THB #458, Pt 1: What A Great Year Of Movies!

I am not being a cheerleader today.

I’m not pretending there were not huge, high-profile disappointments all year long. There were.

But not only did I get to experience BarbieHeimer in packed theaters with people dressed up and engaging with 2 movies that were really made for different audiences, but I got to see Oppenheimer in 5 different formats, mostly in near-sold-out theaters and get to see it a 6th way next week when they show the movie with the score being played live in the theater.

When I was a kid in 1981, I saw Abel Gance’s Napoleon in the Theater of Performing Arts in Miami Beach with 3 screens and a live orchestra. Carmine Coppola was conducting. One wore a suit to the theater back then. It was an event. And it was amazing.

Putting aside the singular opportunity to experience a live orchestra performance of a great film - also loved the Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse live experience this season - I got to see Ridley Scott’s Napoleon on an IMAX screen this year, twice…