My Top 10 Favorite Movie Theater Going Experiences!
With the 2026 summer movie season fully underway and some exciting films like The Odyssey, Evil Dead Burn, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day just over the horizon, it made me appreciate how blessed movie fans really are. After over six years of grappling with incidents like a global pandemic, multiple labor strikes, and AI slop, I sincerely believe the movie industry is on the road to recovery. Even so, the last half-decade has undoubtedly changed the trajectory of movies forever. Lagging IPs, the increased use of artificial intelligence, and dynamic new auteurs like Curry Barker (Obsession) and Kane Parsons (Backrooms) are causing seismic ripples unlike anything we’ve seen since the 1970s. Change—as with all things in life—is inevitable. It’s not something we need to fear, but rather something collectively we need to figure out. In other parlance, I have hope.
It was this renewed enthusiasm on my part that got me thinking about the movie experiences that shaped me, specifically, profoundly impactful theater-going experiences. Some in the movie space believe that movie theaters are dying an albeit slow but inevitable death. Breakout hits like Project Hail Mary and even the Super Mario Galaxy Movie would suggest otherwise. Hell, tickets for multiple showings of Dune Part Three are already sold out, and that movie is six months away!
No, movie theaters are not dying. People are crying out for authentic storytelling that they can connect to. That applies whether you’re five or ninety-five. Give people an excellent story with characters they can genuinely care about, and they will show up 99% of the time. Moviegoers deep down want to experience a movie that will speak to them, maybe even irrevocably change them. Five-year-old Steven Spielberg walked out of The Greatest Show On Earth and was set on a path that would ultimately impact billions of people. A 17-year-old Guillermo del Toro walked out of John Carpenter’s The Thing and knew in his bones that he had to become a movie director. I walked out of Braveheart at 16 and finally understood the transformative power of film. All great art has the power to shape, change, and redefine our entire lives.
In the spirit of that sentiment, I wanted to write an article about my favorite movie theater-going experiences. These are two to three-hour sojourns that had a significant impact on my life, whether they were unique first-time experiences, profoundly moving films, or specific circumstances that made the experience particularly memorable.
So without further preamble, here are my top ten favorite movie theater-going experiences!
Honorable Mention: Unforgiven (1992)
I grew up in a very small town in Western New York, and unfortunately, consistently going to the movies wasn’t an option. Oftentimes, I saw films at a movie theater one town over that ran flicks months after their release. So even though Clint Eastwood’s masterpiece was released in August of 1992, I didn’t see it until late December. Several elements made this a memorable experience. First of all, it was the first and only time I ever saw a movie with my grandfather, who was OBSESSED with Westerns. His favorite was Peckinpah’s classic The Wild Bunch, which he exposed me to the previous summer. Secondly, the theater we saw it in was about as far removed from the pristine nature of AMC, Regal, and Cinemark as John Wayne was from the ACLU. The one theater was cavernous, dilapidated, and the heat was broken. For most of the film, I was wrapped tightly in my winter coat, shivering, while one row over water was steadily leaking from the ceiling into an overflowing bucket. Lastly, it was the first time a Western had completely taken me under its spell. Until Unforgiven, I was mostly agnostic about Westerns. They were fine, but not really my thing. That perspective ended that day. Jack N. Green’s cinematography was masterful, the color palette felt hollowed out and somber, David Webb Peoples’ script was raw and scathing and mean. It was the first time I’d ever seen Gene Hackman as a “villain,” and even at fourteen, I intuitively understood this was violent Western that was actually skewering, condemning, and demonstrating the human cost of that selfsame violence. William Munny’s line, “It’s a Hell of thing killin’ a man. You take away all he’s got, and all he’s ever gonna have,” hit me like a .45 caliber bullet fired point blank at my chest. Simply astounding.
#10 Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)
The third entry in the highly successful buddy/cop action series from director Richard Donner and starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover was significant for me for one simple reason: it was the very first Rated R film I saw in the theater. What’s odd is that the circumstances that led to it were so unexpected. It wasn’t planned at all. I did not wake up that day saying, “Mom, Dad, could you please take me to see this action film I haven’t seen the first two entries in?” Hell, I wasn’t even anticipating going to a movie that day, let alone my first Rated R film. Essentially, it boiled down to a confluence of events. My Uncle Gil, who worked for American Airlines and lived in Texas, unexpectedly showed up at my house on vacation. My sister happened to be spending the night at a friend’s house, and Gil, my Mom, and my Dad were trying to figure out something to do. My Uncle Gil suggested going to the movies because Lethal Weapon 3 was opening that weekend, and all three of them thoroughly enjoyed the first two entries. I just figured I’d be spending a few hours by myself that night while the trio went out. Instead, my Mom turned to me and asked if I wanted to go. “Um, isn’t it rated R?” I asked. She paused and said, “Yeah, but I think you’re mature enough to handle it.” Momma didn’t raise no fools, and she didn’t have to ask me twice. I. HAD. A. BLAST. The movie was funny, action-packed, had great dialogue, and 13 year old hormone crazed me thought Rene Russo was a goddess. What I most distinctly remember was my Dad hooping, hollering, and laughing through the whole thing. His enjoyment only enhanced my enjoyment. Not a bad way to kick off my first step into the world of R-rated films.
#9 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
The summer of 1989 was a peak pop culture moment when it came to cinema. Batman, Lethal Weapon 2, Ghostbusters II, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, When Harry Met Sally…, and The Abyss were all released in the summer of ’89. Additionally, the third film in the Indiana Jones franchise, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, kicked things off on May 24th. If you’ve followed my writings on this website for any length of time, you know that Indiana Jones is my favorite all-time movie character and Raiders of the Lost Ark is my all-time favorite film. I BEGGED my Mom to take me. She said no. I was crushed and had to wait eight agonizing months to rent it on VHS from our local video store. At this point, you’re probably thinking, “Well, if you didn’t see it in theaters then, how is it on this list?” Flash forward thirty-six years to Father’s Day weekend last year, where I finally got to see it on the big screen. It was a delight and solidified that even though Raiders is my favorite film of all time, Last Crusade is my favorite Indy adventure. My experience had the added benefit—quite coincidentally—of my podcast partner Luke and his family showing up to the exact same screening two rows in front of me. Perfection!
#8 Arrival (2016)
This one is deeply personal to me. Denis Villeneuve’s masterful adaptation of Ted Chiang’s short story, “Story of Your Life,” dropped only four months after my mother passed away from cancer at the age of 64. For those of you unaware, it is a riveting and complex tale of first contact between humans and an advanced extra-terrestrial race scientists dub heptapods. It is an intellectual exploration of language and how we assign meaning to words and how that meaning can be distorted and interpreted in various ways, sometimes with deadly consequences. Yet it is also a tale that asks the question, “If you knew the person you loved most in the entire world would die young and painfully, would you allow it to happen?” However, it is really a refinement of the larger question of, “Knowing all our lives are finite, is the joy and beauty of life worth it?” Arrival makes the case that the answer is a categorical “Yes.” My mother dealt with cancer and all that encompasses for the final ten years of her life. Yet if you asked her if it was worth it, she would undoubtedly have said yes, if for no other reason than she got to see her children marry and have children of their own. I remember walking out of Arrival absolutely stunned and barely making it to my car before I collapsed in tears. I sobbed for a solid ten minutes. This movie and all the emotions wrapped up in it are seared into my brain forever.
#7 Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Everyone had been telling me how phenomenal Mad Max: Fury Road was, but due to the fact that I was fully enamored with my 7-month-old son, I didn’t get to see George Miller’s action masterpiece until a few weeks after it released. Weirdly, this was an experience that started off terribly. I sat in the back of the theater, and for the first ten minutes, an obnoxious couple sat behind me, repeatedly making fun of the movie. Exasperated with their inane running commentary, I moved. For the remainder of my time in that theater, I was fully locked in. I was in awe at how propulsive, energetic, beautifully shot, and impeccably edited Mad Max: Fury Road was. Yet it was also thematically hefty, with Charlize Theron’s Furiosa a co-lead alongside Tom Hardy. I’ve come to believe it is the best action film ever made. I walked out completely gobsmacked. It was the last time I came out of the movies thinking, “How in the blue fuck did they do that?” My only regret was that I didn’t get to see it in IMAX.
#6 The Goonies (1985)
My movie-going experience with The Goonies is the most ‘80s shit ever, in terms of how things were 40 years ago. Between the ages of five and seven, before my family permanently moved from Central New York to Western New York, I used to go to the local YWCA after school and during the summer when my parents were at work. Our minders were mostly college kids in their twenties preparing for a career in elementary education. For whatever reason, I often found it easier to connect to adults rather than people my own age. I developed a close relationship with a college student named Jim Currado that everyone called “Coots.” (I have no idea why.) One day, out of nowhere, he asked me (and subsequently my parents) if I wanted to go with him and his friends to The Goonies on a Friday night. I remember seeing the ads on TV and was super amped for the movie. In a move that was either stunningly trusting or stunningly naïve, my parents actually agreed. A six-year-old kid going out with a bunch of college kids to see a movie on a Friday night without his parents would not fly today, but as I said, it was the ‘80s. The movie was an absolute thrill ride, and I fell in love with Mikey, Mouth, Sloth, and Data as they searched for One-Eyed Willy’s pirate ship. The sequence where they go down the “water slide” was my favorite. Afterwards, I remember Coots and his friends even taking me out for ice cream at Friendly’s. A movie AND a Jim Dandy sundae in the same evening? What more could a boy of six ask for?
#5 The Dark Knight (2008)
After the abomination that was Joel Schumacher’s Batman and Robin, director Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins restored my faith in the franchise. I distinctly remember the loud gasp my audience let out at the end of Batman Begins when the Joker card is revealed. Yet as great as that experience was, it paled in comparison to my experience three years later when The Dark Knight dropped. From the opening Heat-esque sequence, to the SWAT team action/chase moment halfway through the film, to the Batman/Joker interrogation scene, to the social experiment of the ferries, to the final masterful shot, I was hooked. It is one of the few times in a movie theater where everything else completely fell away, and even though I was in a packed midnight showing, I felt I was the only one in the theater. It’s extremely rare for me to realize that I’m watching a masterpiece while I’m watching it, but I knew that fact ten minutes in. By the time the credits rolled, and people stood up thunderously applauding, I also knew that I’d watched one of the most amazing performances ever captured on film with Heath Ledger’s Joker. Furthermore, I knew that I’d just witnessed not just the best superhero/comicbook film ever made, but one of the best films ever made, period.
#4 Back to the Future (1985)
Back to the Future is one of those seminal touchstone movies from my childhood. From the time I first saw it in theaters at the age of six to now, I must have watched it 100 times. Hell, just writing about it at this very moment makes me want to rewatch it right now. However, my moviegoing experience for Back to the Future was significant for a few reasons. One was that it was the first movie I distinctly remember the television ads for (along with The Goonies), and how much it fueled my excitement. As a titanic fan of the show Family Ties, it was also the first time I discovered that people on television (Michael J. Fox specifically) could also be in movies. I remember thinking, as only a child can, “That’s allowed?” It’s also one of only two times in my childhood that it was just me and my Dad at the movies. (The other was Arachnophobia, another banger.) We saw Back to the Future at a run down two screen theater in Cortland that I distinctly recall had the old-time drama and comedy masks on the sign. My father and I had so much fun together, and I think he enjoyed Robert Zemeckis’ time travel flick just as much as I—even if he was constantly cringing when someone swore on screen, worried that my tender young ears would be irrevocably damaged. Guess he forgot about all the times I had heard him say “fuck” by then. Either way, it was quite the experience and contributed to my lifelong love of science fiction.
#3 The Passion of the Christ (2004)
For those of you unaware, I am a believer and consider myself a Christian. However, I am not a proselytizer, and I would never presume to shove my own religious beliefs down someone else’s throat. I’ve been on the wrong end of that situation, and it ain’t fun. I also fully recognize that Mel Gibson, at the bare minimum, is a polarizing figure. He’s said some truly horrific, bigoted, and antisemitic things that I wholeheartedly condemn and disagree with. Moreover, I know that many people, especially children who grew up in the evangelical church, have complicated, even traumatic associations when it comes to The Passion of the Christ. I am in no way discounting their very real and very valid feelings. All movie experiences are subjective, and your mileage may vary. I can only speak to my own experience with this movie, which was extremely profound. My parents and I saw it together, and I’ve never seen my Mom cry that hard. It provoked a visceral, emotional response I wasn’t prepared for, and I don’t know if it is possible to put into words how deeply this movie moved me on an individual level. Regardless of your personal beliefs about Mel Gibson and the nature of the movie itself, there is no debating that this is an astounding cinematic achievement made by a true auteur. It is a masterclass in filmmaking, whether it’s Jim Caviezel’s electric performance as Jesus, Caleb Deschanel’s beautiful cinematography, or John Debney’s haunting score. While your experience with this film may be subjective, it is objectively a work of art and one that shook me to my core.
#2 Braveheart (1995)
We move from a movie directed by Mel Gibson to one he directed and starred in. Gibson’s Oscar-winning historical biography (very) loosely based on the life of William Wallace was a distinct turning point in my movie-going life. Remember in The Dark Knight when the Joker says to Batman, “You’ve changed things. Forever. There’s no going back.” That’s what I felt like when I walked out of Braveheart for the first time. I went from a teenager who liked movies to a full-on cineaste. Braveheart marked the first movie I saw more than once in the theater. (Three times to be exact.) It was the first flick I later saw by myself. Additionally, Braveheart was the first movie I took my friends to see because I loved it so much I wanted to share it with them. It also prompted me to follow the Academy Awards for the first time, an awards show I’ve watched ever since. Braveheart marks one of the most significant moments in all of my 47 years as a cinephile. At this point, you may be thinking, “Corrye, if Braveheart means that much to you, then why the Hell isn’t it number one on your list?” Well, it would be if it weren’t for…
#1 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Listen, you must understand something. My love for fantasy began long before my love of films, and my love of fantasy came from being exposed early on to J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth. As a child, I went bananas every time they showed Rankin and Bass’ animated The Hobbit and their follow-up feature, The Return of the King on television. Orson Bean as the voice of Bilbo and Frodo, and Glenn Yarbrough playing the theme music, was peak entertainment. I knew John Huston as the voice of Gandalf long before I knew him as the director of The Maltese Falcon or the villainous Noah Cross in Chinatown. By the age of twelve, I had read Tolkien’s The Hobbit and his Lord of the Rings trilogy multiple times. So when I found out Peter Jackson was making Tolkien’s magnum opus into a three-film trilogy, my anticipation was through the roof. The Fellowship of the Ring was my first midnight show ever, and at 12:01AM, December 19th, 2001, I was, as the kids say, seated. For three hours I leaned forward and watched my childhood dreams come to life. I laughed, I gasped, I cried three times…I was in awe. I ended up watching The Fellowship of the Ring five more times in the theater, a personal record that still stands to this day. While there are films that rank higher on my all-time favorite movies list, nothing comes close to my first theatrical experience with The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
You know the great thing about “favorite” or “best of” lists is that they aren’t static; they are dynamic. They shift and change as the years go by. It will forever be my hope and expectation that for the rest of my life, every movie I see has the potential to join this list.
May it be that way for all of us who love and appreciate the movie theater-going experience.
