In today’s Guest Blog, my friend and fellow blogger, Chuck Keenum, from the hilarious and irreverent Daily Chuck’le, shares his memories of the biggest upset a kid could have imagined in 1978. Thanks, Chuck! I feel your pain.
I had to use my next door neighbor’s bathroom the other day, and I smiled broadly when, above her commode, I saw a poster of Woody Allen’s classic, Annie Hall. This movie came out before she was even born and I was so happy to see that, in some way, it was an important film to her—probably because it’s a love letter to her beloved city of New York. The era of the modern blockbuster film really started that year, in 1977, with Star Wars. I was in 7th grade when the film came out, and so began my great love affair with the movies (which in recent years has completely died). Star Wars played at the big showcase theater, the Mission Valley Mann in San Diego for about a year—I saw it there several times. I, like many boys my age, was obsessed with all things Star Wars—posters adorned my bedroom walls, I slept on Luke Skywalker bedding, my window treatments had X-Wing Fighters on them and I even had a Star Wars trash can. I collected action figures that I displayed proudly on my bookshelves, I practiced swooshing moves with my very own lightsaber and even carried in my backpack at all times the collectible cards that were exclusively distributed through loaves of Wonder Bread. Yes, I do believe I said: obsessed.
I had never before heard of anything called theAcademy Awards and only discovered them that year because Star Wars had received a whopping 10 nominations. That sounded mighty important to me. I went to the library and studied the Oscars and figured out that they were indeed a big deal. For the life of me I couldn’t understand how the three leads were overlooked.Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford were certainly worthy of nominations, if not wins! I was miffed but took comfort in Alec Guinness’ sole acting nomination as Obi-Wan Kenobi.
The awards ceremony began and, as expected, Star Wars was sweeping all of the technical categories. Soon, our total was six awards!
(You just know this isn’t going to end well. Read on after the jump!)
Then, Supporting Actor came, and my stomach churned for Sir Alec. When Jason Robards was announced as the winner for his tidy work in Julia, I nearly threw up. I didn’t even know who this old fart was and the clip they showed of his performance so seriously sucked! To add insult to injury, not long after, Woody Allen beat George Lucas for directing Annie Hall. I couldn’t believe they would award a guy that they knew wouldn’t even bother to show up! And then—boom—Annie Hall shut down my Star Wars in the Best Picture race. I was devastated, I may have even left a tear stain on my C-3PO pillowcase.
Well, the following day, while I was recovering from this injustice, I got it into my head that I had to see this movie, this Annie Hall that made such a mockery of my Star Wars. I begged my mother to take me and finally she relented and we were off… Star Wars was still housed at the jewel-box theater in San Diego while Annie Hall was playing in some small art-house theater somewhere in Hillcrest. I thought that alone was telling of the obvious superiority of Star Wars.
The film began and, to be honest, for a 12-year-old kid, its humor was waaaaay over my head. I just sat there fuming that this weird little uncomfortable sex comedy had won Best Picture over my dashing outerspace soap opera romp. About 20 minutes into the film, my mother became visibly upset, her fidgeting was a clear indication that she felt that I was too young to be seeing Annie Hall and before I knew it, my ma crowed as she stood up to storm out, “LET’S. GO.” On the car ride home I shuffled through my Star Wars trading cards and shook my head in disbelief, “You was robbed.”
(PS: I was outraged again the following year when Grease didn’t sweep with a ton of nominations. Oh, and Annie Hall? It has since become one of my all-time favorite movies and, in hind-sight, it was sooooooo deserving of that Best Picture Oscar. Sorry, George.)
Guest Blog: Annie Hall Vs. Star Wars
By Chance
April 29, 2009 at 9:12AM EDT
In today’s Guest Blog, my friend and fellow blogger, Chuck Keenum, from the hilarious and irreverent Daily Chuck’le, shares his memories of the biggest upset a kid could have imagined in 1978. Thanks, Chuck! I feel your pain.
I had to use my next door neighbor’s bathroom the other day, and I smiled broadly when, above her commode, I saw a poster of Woody Allen’s classic, Annie Hall. This movie came out before she was even born and I was so happy to see that, in some way, it was an important film to her—probably because it’s a love letter to her beloved city of New York. The era of the modern blockbuster film really started that year, in 1977, with Star Wars. I was in 7th grade when the film came out, and so began my great love affair with the movies (which in recent years has completely died). Star Wars played at the big showcase theater, the Mission Valley Mann in San Diego for about a year—I saw it there several times. I, like many boys my age, was obsessed with all things Star Wars—posters adorned my bedroom walls, I slept on Luke Skywalker bedding, my window treatments had X-Wing Fighters on them and I even had a Star Wars trash can. I collected action figures that I displayed proudly on my bookshelves, I practiced swooshing moves with my very own lightsaber and even carried in my backpack at all times the collectible cards that were exclusively distributed through loaves of Wonder Bread. Yes, I do believe I said: obsessed.
I had never before heard of anything called the Academy Awards and only discovered them that year because Star Wars had received a whopping 10 nominations. That sounded mighty important to me. I went to the library and studied the Oscars and figured out that they were indeed a big deal. For the life of me I couldn’t understand how the three leads were overlooked. Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford were certainly worthy of nominations, if not wins! I was miffed but took comfort in Alec Guinness’ sole acting nomination as Obi-Wan Kenobi.
The awards ceremony began and, as expected, Star Wars was sweeping all of the technical categories. Soon, our total was six awards!
(You just know this isn’t going to end well. Read on after the jump!)
Then, Supporting Actor came, and my stomach churned for Sir Alec. When Jason Robards was announced as the winner for his tidy work in Julia, I nearly threw up. I didn’t even know who this old fart was and the clip they showed of his performance so seriously sucked! To add insult to injury, not long after, Woody Allen beat George Lucas for directing Annie Hall. I couldn’t believe they would award a guy that they knew wouldn’t even bother to show up! And then—boom—Annie Hall shut down my Star Wars in the Best Picture race. I was devastated, I may have even left a tear stain on my C-3PO pillowcase.
Well, the following day, while I was recovering from this injustice, I got it into my head that I had to see this movie, this Annie Hall that made such a mockery of my Star Wars. I begged my mother to take me and finally she relented and we were off… Star Wars was still housed at the jewel-box theater in San Diego while Annie Hall was playing in some small art-house theater somewhere in Hillcrest. I thought that alone was telling of the obvious superiority of Star Wars.
The film began and, to be honest, for a 12-year-old kid, its humor was waaaaay over my head. I just sat there fuming that this weird little uncomfortable sex comedy had won Best Picture over my dashing outerspace soap opera romp. About 20 minutes into the film, my mother became visibly upset, her fidgeting was a clear indication that she felt that I was too young to be seeing Annie Hall and before I knew it, my ma crowed as she stood up to storm out, “LET’S. GO.” On the car ride home I shuffled through my Star Wars trading cards and shook my head in disbelief, “You was robbed.”
(PS: I was outraged again the following year when Grease didn’t sweep with a ton of nominations. Oh, and Annie Hall? It has since become one of my all-time favorite movies and, in hind-sight, it was sooooooo deserving of that Best Picture Oscar. Sorry, George.)
Previous Comments
I agree. “Annie Hall” is a masterpiece.
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