Tuesday 11 August 2009

My favourite Spielberg memory

Reading Tom Shone's latest post on his favourite Spielberg shot got me hurtling down memory lane, a process that always involves a few bumps and bruises. 

My favourite Spielberg memory was when Steve (good old Steve!) turned to me at the Polo Lounge and opened his mouth and said, "Excuse me, this seat is taken. Could you bugger off?"

No, I kid.

My favourite Spielberg memory was watching the midnight Jurassic Park at the Rex cinema in KL, which has since been turned into a backpacker lodge. It was indeed the scene where a rampaging dino (of some kind or other) is chasing people who were in the vehicle with a rear-view mirror. The shots kept alternating between the people and the creature. So when we saw the panicky people, nobody make a sound. (Why should we?) But when we saw the creature, the whole hall screamed. It got to a point when there was a sudden cut to ... something not very scary, but a lone person in the hall screamed anyway. And then a selamba voice nearby was heard: "Aiyoh, lambat pick-up la." And then the whole hall laughed and the rest of the film turned into something comedic, which is something ol' Steve (good old Steve!) would surely have not disapproved of. 

Erm, OK. End of flashback. Carry on with your lives.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Jurassic Park was it for me. I grew up on a diet of Spielberg thanks to my dad but Jurassic Park was when I really saw what cinema could do to people. That queue outside Rex on the opening was phenomenal and made such an impression on me as a 10 year old.

When i finally watched it I just kept thinking, wow, if I could one day tell stories like this super big!

Funny thing Amir, I just watched it on TV yesterday! And that scene, it was a T-Rex chasing em' and the punchline was on the rear-view mirror it has the sticker saying "Objects may appear nearer than they actually may be".

Priceless.

Oh yeah and ET still makes me cry.

Also I think Amistad is kinda underrated.

Ah fuck it, I'll always be a Spielberg junkie, save for Indy 4.

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS INDY 4. *shudder*

Anonymous said...

Oh yes bebeh..i remember Jurassic Park kat Rex KL. Punyalah ramai nak tengok Seingat aku orang beratur nak beli tiket dari atas sampai turun ke bawah, pastu berpusing keliling panggung tu. believe it or notlah beb.

la Signora said...

Mine was Spielberg's 1982 E.T The Extra Terrestial.It was the first VHS video cassette (oh those were the days of 'em bulky things) we've ever own.I cried buckets when E.T and Elliot got 'sick'.

And one of the greatest movie moment?The full-moon flying scene!Classic!

E.T was so pure, so innocent.And was the epitome of the 80's (brand placement berlambak!).Hehehe.

Amir Muhammad said...

I've never actually seen ET. Strange but true.

Jane said...

Schindler's List, anyone?

Khairul Nizam Kamdi said...

ET all the way!!!! u should watch it! who don't know the iconic pic of a flying bicycle passing a full moon??haha..my childhood..i miss it!

fadz said...

Amir, ure a late bloomer, ni mesti start ngan filem2 Melayu dulu ni, hehehe..

ET was for me too, then, of coz, i discovered Close Encounters. Back then in Florida, Close Encounters was shown on satelite tv (HBO baru nak mula) and all of us was gawking in delight.