his seat, cold and white, I reached over to take his hand, and he was just gone into some fearful place in his head until it was over. That was NOT a movie we saw more than once at the theater, as he’s been in recovery ever since. I liked the movie better than the book, which I had read before, and, again, the special effects for the time were awesome. I can do vitually every line of the movie ( who can’t?), which also contains one of the greatest movie lines EVER ” You’re gonna need a bigger boat”

Is there a prize for the oldest summer release????