Friday, December 25, 2009

Christmas Eve With George Bailey

Being a movie buff, I love when I get to experience old, classic movies on the big screen in a crowded movie theater. So when I saw that The Broadway downtown would be showing It's a Wonderful Life Christmas Eve I immediately planned my entire Christmas Eve activities around it.

My mom and I arrived at the theater and hour early, and when we asked for tickets and got ready to pay, we were told it was free! Nothing beats a classic movie for free at a theater. Of course, this meant there were tons of people, but we had luckily gotten there early and got prime seats in the middle when they let the crowd in. (And just for the record, the movie is NOT rated R, but all the other movies playing in the theater were.)

The experience did not disappoint. The film was shown in it's original 35mm format and looked great. I love the theater experience so much because a crowd experience is different than a self experience; it was great to hear the crowd laugh at parts I had never outwardly laughed at before. And at the end of the movie we all clapped.

George Bailey is someone I can really relate to; when he's talking about wanting to see the world and get away from the small town, I could almost hear those exact words coming out of my mouth. And Mary. Boy is she great. She knows exactly what she wants and goes for it. She's smart, resourceful, a good mother and wife, and has a great wardrobe. I love the scene with her and George at her mother's house, and the emotions the two of them play going from anger to love.

I can't deny that I was overcome with emotion at the end, when all the towns people come over to the Bailey house and show their love for George. It's nice to know, though, that I wasn't alone--I could hear a lot of people in the theater sniffling and saw some holding wiping away tears. I think a lot of us can relate to George Bailey at one time in our life (I know that I can), and it's nice to be reminded that friends and family are most important, and that it really is a wonderful life.

1 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Julie - I found you post as I love reading what people have to say about It's A Wonderful Life... I hope you don't mind! I'm jealous you got to see it on the big screen; I've been watching it every year since I was little and still have only seen it on a tv. I wrote a song called George Bailey, I figured you would get a kick out of it being such a big fan of the movie. You can hear it on my website or watch the youtube video below. Pass it on to your mom too!

Happy holidays,
Carolyn Sills
http://www.carolynsills.com/Original_Music.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOQna0DuOfU

 

Blog Template by YummyLolly.com